UK government to challenge EU over insurance rules
The UK government is set to challenge the EU commission head-on with regards to solvency II rules which are set to be introduced to the European marketplace in the short term. The UK government believes that these "over conservative" solvency rules will see UK insurance companies having to shore up their reserves by up to £50 billion. There will obviously be a cost to this additional reserve requirement, something which is likely to be met by customers.
The UK has one of the most competitive insurance markets in Europe and yet again many people are pointing the finger at the EU commission, which is determined to crack the UK financial markets and bring them under the regulatory control of the European Union. In effect this has already happened with the various treaties signed by European member states but the UK government is set to tackle this particular issue head-on as it will have a detrimental effect on the UK insurance sector, pensioners and future rates of investment return.
The issue of increasing reserve capital is a direct consequence of the credit crunch which saw a number of "solid assets" collapse like a pack of cards once the financial system began to seize up.
Share this..
Related stories
Should we believe the Nationwide forecast for the property sector?
Despite the fact that many analysts and economists are downbeat on the prospects for the UK economy in 2010, today's Nationwide report on UK property sector seems to offer a very different opinion of the prospects for the UK. The report suggests that UK property prices will increase by around 10% in 2010 which is something many people do not agree with. So who should we believe? There is no dou...
Read MoreWhat about the additional 90,000 offshore accounts undeclared?
While the UK government has enjoyed something of a success with the recent announcement that 10,000 UK citizens holding money offshore have now declared these previously unknown assets this is not the end of the story. It is believed that an additional 90,000 UK citizens have not taken the opportunity to declare their overseas assets and their overseas income and the UK government will now need to...
Read MoreSavvy savers go for consistency
Only three savings accounts out of ten re-achieved the same top rankings this January that they did two years earlier in Investec Private Bank's Savings Index, showing that banks rarely perform consistently.The index, which rates top performing savings accounts for balances of £25,000, found that Britannia's HomeSaver account was the very best for consistency, with its 6.55 gross interest rate.Re...
Read MoreBarclays bank challenges PPI ban
It has been revealed that Barclays bank, along with Lloyds bank, is set to challenge the UK government's controversial decision to ban the sale of payment protection insurance when credit arrangements are agreed. The ban, which will come into force in October 2010, will see a cooling off period of seven days before any credit provider can approach a customer regarding the sale of payment protectio...
Read MoreUK consumers ditching credit cards for debit cards
A report by the payments association Apacs has highlighted a significant shift in consumer spending during 2008. While credit card use has increased from £124 billion in £2007 to £126 billion in 2008 there has been a significant shift in debit card spending. Figures from the payments association show that debit card spending in 2007 was £224 billion however this increased to £245 billion in 2...
Read More