Erscheinung:31.12.2020, Stand:updated on 13.01.2021 Brexit
British insurance undertakings and IORPs lose European passporting rights
Today, on 31 December 2020, BaFin has issued and published a General Administrative Act stating that insurance undertakings and institutions for occupational retirement provision (IORPs) with their registered office in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland or in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar will lose their European passporting rights on 1 January 2021 at 00:00 hrs. As a consequence, they will no longer be permitted to carry out cross-border activities in Germany. The General Administrative Act addresses the impact of Brexit on the existing contractual obligations of these insurance undertakings and IORPs.
Background: 31 December 2020 marks the end of the transitional period during which the United Kingdom was still part of the Customs Union and the Single Market despite its exit from the European Union (EU) on 31 January 2020.
As the EU and the UK have not concluded a comprehensive trade agreement for the area of insurance supervision, Solvency II insurance undertakings will no longer be authorised to operate EU-wide, as provided for in Article 15(1) of Directive 2009/138/EC. This also applies to IORPs whose cross-border activities are governed by Articles 11 and 12 of Directive (EU) 2016/2341.
