Insurance Regulatory Briefing
HM Treasury Consults on Amendments to Insurer Insolvency Regime
2 AUGUST 2021
London
Table of contents
Recent proposals to amend insolvency rules applying to insurers aim to enhance and clarify existing powers for a court-ordered write-down of an insurer's policy and other contractual liabilities under Section 377 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 ("FSMA"). Other proposed measures include:
1. The Case for Change 2. The Proposed Changes 3. Contacts
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Solvency II was the most significant reform that the insurance sector has experienced in many years and while one of the benefits of Solvency II has been the strengthening and increased resilience of insurers, Solvency II was never intended as a zero-failure regime.
When is an insurance commissioner not a governmental authority? A federal district judge reminds us that a state insurance commissioner, when acting as receiver of an insolvent insurer, acts in a different capacity to his governmental role. This principle can cause an insurance commissioner to fall outside a contractual definition of “governmental authority” even where the definition contains inclusive language on multiple capacities.
Responses to the HM Treasury call for evidence on the Review of Solvency II
On 1 July HM Treasury published a summary of the responses received to its autumn 2020 call for evidence on the Review of Solvency II.
HM Treasury comments
The UK Government has published a Consultation1 which sets out its proposals for targeted (but significant) amendments to certain aspects of the existing UK insolvency arrangements for insurers.
Good afternoon.
Following are this week’s summaries of the Court of Appeal for Ontario for the week of June 14, 2021.
In Kelava v. Spadacini, the Court found that a Deputy Judge of the Small Claims Court has the jurisdiction to make a representation order relying on Rule 12 of the ordinary Rules of Civil Procedure by analogy. The overriding consideration in Small Claims Court matters is access to justice.
The Supreme Court’s recent judgment in BTI 2014 LLC v Sequana SA [2022] UKSC 25 is a significant decision for the law of directors’ duties.
On 20 May 2021, the UK government published a consultation paper in which it set out its proposals to revise the current regime for insolvent insurers (excluding Lloyd’s underwriters). The proposals seek to clarify and enhance aspects of the existing “write-down” power of the court under Section 377 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
Key takeaways
The revision of the Insurance Supervision Act (ISA) includes new provisions regarding the restructuring framework for insurance companies. Most recently on 3 May 2021, the draft ISA proposed by the government in October 2020 took a first hurdle in parliament. As one of two parliament chambers, the National Council (Nationalrat) discussed and adopted, among other changes, a new set of rules regarding the restructuring of insurance companies that are in financial distress.
Business interruption (BI) insurance protects businesses against loss suffered as a result of a slowdown or suspension of operations. This includes loss of profits, loan payments and certain expenditure, such as rent.