European Insurance Watchdog Backs Bermuda

European insurance watchdog EIOPA has said Bermuda’s regulatory regime for big insurers mostly complies with the European Union’s own strict Solvency II rules, Reuter is reporting, easing fears of a mismatch that could have hindered Bermudian players’ access to the European market.

“EIOPA’s advice is that Bermuda meets the criteria set out in EIOPA’s methodology for equivalent assessments under Solvency II,” EIOPA said on Wednesday [Oct. 26] in a submission to the European Commission.

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority is a European Union financial regulatory institution that replaced the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS). It is established under European Union regulations.

Bermuda, a major centre for the global reinsurance industry thanks to its favourable tax regime, is home to reinsurers who account for 40 percent of the European property catastrophe reinsurance market, EIOPA said. Bermuda-based insurers include Montpelier Re , Hiscox , Catlin , Validus and Endurance .

EIOPA also said Switzerland — a non-EU member — and Japan’s regulatory regimes mostly complied with Solvency II, a set of rules aimed at bolstering European insurers’ capital expected to come into force in 2014.

For more: European Insurance Watchdog Backs Bermuda : Bernews.com