Executive's Guide to Solvency II

As a major regulation covering the solvency of European life and non-life insurers, Solvency II is expected to be uniformly implemented across the European Union (EU) in 2012. Inspired to some extent by banking's Basel II legislation, Solvency II will use a similar three-pillar structure that will cover both quantitative elements and qualitative aspects that influence the risk-standing of an insurer. The principles-based nature of the regime represents a far-reaching innovation in risk-based regulation. It presents an immediate challenge and opportunity to the European insurance industry, but is also being observed with keen interest by industry players and regulators around the world.

A practical foundation to the Solvency II process for executives, practitioners, and consultants, Executive's Guide to Solvency II covers everything you need to know about this important directive—all in one accessible source—with coverage of:

• The history of insurance in terms of the individual's need for financial diversification
• A chronology of the Solvency II project process
• The continued relevance of regulation in its current institutional genre
• The structure of Solvency II, with specific focus on requirements insurers must fulfill under a holistic three-pillar risk management approach
• The risk-based economic balance-sheet approach, its quantitative requirements, and calibration under the standard formula approach
• Techniques, challenges, and complexities of internal models
• Why you need the right people, processes, and systems to successfully drive an enterprise-wide risk management project

It's time for your organization to get familiar with the new rules of this regulation that will have far-reaching implications, initially for EU insurers, and thereafter around the world, as regulators move toward principles-based regulation. Destined to become your standard reference for answers on Solvency II, Executive's Guide to Solvency II is full of practical advice, compiling an overview of the many issues your company will likely face in dealing with this forthcoming regulation.

About the Authors

David Buckham is the founder and president of Monocle Solutions, an international risk assessment and optimization company that provides various products and consulting services by way of intellectual property.

Jason Wahl is head of research at Monocle Solutions. His areas of interest include regulation of financial institutions and financial stability.

Stuart Rose is Global Insurance Marketing Manager at SAS Institute, a market-leading business intelligence and analytics software vendor. He has worked for a variety of software vendors where he was responsible for marketing, product management, and application development.