Activities of Louis GRECH related to 2011/2010(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Insurance guarantee schemes (short presentation)
Amendments (9)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Recital A (new)
Recital A (new)
A. Whereas the recent economic downturn has exposed a number of serious shortcomings and inequalities in the Single Market, all of which have had adverse implications for consumers' and citizens' confidence, whereas, in order to protect consumers' rights and restore their confidence in the financial markets, the EU must take urgent actions taking into account consumer interest in all current and future initiatives,
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Recital B (new)
Recital B (new)
B. Whereas the lack of harmonised IGSs at European level and the diverse regimes among Member States have led to ineffective and uneven protection for insurance policy holders and have slowed down the functioning of the insurance market by distorting cross border competition,
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Agrees that the Solvency II Directive does not create a zero-failure environment for insurance companies and does not protect consumer losses in any potential failure of insurance undertakings; therefore calls on the Commission to ensure consistency and coherence of the common IGS to be adopted with the Solvency II Directive;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Acknowledges that the most realistic and useful approach at the moment is the establishment of a coherent and legally binding framework of IGS protection based on minimum harmonisation, which should not undermine the protection already offered by some Member States, with a view to achieving maximum harmonisation at a later stage; takes the view that, should the legislative framework on IGS come into force, the Commission should carry out expert evaluation on determining whether the legislation has achieved its main goals and key objectives;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Argues that in order to ensure comprehensive protection for policyholders and beneficiaries, the IGS should not be the last-resort mechanism, and urges the Commission to retain and take into account other existing protection mechanismCommission should retain and take into account other existing protection mechanisms which are already in place and are essential for policy- holder protection, such as providing additional information, enhancing transparency and strengthening solvency requirements;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Stresses that consumers' knowledge and awareness of financial services and associated risks should be improved, therefore suggests that a similar mechanism as the European Standardised Information Sheet (ESIS) is introduced for insurance policies which will include clear mandatory risk warnings on complex insurance linked investment products and on the existence of IGS linked to a specific national authority in order to make it easier for a policy holder to better understand insurance products and dispose of all relevant information;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Believes that as a matter of cost and practicality the portfolio transfer could be the preferred option; maintains that in order to ensure a high level of consumer protection the IGSs should give policyholders an opportunity to choosetion between financial compensation and transfer of their insurance contract; considers that EU law on IGSs should ensure swift maximum compensation or a portfolio transfer whereby the policyholder would not suffer any loss of rights and privileges emanating from the policy;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Notes that in a number of insurance markets within the EU, compensation limits for similar insurance and banking investment products are not aligned; considers that the Commission should ensure that in such cases the same level of protection that applies to bank deposits and investment funds should also apply to holders of insurance linked investment products sold by insurance companies;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Believes that funding arrangements for IGSs should be based on both ex-ante and ex-post funding, ensuring that ex-ante funds are set at a reasonable level which would in the final analysis benefit both the consumer and the insurer; recognises that failing insurance companies should also have contributed to the contingency funding which should be in place in case of insurer failure;