S.I. 733 of 2004

European Communities (Life Assurance) (Amendment) Regulations 2004

I, Brian Cowen, Minister for Finance, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), as amended by the European Communities (Amendment) Act 1993 , and for the purpose of giving effect to Directive 2002/87/EC, dated 16 December 2002, of the European Parliament and of the Council, hereby make the following regulations:

Citation and commencement

1.       (1)   These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Life Assurance) (Amendment) Regulations 2004.

(2)   These Regulations come into operation on 1 January 2005.

Interpretation

2.       In these Regulations, “Principal Regulations” means the European Communities (Life Assurance) Regulations 1984 (S.I. 57 of 1984).

Amendment of Article 2 of Principal Regulations

3.       Article 2(1) of the Principal Regulations is amended as follows:

(a)    by inserting the following definition after the definition of “capital at risk”:

“‘competent authority’ in relation to a Member State, means the authority of that State that is empowered by a law of that State to supervise credit institutions or investment firms;”;

(b)    by inserting the following definition after the definition of “the Directive”:

“‘group’ means--

(a)    a group that comprises a parent undertaking and subsidiaries of the undertaking and any entities in which the parent undertaking or any of its subsidiaries participate, or

(b)    a group of undertakings linked to each other by a relationship as defined by Article 12(1) of Directive 83/349/EEC;”.

Insertion into the Principal Regulations of Article 13A

4.       The Principal Regulations are amended by inserting the following Article after Article 13:

“Bank to consult competent authorities of other Member States in certain circumstances

13A.  (1)  The Bank shall consult the supervisory authorities of the other Member States concerned before granting an authorisation to an insurance undertaking that is--

(a)    a subsidiary of an insurance undertaking authorised in another Member State, or

(b)    a subsidiary of the parent undertaking of such an insurance undertaking, or

(c)    controlled by the same person who controls such an insurance undertaking.

(2)  The Bank shall consult the competent authority of the other Member State responsible for the supervision of credit institutions or investment firms before granting an authorisation to an insurance undertaking that is--

(a)    a subsidiary of a credit institution or investment firm that is authorised in another Member State, or

(b)    a subsidiary of the parent undertaking of such a credit institution or investment firm, or

(c)    controlled by the same person who controls such a credit institution or investment firm.

(3)  In particular, the Bank shall--

(a)    when assessing the suitability of the shareholders, and the reputation and experience of directors involved in the management, of another entity of the same group, consult with the authorities referred to in sub-articles (1) and (2) of this Article, and

(b)    either when involved in granting an authorisation to an insurance undertaking or in assessing compliance by such an undertaking with the conditions under which it is authorised to operate, inform each of the other competent authorities of the other Member States concerned of any information regarding the suitability of shareholders, and the reputation and experience of directors, that is of relevance to those authorities.”.

Revocation of certain Articles

5.       Articles 17, 18, 20, 21, 22(1), 30 and 31 of the Principal Regulations are revoked.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation).

These Regulations give effect to a number of provisions in Directive 2002/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2002 on the supplementary supervision of credit institutions, insurance undertakings and investment firms in a financial conglomerate and amending Council Directives 73/239/EEC, 79/267/EEC, 92/49/EEC, 92/96/EEC, 93/6/EEC and 93/22/EEC, and Directives 98/78/EC and 2000/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council which specifically apply to life assurance undertakings.