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Key European Parliament committee backs one-year delay of Solvency II

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BRUSSELS—A key European Parliament committee has recommended that full implementation of Solvency II, the European Union’s new risk-based capital regulatory regime, be delayed by one year until Jan. 1, 2014.

While Solvency II had been slated to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2013, the European Parliament’s Committee of Economic & Monetary Affairs published a draft report Thursday that recommends delaying full implementation of the rules until the start of 2014.

A delay in full implementation would better enable national regulators and companies to get up to speed with Solvency II's requirements, according to the committee.

The committee’s draft report on the Omnibus II directive, which would phase in certain requirements that affect insurers over time, comes after last month’s “presidency compromise” by the European Council of Ministers, which suggested a one-year delay.

The European Parliament will vote on the Omnibus II directive this year.

Positive development

“This is a positive development as it brings us closer to ending the distracting debate over whether there will be a delay,” Paul Clarke, global Solvency II leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers L.L.P. in London, said in a statement.

“Despite the delay in the start date, the reality is insurers cannot afford to be complacent with their plans as they will still be required to file Solvency II information over the course of 2013 to prove their readiness. This means insurers will need to have the appropriate systems and processes in place by the end of next year,” he said.

“The industry is likely to welcome the parliament and council’s consensus on pushing back the implementation date to 2014, especially as a lot of the technical detail is still to be finalized,” Mr. Clarke said.

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