Subjects:

Banking and Finance, Insurance Law

Contents:

Preface

John Young,

Chapter 1 The FSA's approach to regulation

Katherine Coates and Narind Singh,

Chapter 2 Authorisation of UK, EU & overseas insurance companies

James Bateson and Laura Hodgson,

Chapter 3 Ownership and management of insurance companies

Katherine Coates and Hilary Evenett,

Chapter 4 Financial supervision

Phil Smart and Janine Hawes,

Chapter 5 The establishment of branches and cross-border provision of services

Ian Poynton and Rob Stirling,

Chapter 6 Portfolio transfers and schemes of arrangement

Geoffrey Maddock and Lawrence Elliott,

Chapter 7 Sale and administration of non-investment insurance

Duncan Barber,

Chapter 8 Special rules relating to certain categories of general insurance business (motor, long-term care, export credit, legal expenses, co-insurance and travel insurance) and The Reinsurance Directive

Ambereen Salamat and Chris Sage, Edwards, Angell,

Chapter 9 Regulation of long-term insurance

Charles Rix and Steven McEwan,

Chapter 10 Sale and administration of life assurance

Maria Ross and Kim Bromley,

Chapter 11 The regulation of friendly societies

John Gilbert,

Although the actual implementation of Solvency II is several years away, its impact on insurance firms will be as great as the impact of Basel 2 on banks. The FSA has argued that lessons learnt from the implementation of Basel 2 mean that early planning is essential for firms to successfully prepare for the introduction of the new regulatory regime.

The implications of the Solvency II Directive – intended to create a European-wide solvency framework to provide adequate consumer protection and help the single market in financial services function better by improving capital allocation within the EU financial markets – are anticipated in this 3rd edition of A Practitioner’s Guide to the FSA Regulation of Insurance.

In addition, this Practitioner’s Guide takes full account of the FSA’s move to ‘more principles-based regulation’ in which a prescriptive rules-based regime is supplanted by one based on outcomes. What this means for insurance firms used to operating with detailed rule books is analysed and discussed. Sitting within this principles based approach, the FSA has made amendments to the Insurance Conduct of Business sourcebook (ICOBS) which are covered in full.

Developments relating to the FSA’s focus on treating customers fairly which they have described as ‘pioneering’ and ‘making a real difference to consumers’ are also covered in detail.