EIOPA and NBS Impose Operational Restrictions on NOVIS Insurance
EIOPA has been working closely with the National Bank of Slovenia (NBS) and the other relevant national competent authorities to address issues in the operations of NOVIS Insurance Company, from both prudential and conduct of business perspective. To this end, EIOPA announced that NBS has issued an interim measure to NOVIS Insurance Company, on November 05, 2020, prohibiting free disposal of its assets. The measure is intended to ensure the adequate protection of policyholders throughout the European Economic Area.
Additionally, in September 2020, NBS had issued an interim measure banning new business from NOVIS Insurance Company until specified conditions are fulfilled by NOVIS. The reason for the interim measure was the reasonable suspicion of NBS that NOVIS was not investing premiums earned under unit-linked insurance contracts to a sufficient extent, meaning not at the level required under the terms and conditions of insurance contracts or not even at the surrender value, which the clients would be entitled to claim on the early termination of the insurance contract. The temporary preventive measure prohibits NOVIS from concluding any new unit-linked insurance contracts in the case that the extent of premium investments under all existing contracts has not reached the stipulated level. The interim measure also obliges NOVIS to ensure that all premiums received from clients after its receipt of the interim measure decision are invested to the correct extent (as defined by terms and conditions of all insurance contracts). The measure applies to NOVIS's unit-linked insurance contracts concluded in any of the countries in which NOVIS conducts such business—namely, Slovakia, Czechia, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and Lithuania. The measure is expected to remain in force until the sanction proceedings in this matter are duly concluded and NOVIS must comply with its obligations thereunder for the duration of that period.
NOVIS is a life insurance undertaking established in 2014 in Slovakia and supervised by NBS. Besides its home market, NOVIS pursues life insurance activity through freedom of establishment in Austria, the Czech Republic, and Germany and through freedom to provide services in Finland, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, and Sweden.
Related Link: Press Release
Keywords: Europe, EU, Insurance, Interim Measure, Cross-Border Cooperation, NOVIS, NBS, Slovakia, Insurance Contracts, EIOPA
Previous Article
BaFin Consults on Multiple Changes Resulting from CRR2 and CRD5Next Article
FINMA Revises Circular on Liquidity Risks for BanksRelated Articles
ECB Amends Guideline on Temporary Collateral Easing Measures
ECB published Guideline 2021/975, which amends Guideline ECB/2014/31, on the additional temporary measures relating to Eurosystem refinancing operations and eligibility of collateral.
EIOPA Releases Report on Artificial Intelligence Governance Principles
EIOPA published a report, from the Consultative Expert Group on Digital Ethics, that sets out artificial intelligence governance principles for an ethical and trustworthy artificial intelligence in the insurance sector in EU.
HKMA to Increase Focus on Suptech and Regtech Cloud Adoption
HKMA published the seventh and final issue of the Regtech Watch series, which outlines the three-year roadmap of HKMA to integrate supervisory technology, or suptech, into its processes.
EC Consults on Improving Transparency in Secondary Markets for NPLs
EC launched a targeted consultation to improve transparency and efficiency in the secondary markets for nonperforming loans (NPLs).
BIS and Nordic Central Banks Launch Innovation Hub in Stockholm
BIS, Danmarks Nationalbank, Central Bank of Iceland, Norges Bank, and Sveriges Riksbank launched an Innovation Hub in Stockholm, making this the fifth BIS Innovation Hub Center to be opened in the past two years.
FDIC Tech Sprint Aims to Explore Technologies to Reach Unbanked
FDITECH, the technology lab of FDIC, announced a tech sprint that is designed to explore new technologies and techniques that would help expand the capabilities of community banks to meet the needs of unbanked individuals and households.
EC Releases Sustainable Finance Taxonomy Compass
EC released the EU Taxonomy Compass, which visually represents the contents of the EU Taxonomy starting with the EU Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act.
FDIC Proposes Amendments to Real Estate Lending Standards
FDIC is seeking comments on a rule to amend the interagency guidelines for real estate lending policies—also known as the Real Estate Lending Standards.
EIOPA to Consider Liquidity Risk in Stress Test for 2021
EIOPA published its annual report, which sets out the work done in 2020 and indicates the planned work areas for the coming months.
ESRB Paper Discusses Measurement of Impact of Bank Failure via Lending
The ESRB paper that presents an analytical framework that assesses and quantifies the potential impact of a bank failure on the real economy through the lending function.
