Insurance supervision information

11 February 2021

The European Union and the United Kingdom concluded the “EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement” on 24 December 2020. The Agreement entered into force on 1 January 2021, as of when the United Kingdom became a “third country” vis-à-vis the EU and was therefore no longer part of EU economic structures. That date also marked the end of the application of all EU primary and secondary legislation to the UK. At the same time, the EU and UK have approved a Joint Declaration on Financial Services Regulatory Cooperation, which states that both parties will, by March 2021, agree on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) establishing the framework for this cooperation and that the parties will discuss, inter alia, how to move forward on both sides with equivalence determinations.

The Agreement provides no basis for passporting rights in the area of financial services; as a result, UK-authorised financial market participants may not operate in the territory of Slovakia unless they establish a branch of a foreign financial institution or a subsidiary in the country or unless they establish a subsidiary in another EU Member State and notify authorities in Slovakia in accordance with the single licence principle. Unless they do so, UK-authorised insurers may not conclude new insurance contracts in Slovakia from 1 January 2021; at the same time, such insurers are required to meet their obligations arising under insurance contracts concluded in Slovakia before that date.

Národná banka Slovenska wishes to draw attention to the potential impacts of the above on the management of insurance contracts and pension products. All insurance contracts concluded before the end of 2020 remain in force and are subject to international regulatory and supervisory standards, primarily in regard to consumer protection, the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, and the fight against tax evasion. In order to ensure the fulfilment of agreements, the EU’s supervisory authority responsible for the insurance sector (EIOPA) has created a platform for cooperation with the United Kingdom. For its part, in order to ensure no disruption to the provision of services to customers, Národná banka Slovenska remains actively engaged in the related dialogue, monitoring and cooperation at the EU level and is coordinating its procedures in accordance with the recommendations of the European supervisory authorities: the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), the European Banking Authority (EBA) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).

EIOPA has issued a Brexit Consumer Guide providing practical information for consumers with a life insurance policy or pension from the UK. A version of the guide in the Slovak language is available here.

If you have any questions about your insurance contract or an insurance claim, contact your insurer or financial intermediary.

25 Jun 2019

On 31 May 2019, by Order of the Supreme Court of Gibraltar (a British Overseas Territory), winding-up proceedings were commenced against LAMP Insurance Company Limited (“the Company”). The liquidator has appointed Grant Thornton Gibraltar Ltd as agent to advise and assist on matters relating to the operation and conduct of the liquidation.

Consequent on the commencement of winding-up proceedings, the authorisation of the Company as an insurer has been withdrawn and no insurance business may be conducted by or on behalf of the Company.

The Company’s policyholders resident in Slovakia have no recourse to the UK-based compensation scheme from which eligible UK policyholders may claim compensation. As the Company is insolvent, its insurance policies will almost certainly be disclaimed or terminated. Until their date of termination, however, policies remain in force. The insurers’ policyholders should be informed of this fact by insurance intermediaries.

Policyholders who have further questions may address them to the intermediary through whom they arranged the policy, or to the liquidator, by sending them to the following email address or postal address:

lampinsurance@gi.gt.com

Grant Thornton Ltd of 6A Queensway,
PO Box 64,
Gibraltar

Claims and communications in respect of insurance claims of the Company’s policyholders are being administered by Quest Consulting (London) LTD and may be sent to the following email address or postal address

lamp@quest-group.co.uk

Quest Consulting (London) Ltd
52-53 Gracechurch Street,
London EC3V OEH,
United Kingdom (“Quest”)

Sources:

https://www.fsc.gi/

http://www.lampinsurance.com/

http://www.lampinsurance.com/Sealed%20Order%2031%20May%202019.pdf

National Bank of Slovakia
Communications Section
Imricha Karvasa 1, 813 25 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Tel.: +421-2-5787 2142, +421-2-5865 2142, +421-2-5787 2169, +421-2-5865 2169
Internet: http://www.nbs.sk

Reproduction is permitted provided that the source is acknowledged.

Národná banka Slovenska, in accordance with Article 37(2)(f) and (g) of Act No 747/2004 Coll. on financial market supervision, as amended, hereby gives notice that, as of 27th february 2025, the places where insurance undertakings’ general and special policy conditions, and financial results, may be inspected by the public are as given below.

General and special policy conditions

The places where general and special policy conditions may be viewed by the public are as follows for these insurance undertakings

1. Allianz – Slovenská poisťovňa, a.s.: at its head office at Pribinova 19, 811 09 Bratislava, at the Products Management Department / Odbor manažmentu produktov, and online www.allianzsp.sk

2. BNP Paribas Cardif Poisťovňa, a.s.: at its head office at Bottova 2A, 811 09 Bratislava the general conditions for individually insured clients are also available online at www.bnpparibascardif.sk and those concerning only specific partner companies are available at their places of business);

3. ČSOB Poisťovňa, a.s.: at its head office at Žižkova 11, 811 02 Bratislava, at places of business of ČSOB Poisťovňa, a.s., at branches of ČSOB bank, and online at www.csob.sk

4. KOMUNÁLNA poisťovňa, a.s. Vienna Insurance Group: at its places of business listed online at branches and contacts and online at www.kpas.sk

5. KOOPERATIVA poisťovňa, a.s. Vienna Insurance Group: online at  www.koop.sk

6. NN životná poisťovňa, a.s.: at its head office at Jesenského 4/C, 811 02 Bratislava, and online at ww.nn.sk

7. PARTNERS poisťovňa, a.s.: at its head office at Einsteinova 3541/24, 851 01 Bratislava the general conditions for individually insured clients are also available online at www.partnerspoistovna.sk

8. Union poisťovňa, a.s.: at its places of business listed online at contacts, at the places of business of partner companies (in a print version or via computer), and, for products sold online, online at www.union.sk

9. Wüstenrot poisťovňa, a.s.: (for all products) at any Wüstenrot centre or agency, and, for selected products, online at www.wustenrot.sk

Financial results

The places where financial results may be viewed by the public are as follows for these insurance undertakings:

1. Allianz – Slovenská poisťovňa, a.s.: online at Allianzsp – financial results

2. BNP Paribas Cardif Poisťovňa, a.s.: at its head office, and online at bnpparibascardif-annual reports

3. ČSOB Poisťovňa, a.s.: online at csob financial results

4. KOMUNÁLNA poisťovňa, a.s. Vienna Insurance Group: at its places of business listed online at branches and contacts (in the company’s Annual Report), and online at kpas-anual reports

5. KOOPERATIVA poisťovňa, a.s. Vienna Insurance Group: online at koop-annual reports

6. NN životná poisťovňa, a.s.: at its head office, and online at nn-annual reports

7. PARTNERS poisťovňa, a.s.: at its head office online at www.partnerspoistovna.sk

8. Union poisťovňa, a.s.: online at union-annual reports

9. Wüstenrot poisťovňa, a.s.: online at wustenrot-annual reports

Note:

Under Article 3(1) of Act No 530/2003 Coll. on the Commercial Register, as amended, the financial results provided in an insurance undertaking’s annual reports are also to be included in the undertaking’s documents filed with the commercial court that has jurisdiction for the territory in which the undertaking has its registered office. For a fee payable to the court, any member of the public may inspect these documents and obtain an extract from them (Article 12(1) of Act No 530/2003).

Furthermore, the financial statements and annual reports of all companies in Slovakia are available online in the Financial Statements Register (FSR), at http://www.registeruz.sk. The FSR was established under Act No 431/2002 Coll. on accounting and entered into full operation on 1 January 2014. Documents under Article 23(2) of that law prepared as at 31 December 2013 and later are to be published in the FSR.

Operation of foreign reinsurance companies from the USA in the territory of the Slovak Republic on the basis of the Agreement between the EU and the USA in the field of insurance and reinsurance

On 4 April 2018, the Bilateral Agreement between the European Union and the United States of America on prudential measures in the field of insurance and reinsurance (hereinafter only as ‘the Bilateral Agreement’; available here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/SK/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A22017A1006%2801%29&lang1=SK&from=EN&lang3=choose&lang2=choose&_csrf=257542b3-59e4-459c-81f2-18207c03fa50) came into force, which allows, in line with Art. 8 par. 4 Act No. 39/2015 Coll. on insurance and amending certain laws, US reinsurance companies to underwrite insurance risks from European insurance companies in the form of reinsurance contracts without the need to establish a branch and meet other similar requirements (and, conversely, European reinsurance companies to underwrite insurance risks from US insurance companies). However, this is only applicable if such a reinsurance undertaking meets the specified criteria (Article 3(4) of the Bilateral Agreement). In view of the above, the National Bank of Slovakia announces the method of proving these conditions by a foreign reinsurance company from the USA that is interested in underwriting insurance risks from Slovak insurance companies.

A foreign reinsurance undertaking from the USA (hereinafter only as ‘foreign reinsurance undertaking’) will notify the National Bank of Slovakia of its intention well in advance before concluding a reinsurance contract with a Slovak insurance company. This information shall be submitted in writing and shall contain at least the following information:

1. the name of the foreign reinsurance undertaking, registered office, LEI code, if assigned, information on entry in the relevant register and identification number, if assigned;
2. information about the contact person or legal representative for communication with the National Bank of Slovakia;
3. information on the insurance risks it intends to underwrite;
4. information on the authorisation of the foreign reinsurance undertaking to conduct reinsurance activities and on the authority that issued the authorisation;
5. the following annexes demonstrating the fulfilment of the conditions under Article 3(4) of the Bilateral Agreement:
   1. a completed Data Questionnaire, which contains the following information:
      1. the level of the foreign reinsurance undertaking’s minimum capital and surplus or own funds (Article 3(4)(a));
      1. the level of capital of the foreign reinsurance undertaking (Article 3(4)(b));
      1. information relating to the reinsurance taken over by the ceding reinsurer according to the surrendering company, the reinsurance assigned by the ceding reinsurer and the receivables from reinsurance against reimbursed and unpaid losses according to the transferee (Article 3(4)(i));
   1. a declaration by the foreign reinsurance undertaking that it shall immediately inform the National Bank of Slovakia if: the level of minimum capital and surplus or own funds falls below €226 million; the level of capital falls below 300%, or any regulatory action is taken against it for serious non-compliance with the applicable law (Article 3(4)(c));
   1. declaration of the foreign reinsurance undertaking on the acceptance of the jurisdiction of Slovak courts (Article 3(4)(d));
   1. a declaration by the foreign reinsurance undertaking that it will pay for all final judgments issued to the surrendering insurer whenever they are enforced, which have been declared enforceable in the territory in which the judgment was given (Article 3(4)(f));
   1. a declaration by the foreign reinsurance undertaking that, in any reinsurance agreement with the Slovak insurance company, it will agree to provide collateral for 100% of the liabilities of the foreign reinsurance undertaking attributable to the assigned reinsurance under the said agreement, if the foreign reinsurance undertaking does not agree to enforce a final judgment that is enforceable under Slovak law or a duly enforceable arbitration award, irrespective of this; whether they were issued to the surrendering Slovak insurance company or, where applicable, to a foreign reinsurance company in the event of resolution of its resolution (Article 3(4)(g));
   1. a declaration by the foreign reinsurance undertaking that it does not currently participate in any solvent scheme of the arrangement involving the surrendering Slovak insurance undertakings and agrees that, if it joins such a scheme, it shall notify the surrendering Slovak insurance undertaking and its supervisor thereof and shall provide the surrendering Slovak insurance undertaking with 100 per cent collateral in accordance with the terms of the scheme (Article 3(4)(j));
   1. the audited financial statements for the two years preceding the notification of the intention to the National Bank of Slovakia.

Following the transmission of the favourable opinion issued by the National Bank of Slovakia concerning the intention to pursue activities within the territory of the Slovak Republic, the foreign reinsurance undertaking shall be entitled to make use of the option referred to above in accordance with the Bilateral Agreement. After the commencement of operations in the territory of the Slovak Republic, the National Bank of Slovakia will require the foreign reinsurance undertaking to submit the following documents and information on an annual basis:

• current audited financial statements,
  • completed Data Questionnaire.

Regular submission will take place on the basis of a letter from the National Bank of Slovakia to the foreign reinsurance company, within the time limit and in the manner specified therein.

Data questionnaire.xlsx

---