Investors and insurance policyholders are often confronted with complex products and providers' opaque organisational structures. At the same time, the possibility that their claims will not be honoured often poses an existential risk. Financial regulation therefore aims at putting in place a...

The Liikanen Group proposes contingent convertible (CoCo) bonds as instruments to enhance financial stability in the banking industry. Especially life insurance companies could serve as CoCo bond holders as they are already the largest purchasers of bank bonds in Europe. The growing number of...

The European insurance industry is awaiting the new EU-wide harmonized Solvency II framework. Before its introduction, it is important to find out which incentive effects can arise from it. Practitioners predict a trend towards consolidation in the insurance sector due to recognition of...

Pursuant to art. 45 of the Solvency II Framework Directive, all insurance undertakings will be obliged to conduct an "Own Risk and Solvency Assessment" (ORSA). ORSA's relevance is not limited only to the second pillar of Solvency II, where mainly qualitative requirements are to be found. ORSA...

The Liikanen Group proposes contingent convertible (CoCo) bonds as a potential mechanism to enhance financial stability in the banking industry. Especially life insurance companies could serve as CoCo bond holders as they are already the largest purchasers of bank bonds in Europe. We develop a...

The Liikanen Group proposes contingent convertible (CoCo) bonds as a potential mechanism to enhance financial stability in the banking industry. Especially life insurance companies could serve as CoCo bond holders as they are already the largest purchasers of bank bonds in Europe. We develop a...

In light of the upcoming Solvency II Pillar 3 disclosure regulation for the insurance industry, this paper explores the risk disclosure practices in annual reports of European primary insurers in the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Insurance Index between 2005 - 2009. Based on a self-constructed risk...