Alberto Floreani

Solvency II: The Supervisory Reporting and Market Disclosure

The third pillar of Solvency II consists of supervisory reporting and market disclosure. This chapter focuses on market disclosure, the most innovative part of the Solvency II Pillar 3. In the author’s view, the pros—principally, market discipline and the European Union (EU) comparability of solvency public information across insurers—override the cons—principally, possibly window-dressing practices and comparability between solvency and the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) financial statement data. However, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) and national authorities should monitor the existence of side effects and, if they are judged relevant, suggest some improvement in the regulation. Insurers should introduce an integrated reporting system in order to make solvency and financial information more clear and comparable to the public, avoiding duplication of costs, and avoiding inconsistences in the reporting system.