insurance

Subscribe to insurance via RSS
feature-5

Poised for a banner year, insurtech has drawn the attention of investors and regulators alike.

Insurtech has become a darling of both traditional players in the insurance market and disruptive fintech operations. The coming year looks to continue this trend, with companies looking to insurtech as a venue for penetrating new markets. Yet as insurtech’s attractiveness continues to grow, potential investors will need to navigate a highly regulated industry and new regulatory considerations on the horizon.

In this episode of…

The final guidelines create new obligations for insurers that will impact cloud outsourcing arrangements.

By Fiona M. Maclean, Andrew C. Moyle, and Victoria Sander

On 6 February 2020, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published its final guidelines on outsourcing to cloud service providers (CSPs) (the Guidelines). The Guidelines have been finalised following public consultation on the draft guidelines launched on 1 July 2019, and closely follow the European Banking Authority’s (EBA’s) final guidelines on outsourcing arrangements, published early last year (the EBA Guidelines). (See What EBA’s Outsourcing Guidelines Mean for Financial Institutions.)

The FinTech sandbox would aim to foster innovation in the financial, credit, and insurance sectors.

By Antonio Coletti and Isabella Porchia

The Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance has launched a public consultation on a draft ministerial decree (Draft Decree) implementing the mandate received by the Italian legislature (Decreto Crescita) to set up a regulatory sandbox to test FinTech activities in the financial, credit, and insurance sectors and establish a FinTech Committee.

FinTech Sandbox

The Draft Decree proposes that activities eligible for the sandbox include regulated or non-regulated activities that (i) use technologies contributing to the innovation of banking, financial, and insurance products and services, (ii) require an exemption from the regulatory provisions or guidelines adopted by the supervisory authorities or a joint testing and assessment from the supervisory authorities, and (iii) bring added value at least in terms of (a) benefits for final users enhancing the quality of the services, competition, access conditions, availability, protection, and costs, (b) general efficiency of the financial system and market participants, or (c) less burdensome and more efficient compliance with the financial regulations.

Before submitting an application to the sandbox, entities may present and discuss informally the project with the FinTech Committee. The proposed testing period for any admitted project has a maximum duration of 18 months, which may be extended upon request of the applicant entity.