The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published today its fourth annual report on administrative sanctions and other measures imposed during 2022 by national competent authorities under the Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD).
In total, national supervisors across 21 Member States imposed 2,762 sanctions in 2022.
The main themes identified by EIOPA within the annual report are the following:
- Since the implementation of IDD in 2018, and in particular between 2021 and 2022, there has been a rise in the number of sanctions relating to information and conduct of business requirements.
- There are material differences between Member States in the number of sanctions relating to requirements on professional and organisational measures. EIOPA’s analysis indicates this is likely due to differences in national legal or procedural aspects rather than, for example, the actual level of non-compliance in terms of professionalism and competence.
- After four complete years of application of the IDD, the sanctions data is considered to no longer represent a transitional phase, but rather the ongoing application of the IDD.
It should be noted that the use of sanctions is just one of multiple tools available to national competent authorities after carrying out supervisory activities. Conclusions regarding the effectiveness of the supervision of the IDD, therefore, should not be drawn based solely on the number of sanctions imposed in that Member State.
Background
This report is based on Article 36(2) of the IDD, which states that national competent authorities shall provide EIOPA annually with aggregated information regarding all administrative sanctions and other measures imposed and that EIOPA shall publish the information in an annual report.
The information and conduct of business requirements in the IDD cover, for example, rules on the information provided to customers, the management of conflicts of interests, the appropriate design of products and the provision of advice.
Article 10 of the IDD covers basic formalities for accessing and maintaining access to the profession as well as ongoing requirements, such as having professional indemnity insurance cover and continuous professional development including training.