As the U.K. and E.U. continue to negotiate their relationship in the context of the U.K.’s impending withdrawal from the E.U. (“Brexit”) and as U.K. insurers with clients in the E.U. begin to plan for the possibility that no deal is struck, it has become clear that the uncertainties in respect of the establishment of an insurer in an E.U. Member State will persist. In this paper, the FMLC examines the distinction in the freedom of establishment and the freedom to provide services, with particular regard to the differences in the formalities for establishment as set out in the European Commission’s Interpretive Communication, published in 2000, and the Solvency II Directive. The Committee highlights the impact of these uncertainties on (re)insurers planning for Brexit and recommends that HM Government request guidance on the conditions for establishment in the course of their negotiations with the E.U.
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