Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

Added(b) the scale and scope of the insurance distribution activities carried out in each ▌Member State;

Added(c) the type of insurance products distributed in each ▌Member State;

Added(d) for each ▌Member State, the total number of customers, for the relevant period ending on the 31 December;

Added(e) the number of complaints received from customers and interested parties in each ▌Member State.

AddedCompetent authorities shall communicate to EIOPA all information reported by insurance distributors pursuant to the first subparagraph.

Added2. EIOPA shall establish an electronic database containing the information reported pursuant to paragraph 1, second subparagraph. That database shall be made accessible to all competent authorities.

Added3. EIOPA shall develop draft regulatory technical standards regarding the details of the information referred to in paragraph 1.

AddedEIOPA shall submit those draft regulatory technical standards to the Commission by [OJ: insert date 18 months after the date of entry into force of this Directive].

AddedPower is delegated to the Commission to adopt the regulatory technical standards referred to in the first subparagraph in accordance with Article 10 of Regulation (EU) No 1094/2010.

Added4. EIOPA shall develop draft implementing technical standards specifying the data standards and formats, methods and transfer arrangements, frequency and starting date for the information to be reported and communicated pursuant to paragraph 1.

AddedEIOPA shall submit those draft implementing technical standards to the Commission by [OJ: insert date 18 months after the date of entry into force of this Directive].

AddedPower is conferred on the Commission to adopt the implementing technical standards referred to in the first subparagraph in accordance with Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 1094/2010.

Added5. Based on the information communicated pursuant to paragraph 2, EIOPA shall publish every year a report containing anonymised and aggregated statistics on the insurance distribution activities carried out in the Union through the freedom to provide services, as well as an analysis of trends.’;

Added(5) Article 10 is amended as follows:

Added(a) paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

Added‘1. Home Member States shall ensure that insurance and reinsurance distributors and employees of insurance and reinsurance undertakings carrying out insurance or reinsurance distribution activities possess the necessary knowledge and competence in order to complete their tasks and perform their duties adequately.

AddedIn the context of an intra-group relationship with a branch of a registered insurance or reinsurance intermediary in a third country, the competent authority of the home Member State shall assess whether the registered insurance or reinsurance intermediary has an appropriate level of corporate substance in the home Member State in accordance with Article 1(6) by considering whether the insurance intermediary or reinsurance intermediary, including its employees where the insurance or reinsurance intermediary is a legal person, has appropriate knowledge and ability in order to complete its tasks and perform its duties adequately.;’

Added(b) paragraph 2 is amended as follows:

Added(i) the first, second and third subparagraphs are replaced by the following:

Added‘Home Member States shall ensure that insurance and reinsurance intermediaries, employees of insurance and reinsurance undertakings and employees of insurance and reinsurance intermediaries maintain and update their knowledge and competence by undertaking regular professional development and training, including specific training where new insurance products or services are being offered by the insurance or reinsurance undertakings and intermediaries.

AddedFor the purpose of the first subparagraph, home Member States shall have in place and publish mechanisms to control effectively and assess the knowledge and competence of insurance and reinsurance intermediaries, employees of insurance and reinsurance undertakings and employees of insurance and reinsurance intermediaries, as set out in Annex I, based on at least 15 hours of professional training or development per year, during work hours taking into account the nature of the products sold, the type of distributor, the role they perform, and the activity carried out within the insurance or reinsurance distributor. The mechanisms shall in particular define in which cases additional hours of professional training and development are to be required from an employee or intermediary beyond the minimum of 15 hours per year, based on the assessment of knowledge and competence. An appropriate number of hours of the professional training of employees of insurance and reinsurance undertakings and insurance and reinsurance intermediaries providing advice on insurance-based investment products shall be allocated by national competent authorities to the minimum necessary knowledge in sustainable investments contributing to an environmental or social objective, including how to consider and integrate sustainability factors and clients’ sustainability preferences into the advisory processes.

AddedFor small intermediaries which distribute both financial instruments and insurance-based investment products, Member States may provide for specific requirements regarding the number of hours of professional training.

AddedHome Member States shall require that compliance with the criteria set out in Annex I, as well as the yearly successful completion of the continuous professional training and development is proven by a certificate or any other document recognised by the Union or a Member State.’;

Added(ii) the following subparagraph is added:

Added‘The Commission shall be empowered to amend this Directive by adopting delegated acts in accordance with Article 38 to review, where necessary, the requirements set out in Annex I.’;

Added(c) paragraph 4 is replaced by the following:

Added‘4. Insurance and reinsurance intermediaries shall hold professional indemnity insurance covering the whole territory of the Union or some other comparable guarantee against liability arising from professional negligence, for at least EUR 1 564 610 applying to each claim and in aggregate EUR 2 315 610 per year for all claims, unless such insurance or comparable guarantee is already provided by an insurance undertaking, reinsurance undertaking or other undertaking on whose behalf the insurance or reinsurance intermediary is acting or for which the insurance or reinsurance intermediary is empowered to act or such undertaking has taken on full responsibility for the intermediary’s actions.’;

Added(d) in paragraph 6, point (b) is replaced by the following:

Added‘(b) a requirement for the intermediary to have financial capacity amounting, on a permanent basis, to 4 % of the sum of annual premiums received, subject to a minimum of EUR 18 750;’;

Added(6) in Article 12(3) the following subparagraphs are added:

Added‘The powers referred to in the first subparagraph, first sentence, shall include the power to:

Added(a) have access to any document or other data in any form which the competent authority considers could be relevant and necessary for the performance of its duties and receive or take a copy of that document or those data;

Added(b) require or demand the provision of information from any person and if necessary to summon and question a person to obtain information;

Added(ba) carry out regular checks of the alignment of the qualitative and quantitative features of the insurance-based investment products on the market with the relevant benchmarks and, when necessary, take corrective actions in accordance with Article 12a of this Directive;

Added(c) carry out on-site inspections or investigations;

Added(d) carry out mystery shopping activities;

Added(e) require the freezing or the sequestration of assets, or both;

Added(f) require the temporary prohibition of professional activity;

Added(g) require the auditors of insurance undertakings or insurance intermediaries to provide information;

Added(h) refer matters for criminal prosecution;

Added(i) allow auditors or experts to carry out verifications or investigations;

Added(j) suspend or prohibit for a maximum duration of 1 year marketing communications or practices used in their Member State, where there are reasonable grounds for believing that this Directive has been infringed.;

Added(k) require the temporary or permanent cessation of any practice or conduct that the competent authority considers to be contrary to the provisions adopted in the implementation of this Directive and prevent repetition of that practice or conduct;

Added(l) adopt any other type of measure to ensure that insurance undertakings and insurance intermediaries continue to comply with legal requirements;

Added(m) suspend or prohibit the distribution of an insurance-based investment product;

Added(n) suspend the distribution of an insurance-based investment product where the insurance undertaking or insurance distributor has failed to comply with Article 25;

Added(o) require the removal of a natural person from the management board of an insurance undertaking or insurance distributor;

Added(p) take all the necessary measures, including by requesting a third party or other public authority to implement such measures, whether on a temporary or permanent basis, to:

Added(i) remove content or to restrict access to an online interface or to order the explicit display of a warning to customers when they access an online interface;

Added(ii) order a hosting service provider to remove, disable or restrict access to an online interface;

Added(iii) order domain registries or registrars to delete a fully qualified domain name and to allow the competent authority concerned to register it;

Added(q) impose the use of risk warnings for insurance-based investment products, and, where applicable, underlying investment options, in information materials, including marketing communications, related to particularly risky insurance-based investment products and, where applicable, underlying investment options, where those products and underlying investment options could pose a serious threat to investor protection.’;

Added(qa) use webscraping techniques and tools to collect online data for monitoring, surveillance, detection and investigation purposes.

AddedWhen making use of the powers referred to in point (j), the competent authority shall notify EIOPA. Where such practices or communications are used in more than one Member State, EIOPA shall, upon request of at least one competent authority, coordinate actions taken by competent authorities pursuant to point (j).

AddedThe implementation and the exercise of powers set out in this paragraph shall be proportionate and shall comply with Union and national law, including with applicable procedural safeguards and with the principles of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The investigation and enforcement measures adopted pursuant to this Directive shall be appropriate to the nature and the overall actual or potential harm of the infringement.’;

Added(6a) the following article is inserted:

Added‘Article 12-a

AddedBenchmarks as a supervisory tool

Added1. In accordance with Article 25, EIOPA, on the basis of industry testing and after consulting ESMA and the national competent authorities, shall, where appropriate, develop common European benchmarks for groups of comparable insurance-based investment products manufactured and distributed in more than one Member State. The benchmarks shall represent reference points for comparable groups of insurance-based investment products and shall be used by national competent authorities to perform the assessment of the qualitative and quantitative features of insurance based-investment products distributed or manufactured by insurance undertakings and insurance intermediaries.

AddedEIOPA shall regularly update those benchmarks, taking into account the developments on the market.