Solvency II

Solvency II sets out regulatory requirements for insurance firms and groups, covering financial resources, governance and accountability, risk assessment and management, supervision, reporting and public disclosure.

Background

Solvency II came into force on 1 January 2016. You can see the full directive, and read more about Solvency II from the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority.

Firms can apply for a Solvency II approval, a waiver or modification of rules, and find out about regulatory reporting under Solvency II.

Please see The National Archives for historic Solvency II information.

Latest Solvency II updates

PRA CP5/24 (Review of Solvency II: Restatement of assimilated law) virtual roundtable 8 July 2024

The PRA will be holding an industry roundtable in respect of CP5/24 – Review of Solvency II: Restatement of assimilated law. The purpose of the roundtable is for the PRA to gather stakeholder views on key thematic issues relating to CP5/24, and to provide stakeholders (where possible) more clarity on policy proposals to assist with providing any planned responses to the consultation. The roundtable will be held on 8 July 2024, 10am to 12pm.

The agenda for this roundtable will be finalised and published in advance of the meeting. Please confirm your intention to attend by emailing Solvency2Review@bankofengland.co.uk with the relevant name(s) and email address(es). We would welcome up to two attendees per organisation. Retained external advisors are also welcome and limited to a maximum of two attendees (per firm). 

Please send any questions that you wish to submit in advance to Solvency2Review@bankofengland.co.uk by close of business 28 June 2024, along with your intention to attend. We will provide participants with joining instructions for Microsoft Teams ahead of the meeting.

3 July 2024: Following queries the PRA has received in respect of the proposals in CP5/24 (CP5/24 – Review of Solvency II: Restatement of assimilated law), the agenda for the roundtable will be as follows:

  1. Introduction
  2. Proposal for firms to notify the PRA with regards to compliance with a certain set of criteria – (CP5/24 Chapter 8)
  3. Proposed restatement of the Standard Formula requirements relating to the loss-absorbing capacity of deferred taxes (LACDT) – (CP5/24 Chapter 8)
  4. Proposed definition of the term ‘ring-fenced fund’ (RFF) – (CP5/24 Chapter 8)
  5. External credit assessments – (CP5/24 Chapter 2)
  6. Any other business

As a reminder, please register your attendance by contacting Solvency2Review@bankofengland.co.uk - up to two attendees per organisation.

13 May 2024: PRA/ABI industry subject expert groups on use of sandboxes in matching adjustment portfolios.

The consultation paper (CP) 19/23 – Review of Solvency II: reform of the matching adjustment set out the PRA’s proposed reforms that will enable broader and quicker investment by insurers within their matching adjustment (MA) portfolios, while improving responsiveness to risk and enhancing firms’ responsibility for risk management.

A number of responses to the consultation suggested that including ‘sandboxes’ of one form or another within MA portfolios would be beneficial. The PRA has established a subject expert group to consider these or similar proposals which could be used in the development of future policy on Matching Adjustment in ways that would advance the PRA’s statutory objectives and deliver clear benefits in line with the desired outcomes of the government’s review of Solvency II, in particular by materially increasing productive investment in the UK by the life insurance sector.

The group is co-chaired by representatives of the PRA and the Association of British Insurers. Organisations interested in sending a representative to the group should contact SandboxSEG@bankofengland.co.uk explaining their interest in the subject, what they feel they could contribute to discussions, the name of their nominated representative, and the latter’s qualifications to contribute effectively to the work of the group.

PRA Regulatory Reporting (Taxonomy) roundtable 14 May 2024

The PRA are looking to engage with industry following the publication of the Bank of England Insurance Taxonomy 2.0.0 and have organised a roundtable on regulatory reporting. The purpose of this meeting is to provide a summary of the new taxonomy structure, the new naming conventions and to highlight the new XBRL filing manual. The PRA would also like to understand industry’s implementation plans and we will take technology related questions. The roundtable will be held on 14 May, 10am to 11.30am.

The affected organisations have been contacted. However, if you believe that your organisation would benefit from attending this event, please confirm your intention to attend by emailing Solvency2Review@bankofengland.co.uk with the relevant name(s) and email address(es). We would welcome two attendees per organisation. Retained external advisors are welcome and are also limited to a maximum of two attendees (per firm). Should you wish to submit questions in advance of the event, please supply these along with your response before 9 May to uktaxonomypwdfeedback@bankofengland.co.uk. Following this, we will issue the Microsoft Teams details to participants ahead of the meeting.

4 March 2024: The PRA are looking to engage with industry on developing liquidity reporting requirements through a roundtable with insurers and relevant stakeholders on Tuesday 19 March 2024, between 11am and 12pm. 

The roundtable will cover:

  • the PRA’s views on sources of liquidity risk within insurers
  • the existing liquidity risk management framework, as set out in SS5/19
  • the PRA’s planned engagement during 2024 to develop liquidity reporting requirements

The PRA’s initial focus will be on those firms with the largest derivatives exposures and potential for surrenders. However, all industry participants are free to nominate individuals to participate at the event. Please register to attend the hybrid event. Please note that deadline for registration is Wednesday 13 March 2024. This will be a hybrid event and we would encourage you to attend in person. Participation at the event is on a voluntary basis and the event joining details will be shared on registration. Further background to this work can be found on the Review of Solvency II: Reporting phase 3: liquidity reporting page

11 January 2024: We published a letter from Charlotte Gerken and Shoib Khan on the PRA’s 2024 priorities for insurance supervision.

Solvency II news and publications

  • This report is a quarterly statistical release of aggregated data, produced using PRA regulatory data supplied by UK authorised insurance firms.

    The insurance aggregate data quarterly report and data file are scheduled to be updated on: 

    • 29 December 2023 (September 2023 data)
    • 29 March 2024 (December 2023 data)
    • 28 June 2024 (March 2024 data)
    • 30 September 2024 (June 2024 data)
    • 31 December 2024 (September 2024 data)
    • 31 March 2025 (December 2024 data)
    • 30 June 2025m (March 2025 data)
    • 30 September 2025 (June 2025 data)
    • 31 December 2025 (September 2025 data)
    • 31 March 2026 (December 2025 data)

    This report is an annual statistical release of aggregated data, produced using PRA regulatory data supplied by UK authorised insurance firms.

    The insurance aggregate data annual report and data file are scheduled to be updated on: 

    • 28 June 2024
    • 30 June 2025
This page was last updated 04 July 2024