The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) opened its 2014 scorecard on 31 January 2014, when it

  • Published its "Timeline for the delivery of Solvency II Implementing Technical Standards and Guidelines"; and
  • Immediately scotched one of the latest rumours circulating in the London Market.

The rumour? That EIOPA would argue that, although Omnibus II requires it to publicly consult on the Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) it wants the Commission to adopt; and the Guidelines it wants to adopt on its own account; there's really no need. EIOPA's (private) pre-consultation on the Level 2 texts, and the reports and advices it has already published, will do just as well, instead.

The thing is, this isn't as daft as it sounds, even if it's wrong on this occasion.

EIOPA's timetable includes:

April to June 2014

Public consultation on the "Approval Processes" ITS

June to September 2014

Public consultation on the "Guidelines relevant for approval processes, including Pillar 1 (quantitative basis) and internal models"

31 October 2014

Submission of the "Approval Processes" ITS to the Commission

December 2014 to March 2015

Public consultation on "Pillar 1 (quantitative basis), Pillar 2 (qualitative requirements), Pillar 3 (enhanced reporting and disclosure) and supervisory transparency" ITS

 

Public consultation on "Guidelines relevant for Pillar 2 (qualitative requirements) and Pillar 3 (enhanced reporting and disclosure)"

February 2015

Publication of the "Guidelines relevant for approval processes, including Pillar 1 (quantitative basis) and internal models" in all the official EU languages

30 June 2015

Submission of the "Pillar 1 (quantitative basis), Pillar 2 (qualitative requirements), Pillar 3 (enhanced reporting and disclosure) and supervisory transparency" ITS to the Commission

July 2015

Publication of the "Guidelines relevant for Pillar 2 (qualitative requirements) and Pillar 3 (enhanced reporting and disclosure)" in all the official languages

1 January 2016

Application of the Solvency II regime.

This, or course, is only part of what Omnibus II requires EIOPA to do, and that's only part of what EIOPA has to do before the end of 2015 ... which at least partially explains the rumour. The rest seems to have been borne from experience more than anything else. Still. Not long now.

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