insurance agent insurance broker
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Invest in people!
EUROPEAN SOCIAL FUND
Sectoral Operational Programme Human Resources Development 2007 - 2013
Priority Axis 3 "Increasing adaptability of workers and enterprises"
Key Area of Intervention 3.3 " Development of partnerships and encouraging initiatives for
social partners and civil society."
Project Title: “Network of Competent Authorities for Professional Qualifications in Romania
(IMI PQ NET Romania)"
Beneficiary: Ministry of National Education
Contract no. POSDRU/93/3.3/S/53132
GUIDE ON COMPETENCE CERTIFICATION AND QUALIFICATION RECOGNITION
FOR THE INSURANCE AGENT AND INSURANCE BROKER
Author: Dr. Irina Dumitriu
July 2013
Project co financed by the European Social Fund
Sectoral Operational Programme Human Resources Development
2007 - 2013
Invest in people!
http://www.imipqnet.ro
GOVERNMENT OF ROMANIA Ministry of Education
European Union
GOVERNMENT OF ROMANIA Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Protection
and Elderly MASOPHRD
European Social Fund SOP HRD 2007-2013
Structural Instruments 2007 - 2013
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION..............……………………………………………...…………………….3
1. REGULATORY SITUATION IN ROMANIA AND OTHER EU MS OF THE
INSURANCE AGENT AND INSURANCE BROKER PROFESSIONS…….………...…….5
2. COMPETENCES CERTIFICATION PROCEDURES APPLIED BY THE CA FOR THE
INSURANCE AGENT AND INSURANCE BROKER PROFESSIONS...............................18
3. RECOGNITION PROCESSES OF QUALIFICATIONS ACQUIRED IN OTHER EU MS
IN ORDER TO PRACTICE THE INSURANCE AGENT AND INSURANCE BROKER
PROFESSIONS…………………………………………………………................................22
4. EXERCISE OF THE INSURANCE AGENT AND INSURANCE BROKER
PROFESSIONS IN THE EU....................................................................................…...…….32
5. CONCLUSIONS.…………………………………………………………………………..37
BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………………….39
ABBREVIATIONS...………………………………………………………………………...41
USEFUL LINKS……………………………………………………………………………...44
INTRODUCTION
The Guidelines on competence certification and qualification recognition for the insurance
agent and insurance broker professions is one of the results of the “Network of Competent
Authorities for Professional Qualifications in Romania (IMI PQ NET Romania) Project "
implemented by the Ministry of National Education (MEN) in partnership with the National
Qualifications Authority (ANC) and the Institute for Social Policy (IPS), co-financed by the
European Social Fund through the Sectoral Operational Programme Human Resources
Development 2007-2013 (SOP HRD)
Within the IMI PQ NET Romania project there have been analyzed, together with the
competent authorities (CA) members of the project working group, the procedures for
validation and certification of competences and qualifications recognition processes for each
regulated profession separately and, on that basis, there have been developed standard scheme
for validation / certification of competences procedure and for the qualifications recognition
process for corresponding regulated professions. The final result of these activities is the
paper "Standard guiding terms of reference for the procedures validation and certification of
competences and qualifications recognition processes", which can be accessed
at…………………………………………………
This paper includes the basic terminology (definitions of terms used also in the guidelines)
and standardization schemes for the certification of competences and qualifications
recognition processes and therefore it was the basis for the elaboration a number of 30
guidelines for certification and recognition for different regulated professions, guidelines
aimed at supporting CA from Romania in their efforts to standardize these procedures and
processes by informing them about the practices of counterparts CA from other Member
States (MS) of the EU.
However, each individual guideline will address individuals which have acquired
qualifications in the respective areas of activity in Romania and want to practice the
profession in one of the EU MS presented in the guide.
The analysis was performed for Romania and another 8 EU MS (Austria, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, Netherlands and Spain), but the guidelines also
includes some general information resulting from researching the database with regulated
professions from all MS of the EU, the European Economic Area (EEA) and the Swiss
Confederation, developed by the European Commission (EC) Directorate General for Single
Internal Market (DG Internal Market) (http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/qualifications/regprof
/index.cfm?newlang =en). The authors of the guidelines have studied the European legislation
and of the respective states regarding the acquiring of qualifications, education and vocational
training system, types of documents for competences certification (diplomas, certificates,
certificates of competency, professional titles), regulations regarding the recognition of
qualifications and the regulated professions under Directive 2005/36/EC on recognition of
professional qualifications, as well as, if necessary, sectoral specific directives In the case of
some EU MS analyzed (Denmark, Germany, Italy, UK, Netherlands and Spain); there have
been organized study visits with the participation of the representatives of IMI PQ NET Ro
Network members established within the project, and also MEN and ANC experts. During the
visits, meetings were organized with representatives of the national CA but also CA which
manages various regulated professions; occasions on which the guidelines authors were able
to gather more specific information from the source.
In conclusion, the realization of the Guidelines on competence certification and qualification
recognition for the insurance agent and insurance broker professions aims to:
• providing to the stakeholders the informations on the certification of competence and
recognition processes applied by CA from other EU MS for professions insurance agent and
insurance broker, professions that in Romania were originally regulated the Commission
Insurance Supervision (CSA), and are now regulated by the new Financial Supervisory
Authority (FSA);
• inform all persons who have acquired the financial auditor qualification in Romania and
wish to perform activities in the field of insurance mediation in one of the EU MS presented
in the guide.
Taking into account these two major objectives referred to in of this guideline, we should note
both the opportunity of its current drafting and its limitations due to the events in the global
financial markets during the period in which it was realised:
• on the one hand, we believe that a comparative analysis of the regulation of the professions
in the mediation of insurance products (including re-regulation processes in progress) in
several EU MS is welcome for the insurance industry in Romania;
• on the other hand, due to the re-regulation of international financial markets and of the EU
MS, the information presented in the guide is highly "perishable", thus resulting the urgent
need of updating it quick enough in order make the guide remain relevant for the public
interested in practicing the professions of insurance products mediation in Romania or in one
of the EU MS presented.
1. REGULATORY SITUATION IN ROMANIA AND IN THE OTHER EU MS OF
INSURANCE AGENT AND INSURANCE BROKER PROFESSIONS
The current European regulatory framework on the recognition of professional qualifications
acquired in EU MS is composed primarily by the Directive 2005/36/EC of 7 September 2005
on the recognition of professional qualifications but also by a number of sectoral directives as
Directive 2002/92/EC in the case of from insurance brokers.
The Directive 2005/36/EC establishes a system for recognition of professional qualifications
in order to improve the EU labor market flexibility, to continue liberalization of the provision
of services, to encourage automatic recognition of qualifications and simplify the
administrative procedures. This directive applies to all European citizens who wish to
exercise a regulated profession either as self-employed or as an employee in other MS than
that in which they obtained their professional qualifications and make distinction between
"freedom to provide services "and" freedom of establishment” based on criteria such as
duration, frequency, regularity and continuity of service provision.
From the point of view of the way in which can be done the recognition of professional
qualifications covered by it, the Directive 2005/36/EC covers the following recognition
systems:
• The automatic recognition system of certified qualifications by professional experience in
certain industrial, craft and commercial activities for which the items taken into account for
the recognition of professional experience are the length and its type and prior formation
proven by a certificate recognized by the Member State or considered valid by a professional
body,
• The system of automatic recognition of qualifications for the professions of doctor, nurse,
dentist, veterinary surgeon, midwife, pharmacist and architect, for which automatic
recognition of qualifications is based on the coordination of the minimum training conditions,
including minimum duration of studies,
• The general system for qualifications recognition - system which applies to professions that
are not regulated by specific rules of recognition and to certain situations in which the holder
of professional qualification does not meet the conditions set out in other recognition systems
,system based on the principle of mutual recognition, without prejudice application of
compensatory measures when there are significant differences between the training acquired
by the person concerned and the necessary training in the host MS (adaptation period no more
than three years or aptitude tests).
In terms of the qualifications level subject to the general system of recognition, the Directive
2005/36/EC distinguish five levels of professional qualifications:
an attestation of competence issued by a Competent Authority in the home Member
State, certifying either that the holder has acquired general knowledge corresponding
to secondary or high school education, or a training course not forming part of a
certificate or diploma, or a specific examination without prior training, or full-time
pursuit of the profession for three consecutive years;
certificate attesting to a successful completion of technical or professional or general
secondary education, supplemented by professional training;
diploma certifying successful completion of training at post-secondary level duration
of at least one year or vocational training which prepares the trainee for an comparable
level of responsibilities and functions;
diploma certifying that the holder has successfully completed training of post-
secondary or university level of at least three and not more than four years' duration;
diploma certifying that the holder has successfully completed training of post-
secondary or university level of at least four years' duration.
The regulated professions in the field of financial audit fall under the qualifications
recognition general system, qualification level certifying successful completion of
training at post-secondary education, university education of 3-4 years or at least four
years.
As in the case of all the other European directives, all the EU MS were obliged to comply
with the Directive 2005/36/EC trough its transposition into national legislation. Therefore, the
relevant information on the procedure and the rules for the recognition processes valid in each
MS are contained in the national legislation through which it was transposed the Directive
2005/36/EC and can be obtained from the National Contact Points (National Contact Points)
for qualifications recognition, which all Member States were obliged to establish (they are
listed on http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/qualifications/contact/national_contact_points_en.htm).
In the Directive 2005/36/EC explicitly states: “This Directive applies, concerning the right of
establishment and the provision of services, without prejudice to other specific legal
provisions regarding the recognition of professional qualifications, such as those existing in
the field of transport, insurance intermediaries and statutory auditors”. 1
1 Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications p. 7, (42), at
http://www.umftgm.ro/fileadmin/consultare_publica/bibliografie/Directiva_2036_2005_20privind_20recunoaste
rea_20calificarilor.pdf
Therefore, in order to analyze the regulation of the professions related to mediation of the
insurance products, it was necessary to study the specific directive, Directive 2002/92/EC of
the European Parliament and of the Council on insurance mediation as well as the European
documents regarding proposals for its revision2 and the main documentary source regarding
the current situation of the regulation at EU level for acquiring qualifications and access to
labour market in the insurance sector was represented the EIOPA report (European Insurance
and Occupational Pensions Authority) with the conclusions of the survey realized during the
period March-September 2012 regarding the vocational training standards applied by CA of
the EU MS in the insurance sector– „Report on a mapping exercise on Industry Training
Standards applied by national competent authorities”, din septembrie 20123.
The Directive 2002/92/EC of the European Parliament and the Council on insurance
mediation (IMD1) is the only EU legislation which regulates the point of sale of insurance
products so as to ensure the rights of the consumer. It was adopted on 9 December 2002 and
had to be transposed by Member States by 15 January 2005. The Directive is a minimum
harmonisation instrument containing high level principles and has been implemented in the 27
Member States in substantially different ways4. The need to review IMD1 was already
acknowledged during the implementation check carried out by the Commission in 2005-2008.
In the international financial crisis and global efforts to re-regulate the financial markets, in
November 2010, the G20 asked the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD), the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and other relevant international
organisations to develop common principles in the field of financial services in order to
strengthen consumer protection. The draft G20 high level principles on financial consumer
protection underline the need for proper regulation and/or supervision of all financial service
providers and agents that deal directly with consumers. Acoording to these principles, the
consumers should always benefit from comparable standards of consumer protection.
In this context, the revised Directive (IMD2) seeks to improve regulation in the retail
insurance market in an efficient manner. It aims at ensuring a level playing field between all
participants involved in the selling of insurance products and at strengthening policyholder
protection. Among the global objectives of the revision is included also to “ensure sellers'
professional qualifications match the complexity of products sold; simplify and
approximate the procedure for cross-border entry to insurance markets across the EU.”
Pending the adoption of IMD2 however, we quote the following definitions insurance
mediation activities and of different insurance mediation professions drawn from IMD15:
insurance mediation means the activities of introducing, proposing or carrying out other
work preparatory to the conclusion of contracts of insurance, or of concluding such
contracts, or of assisting in the administration and performance of such contracts, in
particular in the event of a claim.
2 EC – Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on insurance mediation (recast),
Brussels, COM (2012) 360/2, 2012 (0175 (COD) 3 EIOPA - Report on a mapping exercise on Industry Training Standards applied by national competent
authorities, EIOPA-BoS-12092, 28 September 2012 – at https://eiopa.europa.eu/fileadmin/tx_dam/files/
publications/reports/EIOPA-BoS-12092_Report_on_mapping_exercise_on_Industry_Training_Standards_
applied_by_NCAs.pdf 4
Explanatory Memorandum for revision of the Directive 2002/92/CE, p.1 , pct.1, at http://eurlex.europa.eu/
LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2012:0360:FIN:RO:DOC 5 The Directive 2002/92/EC of the European Parliament and the Council on insurance mediation adopted on 9
December 2002 http://www.csa-isc.ro/files/directive/2002_92.pdf
reinsurance mediation means the activities of introducing, proposing or carrying out other
work preparatory to the conclusion of contracts of reinsurance, or of concluding such
contracts, or of assisting in the administration and performance of such contracts, in
particular in the event of a claim.
insurance intermediary means any natural or legal person who, for remuneration, takes up
or pursues insurance mediation;
reinsurance intermediary means any natural or legal person who, for remuneration, takes
up or pursues reinsurance mediation;
tied insurance intermediary means any person who carries on the activity of insurance
mediation for and on behalf of one or more insurance undertakings in the case of
insurance products which are not in competition but does not collect premiums or
amounts intended for the customer and who acts under the full responsibility of those
insurance undertakings for the products which concern them respectively.
The insurance products can be distributed by various types of persons or institutions, such
as agents, brokers and "bank assurance" operators; equality of treatment between
operators and customer protection requires that all these persons or institutions be covered
by this Directive.
As occupations of insurance intermediaries in the International Standard Classification of
Occupations developed by the International Labor Organization (ILO) in 2008, ISCO-08,
based on which all EU MS were forced to revise national classifications of occupations since
2011 there is the basic group 3321 Insurance Agents / Insurance Representatives / agents
d'assurances (“Insurance representatives advise on insurance and sell life, accident,
automobile, liability, endowment, fire, marine and other types of insurance to new and
established clients.”). In this group, each country enroll in national classification the
occupations / professions available on its labor market.
Romania currently has registered in base group 3321 of the Classification of Occupations in
Romania (COR) two professions: insurance agent, COR code 332101, insurance broker, COR
code 332 102.
In the Annex to its report6, EIOPA conducted a review of the provisions of the European
legislation related to knowledge and qualifications required for practicing insurance mediation
professions. Thus, apart from the provisions of Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of
qualifications, from the insurance and reinsurance sector specific legislation, there are listed
the following provisions:
in IMD1 (Directive 2002/92/CE) - The coordination of national provisions on professional
requirements and registration of persons taking up and pursuing the activity of insurance
mediation can therefore contribute both to the completion of the single market for
financial services and to the enhancement of customer protection in this field; the
insurance and reinsurance intermediaries should be registered with the competent
authority of the Member State where they have their residence or their head office,
provided that they meet strict professional requirements in relation to their competence,
good repute, professional indemnity cover and financial capacity; they possess appropriate
knowledge and ability, as determined by the home Member State of the intermediary and
6 EIOPA - Report on a mapping exercise on Industry Training Standards applied by national competent authorities, EIOPA-
BoS-12092, 28 September 2012, pag.19 - 30
these professional requirement are permanently fulfilled; the insurance and reinsurance
intermediaries should be registered with the competent authority of the Member State,
including tied ones, only if that they meet professional requirements; Member States shall
ensure that insurance intermediaries— including tied ones — and reinsurance
intermediaries are removed from the register if they cease to fulfil the professional
requirements; Member States provide for appropriate sanctions in the event of an
insurance or reinsurance intermediary's failure to comply with national provisions
in IMD2 (the proposal of revision of IMD1) It is important to guarantee a high level of
professionalism and competence among insurance and reinsurance intermediaries and the
employees of direct insurers who are involved in activities preparatory to, during and after
the sales of insurance policies and therefore, their professional knowledge o match the
level of complexity of these activities and to be ensured continuous education; in order to
enhance cross border activities, it should be introduced principles regulating mutual
recognition of intermediaries' knowledge and abilities; a national qualification
corresponding to the level 3 under the European Qualification Framework should be
accepted by a host member state as demonstrating that an insurance or reinsurance
intermediary meets the requirements of knowledge and ability which are a condition of
registration in accordance with the provisions of IMD2 in the host MS
In addition to the abovementioned, EIOPA performs various studies, surveys, comparative
analyzes on how MS have transposed all these provisions from european legislation, as it
prepares for additional duties in this field proposed by the EC trough IMD2, namely, that in
the context of delegated acts, it should:
specify what is meant by the phrase” the notion of adequate knowledge and ability” of
the insurance and reinsurance intermediary
specify appropriate criteria for determining the level of professional qualifications,
experiences and competences required for carrying on insurance mediation;
specify the steps that insurance intermediaries and insurance undertakings might
reasonably be expected to take to update their knowledge and ability through
continuing professional development in order to maintain an adequate level of
performance
In the context it is mentioned that EIOPA has responsibilities in the development of training
standards in the insurance, provided right in its founding Regulation7: “to take a leading role
in promoting transparency, simplicity and fairness in the market for consumer financial
products or services across the internal market, including by…..developing training standards
for the industry”
In terms of Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications, the
situation varies significantly from one MS to another. In some MS, insurance mediation
7 Regulation (EU) no. 1094/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 establishing a
European Supervisory Authority (European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority, art.9(1)(c)
professions are not listed as regulated professions at national level (Germany8, Italy9,
Romania10, Spain11), in other MS they appear on the list of regulated professions as a generic
category that includes all financial intermediation professions (Netherlands), and other MS
have included these professions among the regulated professions and registered them in IMI -
the electronic platform for the exchange of information between EU MS AC, SEE, Helvetic
Federation and towards the mutual recognition of professional qualifications. Therefore, we
can say that there are quite a few EU MS who have introduced the principles of mutual
recognition of qualifications for the insurance sector and have entered the insurance
intermediation regulated professions in the IMI system.
In Table 1.1 is given the situation of regulated professions that have been submitted by 7 MS
to the CE database for the generic category “insurance broker”, the only currently existing
generic category in the IMI system for the insurance intermediaries
extracted by the author from all the generic categories listed above, in which 25 MS of EEA
and Swiss Confederation registered 39 professions that was reserved primarily for the
financial audit activity. Therefore, as can be seen, MS enrolled both professions as agents and
brokers in this generic category and the " insurance practitioner" profession.
8 The list of regulated professions in germany, at
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/qualifications/regprof/index.cfm?action=regprofs&id_country=3&quid=1&mode=asc&
maxRows=*#top
9 The list of regulated professions in Italy, at
http://www.politichecomunitarie.it/attivita/17592/riconoscimento-delle-qualifiche-professionali-guida-allutente
10 The list of regulated professions in Romania, at
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/qualifications/regprof/index.cfm?action=regprofs&id_country=27&quid=1&mode=asc&
maxRows=*#top
11 The list of regulated professions in Spain, at
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/qualifications/regprof/index.cfm?action=regprofs&id_country=5&quid=1&mode=asc&
maxRows=*#top
Table 1.1
The regulated professions in the generic category of insurance broker in the IMI system
MS Name of the profession in the
MS / Romanian translation Name of CA Qualification level
AUSTRIA Versicherungsvermittlung/ broker în asigurări(Insurance Broker)
Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft, Familie
und Jugend / Federal Ministry for Economics, Family
and Youth www.bmwa.gv.at
Automatic recognition of qualifications attested by
professional experience
Annex IV / undefined level of qualification
CZECH REPUBLIC Pojišťovací agent/ agent de
asigurare (Insurance Agent)
Česká národní banka/ Czech National
Bank www.cnb.cz
Automatic recognition of
qualifications attested by
professional experience
Annex IV /
undefined level of qualification
DENMARK Forsikringsformidler/ broker în
asigurări ((Insurance Broker))
Finanstilsynet/ Danish Financial
Supervisory Authority/ www.finanstilsynet.dk
General System – primary aplication /
PS3 - Post-secondary diploma (3-
4years) , Article 11 d
FRANCE
Agent général d'assurance/ agent general de asigurare (General
Insurance Agent)
Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de
résolution/ Prudential Control and Resolution Authority
http://www.acpr.banque-
france.fr/lacpr.html
General System – primary
aplication /
PS3 - Post-secondary diploma (3-4years) , Article 11 d
MALTA
Insurance sub-agent / Registered
insurance broker/sub-agent de
asigurare(Insurance Sub-agent)/ broker în asigurări
înregistrat(Registered Insurance
Broker)
Association of Insurance Brokers/
General System – primary
aplication / PS3 - Post-secondary diploma (3-
4years) , Article 11 d
UNITED KINGDOM Chartered Insurance Broker/
broker în asigurări certificat
Chartered Insurance Institute/
www.cii.co.uk
General System – primary
aplication /
PS3 - Post-secondary diploma (3-4years) , Article 11 d
HUNGARY Chartered insurance practitioner/
practician în asigurări certificat
Pénzügyminisztérium/ Ministry of Finance
General System – primary or
secundary aplication(undefined) /
DSE- Post-secondary diploma, incl. Annex II (ex.92/51, Annex
C,D), Art.11 c
Source: done by the author with information from the EU database for regulated professions,
the “Insurance broker” generic cathegory, at http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/qualifications
/regprof/index.cfm?action=profession&id_profession=5210 (at 30.04.2013)
In Romania, the two professions are currently regulated by the Financial Supervisory
Authority - FSA, the authority that took over the prerogatives of the three separate
supervisory authorities - Insurance Supervisory Commission (CSA), the National Securities
Commission (CNVM) and the of the Private Pension System Supervision Commission
(PPSSC).
CSA has regulated from 2010, through a series of successive orders (the orders 6 and 7 from
2010, the orders 10 and 11 from 2011, the orders 8 and 9 from 2012), the access to practice in
the case of the insurance intermediaries generic category, in which fall, according to CSA
Order nr.9/2012 amended and supplemented, for the implementation of the Norms regarding
the professional qualifications and training of insurance intermediaries: natural persons
insurance agents, sub-agents, natural persons exercising the bancassurance activity, insurance
/ reinsurance brokers, brokerage assistant natural persons; own personnel involved in
insurance mediation of brokerage assistants legal entities; own personal of insurance and /
reassurance broker, which has as main attribution the mediation of insurance and / or
reinsurance contracts; managers of insurance agents legal entities, of the bancassurance
activity, persons designated to manage insurance mediation activity to the brokerage
assistants legal persons, managers of the brokerage assistants - legal entities with sole object ,
executive managers of insurance and / or reinsurance brokers.
In Austria, the Directive 2002/92/EC has been transposed into national legislation by the
amendment in 2005, of the Gewerbeordnung - GewO (Law on the trade, crafts and industry)
and of the Maklergesetz (Law on brokers / agents). The CA for the supervision of insurance
intermediaries, except banks, is Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft, Familie und Jugend -
BMWFJ (Federal Ministry for Economy, Family and Youth) trough
Bezirksverwaltungsbehörde (its administrative authorities at local level). The Banks can carry
out mediation of insurance products only with the approval of the CA on supervision of
financial markets, Finanzmarktaufsichtsbehörde - FMA (Austrian Financial Market
Authority). This, based on Versicherungsaufsichtsgesetz - VAG (Law on the Insurance
Supervision), supervise inclusively the conformity with the information requirements
established for intermediaries, through on-site inspections.
The Czech Republic has transposed the Directive 2002/92/EC by Act No. 38/2004 Coll. of the
Czech Republic on Insurance Intermediaries and Independent Loss Adjusters on (Law
38/2004 on insurance intermediaries and independent loss adjusters) which came into force on
1 January 2005. The supervision CA of the insurance industry is Česká národní banka (Czech
National Bank), but the administration of Registry of insurance intermediaries and loss
adjusters is under the Ministry of Finance's responsibility.
In Denmark, the Directive 2002/92/EC has been transposed into national legislation trough
Bekendtgørelse af lov om forsikringsformidling (Insurance mediation law no. 930 of 18
September 2008) and the formation of intermediates is regulated by the Administrative Order
no. 825 of 3 July 2007 on education for insurance brokers. The CA for all financial markets is
Finanstilsynet (Danish Financial Supervisory Authority - DFSA / Danish Financial
Supervisory Authority).
In Germany, similar to Austria, the Directive 2002/92/EC has been transposed into national
legislation by the amendment of Gewerbeordnung - GewO (Law on the trade, crafts and
industry) and of the Versicherungsvermittlerverordnung - VersVermV (Act on Insurance
Mediation). The Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie - BMWi (Federal
Ministry of Economics and Technology) is the CA, but it has delegated its responsibilities to
the Deutsche Industrie-und Handelskammertag - DIHK (Association of German Chambers of
Industry and Commerce). Thus, the implementation of Directive 2002/92/EC is ensured by
Industrie-und Handelskammern - IHKs (chambers of industry and commerce of lands /
federal states of Germany) which are responsible for the registration, licensing and direct
supervision of insurance intermediaries.
According to the Versicherungsaufsichtsgesetz - VAG (Insurance Supervision Law on the),
BaFin - Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (Federal Financial Supervisory
Authority) is responsible for micro-prudential supervision of financial banking, insurance and
securities service providers (entities on the banking market, insurance market and capital
market). In this capacity, BaFin supervise the activity of employees insurance companies
which have responsibilities in mediation of the insurance products.
Italy is a MS in which it has to be pursued the process of possible revision of national
legislation regulating and supervising the insurance market (Decreto Legislativo 7 settembre
2005, n.209 – Codice delle assigurazioni private / Legislative Decree of September 7, 2005,
No. 209 - Code of private insurance), as from 1 January 2013 it has been created a new
supervisory authority, Instituto per la Vigilanza Sulla Assigurazioni - IVASS (Institute for
insurance Supervision), which took over all the duties of the former authorities - Instituto per
la Vigilanza Sulla's private Assigurazioni di Interesse Collettivo (ISVAP), but whose
chairman is the Director General of the Bank of Italy, whose status has been approved by the
central bank of Italy.
Also in the UK, from April 1, 2013, the Financial Services Authority Financial Services
Authority) has been replaced by the Financial Conduct Authority - FCA (Financial Conduct
Authority) and the Prudential Regulation Authority - PRA (Prudential Supervisory Authority)
along with the central bank - Bank of England. Directive 2002/92/EC has been transposed
into national law by the amendment of Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial
Services and Markets Act The 2000) trough Order no. 1676 of 2003 (Statutory Instrument
2003 No. 1676).
In the Netherlands, the field of financial service, the list of regulated professions12 does not
include specific professions, but two broad categories of occupational areas, we could say:
werknemer van een financiële dienstverlener die zich bezighoudt met het verlenen van
financiële diensten aan consumenten/employee of a financial services provider who grants
financial services to consumers and şi feitelijk leidinggevende van een financiële
dienstverlener die zich bezighoudt met het verlenen van financiële diensten aan
consumenten/de facto manager of a financial services provider who grants financial services
to consumers. Therefore, the Netherlands does not have registered in the IMI system any of
the specific professions of the financial services sector - capital market broker, loan broker,
insurance broker, financial consultant, investment consultant, etc.. - although all of these
professions fall into the first category of the regulated professions list.
College Deskundigheid Financiële Dienstverlening - CDFD (Financial Services Competences
College / Council) is the CA for the category of professions representing employees, and
Ministerie van Financiën (Ministry of Finance) is the CA for managers. The two categories
include all the specific professions on all financial markets because The Netherlands
Authority for the Financial Markets - AFM (The Netherlands Authority for the Financial
Markets) supervises and regulates, together with De Nederlandsche Bank - DNB (Dutch
Central Bank), all financial - banking, non-banking, equity, insurance and private pensions
markets - authorizing access of financial service providers in all these markets.
The regulation of the two categories of professions in the financial services sector is foreseen
in the Financial Supervision Act - FSA (Financial Supervision Act), which entered into force
on 1 January 2007. Based on this law, the institutions / companies that operate on financial
markets (banks, non-banking financial institutions, insurance companies / reinsurance,
investment companies, investment funds, pension funds, etc..) may be authorized only if all
employees of the basic / specific activity of financial services provision have passed the FSA
exam and follow the training / upgrading knowledge programs every 18 months for
companies with less than 50 employees in such positions / functions or only if all managers
12
The list of regulated professions in the Netherlands – at
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/qualifications/regprof/index.cfm
have passed the FSA exam and follow the training programs every 18 months for companies
with over 50 employees in position / functions specific to core business.
CDFD, as the CA for employees of financial service providers, has been established as a
government institution by royal decree in 2006 and is coordinated by the Ministry of
Finance13. It's basically a council composed of experts from the financial services sector, led
by a president who is elected from outside the financial system, and its mission is to provide
legal advice and supervision of mandatory continuing vocational training of employees in the
financial services sector. The Council is working with authorized mandatory training
providers and the examination / assessment authorized institutions, which are necessarily
separate entities of training providers.
Similar to the situation until this year in Romania, in Spain14 the financial markets are
supervised by separate authorities, depending on market: Banco de España (Bank of Spain)
for the banking sector, Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores for the capital market and
the Dirección General de Seguros y Fondos de Pensiones - DGSFP (Directorate General of
insurance and pension Funds) for insurance and private pensions market. The main legislation
in the field of insurance consists of: Texto Refundido Ley de Odenación y Supervisión de los
Seguros Privados - TRLOSSP (Law on the organization and supervision of private
insurances), Ley de Mediación de los Seguros Privados - LMSP (Law on Private Insurance
Mediation), Ley de Contrato de Seguro - LCS (Law on the insurances contract) and the
Reglamento de Ordenación y Supervisión de los Seguros Privados -ROSSP (the Code of
organisation and supervision of private insurances).
According to TRLOSSP, The Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MEC) is the
agency empowered to supervise insurance activities, with the exception of mutual insurers
that operate solely within an Autonomous Community where the Autonomous Community
has agreed to assume their supervision. DGSFP is practically a department within the MEC
and that is why it is funded by State budget, and The Director General of the DGSFP is
directly appointed by the Minister of Economy. In this context, DGSFP does not levy any fees
on industry participants, except a registration fee on intermediaries, and this fees as well as
administrative fines collected are passed over to the Treasury
2. COMPETENCES CERTIFICATION PROCEDURES APPLIED BY THE CA FOR THE
INSURANCE AGENT AND INSURANCE BROKER PROFESIONS
A synthetic comparative analysis of the requirements for knowledge and aptitudes / abilities
for insurance intermediaries authorization and the requirements for their CPD / continuous
professional development in the analyzed EU MS is presented in Table below.
Table 2.1
13
Informations obtained in November 2012, at the meeting with Madame Risha Schwalbe at Financial Services
Competences College / Council – CDFD, during the study visit in the Netherlands
14 Informations obtained from IMF Country Report no.12/139 - Spain: IAIS Insurance Core Principles: Detailed Assessment
of Observance, June 2012, at http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2012/cr12139.pdf
The situation of qualifications required for practicing the professions of insurance agent and
insurance broker in the analyzed EU MS
SM Initial training requirements Evaluation / examination of
the knowledge and aptitudes
/ abilities
CPD / continuous
professional
development
Sanctions for failure to
comply with the requirements
of knowledge and aptitudes /
abilities and CVT
Romania
Differentiated requirements for
insurance brokers compared to
insurance agents. Graduating professional training
programs in the insurance field
Examination by the IMA on
completion of professional
training programs from one of authorized providers of CSA
and registration in the
intermediaries register based on the exam graduation certificate
35 hours for
executive
managers of
insurance
brokers and 20 hours for
intermediaries
natural persons mandatory
every 2 years
for executives and managers
and every 3
years for other intermediaries
Denial of registration for the
first time in the intermediaries register if it
does not pass the
qualification exam. It is provided a period of
max. 6 months, from the
communication date of the first result for successful
reexamination (max. 2
reexamination). Insurance and / or
reinsurance companies,
insurance and / or reinsurance brokers, legal
entities insurance agents are
required to removed from the intermediaries register
the people who do not
permanently meet the professional requirements.
Austria
Qualifications obtained in the dual
system of education, including
apprenticeship (3 years for brokers) and a period of practice and training (3
years for brokers) that ends with an
exam. Employees of legal entities brokers
must demonstrate that they have
participated in internal courses (tutorials) regarding the services they
promote.
Examination and registration
with CA
(Federal Ministry for
Economy, Family and Youth manages the central register
of of insurance intermediaries,
centralizing the data from the local authorities, which
records those who have
passed the exam)
no formal CPD
requirement, but
from 2012 is debated the
application of a
obligatory
Denial of registration if it does not pass the initial exam
Czech Republic The law provides for 3 levels of
qualification: - Basic level of professional
competences for tied and subordinates
intermediates and independent loss adjusters;
- Medium level of professional
competence for insurance agents; - high / higher level of professional
competences for insurance brokers.
The level of qualification can also be proved by:
- Certificate of graduation from a
university or a to high school with insurance specialization program + min.
2 years practical experience in the
insurance sector; - Min. 2 years practical experience in
the insurance sector + exam with a
special committee established by the Ministry of Finance
Examination by the a special committee (for those who have
not specialized initial training)
and registration in the register managed by the Ministry of
Finance
YES, updating with legislative changes
Denial of registration if it does not pass the initial exam
In the case of failure of the
commitment of CVT, is given a deadline by which
the CVT must be done or
the activity of the intermediary concerned is
suspended until the updating
of knowledge and aptitudes / abilities
Denmark Post-secondary studies (3-4 years) and
profesional experience.
Requirements differentiated between brokers and agents.
Ca persoane fizice, numai
brokerii au obligaţia să se
înregistreze în registrul administrat de DFSA, pe baza
unei examinări.
Agenţii sunt înregistraţi de către
societăţile de asigurare în registrul Asociaţiei
Asiguratorilor
no formal CPD
requirement
Denial of registration if it does
not pass the initial exam , in
case of brokers
Germany Qualifications obtained in the dual
system of education (in which the chambers of commerce
are responsible for practical training/
formation of aptitudes / abilities) Higher requirements for brokers and
agents than for other categories of
intermediaries
Examination (in accordance
with section 34 of the GewO) and registration by land
chambers of commerce
(IHK) for brokers, agents (excluding tied agents) and
insurance consultants
no formal CPD
requirement
Denial of registration if it does
not pass the initial exam
Italy Requirements differentiated by
categories of intermediaries:
- Agents and brokers
- Sub-agents and collaborators
Examination by the CA
(IVASS) at the registration of
brokers and agents and by insurance companies for sub-
agents and collaborators
CVT mandatory
of 30 hours / year
and in the case of
launching new
products on the
market and / or
amending legislation.
50% of CVT can
be e-learning
Denial of registration if it does
not pass the initial exam
IVASS if it finds, by
companies inspections at or
by verification of documents,
that a sub-agent do not
possess the Certificate declared at Registration, it is
radiated from the register and
lodges a complaint of misrepresentation to public
competent authorities
United Kingdom Differentiated requirements: - investment insurances
- Insurance without an investment
component. The law makes no distinction between
agents and brokers.
Evaluation of the agents is made by the employers trough
inspections carried out to
companies by the CA
CVT mandatory 35 hours / year
only for
intermediates of investment
Insurance
Denial of registration if it does not pass the initial exam
In case of non-compliance
with conformity obligations and probity ("fitness &
probity") public admonition /
censure, fine or even imprisonment, as appropriate.
Netherlands secondary superior vocational training
(2-4 years) or adequate work
experience +
compulsory training program (FSA)
of 120 hours: basic knowledge of the financial markets + specific
knowledge in product categories:
- Life insurance; - Insurance against damage;
authorized insurance broker;
- Authorized damage insurer. In 2014 it is intended the transition to
qualification training based on
occupational standards, qualifications level 3 CEC / EQF.
There are no requirements
differentiated between agents and brokers.
FSA Exam by professional
association accredited by
CDFD as examiners, organizations which are
diferent from the FSA
training providers
CVT mandatory
every 18 months in
order to update the knowledge of
specific legislation
and strengthening consumer
confidence
Denial of registration if it does
not pass the initial exam
Spain Grupa C (50 ore formare): personal de
suport al agenţilor şi brokerilor şi
brokeri de reasigurări neimplicaţi în finalizarea vânzărilor
Differentiated training requirements
(Insurance and Finance) training
provided by providers approved by DGSFP (who approves also the
training programs) on three categories
of intermediaries / employees of intermediaries legal entities:
Group A (500 hours training) mediation company managers, multi-
tied agents and bancassurance
technical directors; Group B (200 hours training)
exclusive agents, exclusive operators
and bancassurance technical directors, intermediaries employees performing
activities related to consulting,
concluding and progress of the insurance contracts;
Differential treatment at the
examination (aptitude test held by independent
institutions approved by the
DGSFP) between tied agents and multi-tied agents
YES, CVT
mandatory at least 60 hours every
three years
In the case they do not
comply the CVT requirements , they are suspended for a
period of up to 10 years or
disqualified from a leadership position.
Group C (50 hours training) support
staff of agents and brokers and reinsurance brokers not involved in
the completion of sales
Source: done by the author with information from EIOPA, Report on a mapping exercise on
Industry Training Standards applied by national competent authorities 28 September 2012 at
information obtained from CDFD during the study visit in the Netherlands and the national
legislation of the analyzed MS
A special case in what concerns the qualifications in the insurance field is constituted by the
UK due to the institution of training and qualifications providing, Chartered Insurance
Institute - CII (Chartered Insurance Institute), an professional body for the professions of the
financial services market with international reputation, having over 100,000 members from
over 150 countries, which accept voluntary the standards of integrity, of technical and
professional competence and comply with the code of professional ethics imposed by CII.
Therefore, we consider it worthwhile to present below the insurance qualifications framework
developed by CII, insurance qualifications recognized and recorded in the National
Qualifications Framework in England by the Office of Qualifications and Examinations
Regulation – Ofqual (Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation).
CII insurance qualifications framework
Fellowship (Designation: FCII) MSc in Insurance and
Risk Management
unit credit rating Advanced Diploma in Insurance (Designation: ACII)
50 credits (991) London market
insurance
specialization
30 credits (530) Economics and
business
(590) Principles of
Takaful
(655) Risk
management
(820) Advanced
claims
(930) Advanced
insurance broking
(945) Marketing
insurance
products and services
(960) Advanced
underwriting
(990) Insurance
corporate
management
Diploma in Insurance (Designations: Dip CII, Dip CII (Claims))
30 credits NEW (P61) Life,
critical illness and
disability
underwriting
NEW
(P62) Life, critical
illness
and disability claims
(P91) Aviation and
space
insurance
(P97) Reinsurance
(P98) Marine hull
and
associated liabilities
25 credits (P05) Insurance law
COMPULSORY
UNIT**
NEW
(P63) Long term
insurance
Business*
NEW
(P64) Private medical
insurance practice*
(P90) Cargo and
goods in
transit insurances
(P92) Insurance
business
and finance
COMPULSORY
UNIT**
(P93) Commercial
property
and business
interruption
(P94) Motor
insurance
(P96) Liability
insurances
20 credits
(P21) Commercial
insurance
contract wording
(P80) Underwriting
Practice
(P81) Insurance
broking
Practice
(P85) Claims practice
(P86) Personal
insurances
Certificate in Insurance (Designations: Cert CII/Cert CII (Claims)/Cert CII (London Market)/
Cert CII (Customer Service)/Cert CII (Health and Protection))
15 credits (IF1) Insurance, legal
and
regulatory
COMPULSORY
UNIT***
(IF2) General
insurance
business
(IF3) Insurance
underwriting
process
(IF4) Insurance
claims
handling process
(IF5) Motor
insurance
products
(IF6) Household
insurance
products
(IF7) Healthcare
insurance
products
(IF8) Packaged
commercial
insurances
(IF9) Customer
service in
Insurance
(LM2) London
market
insurance principles
and
practices
10 credits
(LM1) London
market
insurance essentials
Award for the Foundation Insurance Test
6 credits
(FIT) Foundation
Insurance Test
Key:
*These units will be examined for the first time in April 2013, with study material becoming
available in December 2012
** To satisfy the Diploma and Advanced Diploma compulsory unit requirements you can
either pass units P92 and P05 or alternatively 530 and P05
*** To satisfy the Certificate compulsory unit requirements you can either pass unit IF1 or
alternatively the Award in London Market Insurance (achieved by completing units LM1 and
LM2)
CII offers CVT through the ASSESS (www.cii.co.uk/elearning ) and for insurance brokers,
CII Broker Academy offers both qualification programs and continuous professional
development programs (www.cii.co.uk/brokeracademy ).
3. QUALIFICATIONS RECOGNITION PROCESSES ACQUIRED IN OTHER EU MS IN
ORDER TO PRACTICE FOR THE INSURANCE AGENT AND INSURANCE BROKER
PROFESSIONS
The IMI system statistics realized based on data on the professionals mobility on the two
modalities of performance (through establishment / the exercise with permanent character of
their profession in another Member of the EU, EEA and Switzerland, or trough temporary
performance) and for each generic profession category individually, in accordance with the
842 generic categories registered in the database until now, is relevant for the insurance
broker, without making distinction between agents and brokers, as shown in Chapter 1. On
the other hand, the statistics do not fully reflect the process of recognition of qualifications of
insurance agents and insurance brokers, as there are SM which have provisions related to the
recognition of these qualifications in the specific legislation, but the CA for these professions
were not enrolled in IMI and therefore, recognition decisions are not recorded in the IMI
database. Making these remarks, we will present below the statistics extracted from the IMI
system for the generic category Insurance broker (insurance broker / insurance agent).
The actual situation of the 302 decisions taken throughout the reporting period in the IMI
system for the professions of insurance mediation is presented in Table 3.1.
Table 3.1
Statistics of decisions on qualifications recognition acquired in other EU MS, EEA and Swiss
Confederation for insurance mediation professions listed in the Insurance broker generic
category (1997/8 - 2012)
Host Country:
regulated professions
(2 countries which have received recognition
requests for establishment/permanent provision)
Qualification Country
of Origin
No. of positive
decisions
No. of negative
decisions
No. of
neutral
decisions
Total decisions
Austria:
Versicherungsvermittlung
(5 requests from 3 SM, all on the automatic
recognition of professional experience)
Germany 3 0 0 3
Luxembourg 1 0 0 1
United Kingdom 1 0 0 1
United Kingdom:
Chartered Insurance Broker
(84 applications from eight EU MS and Switzerland,
all with positive decisions on overall automatic system
Austria 1 0 0 1
Cyprus 4 0 0 4
Denmark 2 0 0 2
Switzerland 2 0 0 2
without compensatory measures) France 2 0 0 2
Germany 3 0 0 3
Ireland 61 0 0 61
Latvia 1 0 0 1
Malta 8 0 0 8
United Kingdom:
Chartered Insurance Practitioner
(213 requests from eight EU MS and Switzerland)
Cyprus 1 0 0 1
Switzerland 1 0 0 1
France 3 0 0 3
Germany 7 0 2 9
Greece 3 0 0 3
Ireland 175 0 0 175
Italy 2 0 0 2
Luxemburg 1 0 0 1
Malta 17 0 0 17
Netherlands 1 0 0 1
TOTAL:
2 host MS
13 countries of origin 300 0 2 302
Source: made by the author with the data from the IMI system, the situation of decisions for
permanent provision, from insurance broker generic category at
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/qualifications/regprof/index.cfm?action=profession&id_
profession=2100&tab=countries&quid=2&mode=asc&maxRows=*#top (on 30.04.2013)
According to EIOPA, there are still very little practical experience in the recognition of
qualifications of insurance intermediaries, actually confirmed by the EU statistics presented in
the table above, if we consider that only two MS have registered in the system the reception
of recognition requests, and out of the 297 applications for which the UK has adopted
decisions to grant the British protected titles of chartered insurance broker and chartered
insurance practitioner, 236 applicants are Irish neighbours, and the 25 applicants and
respectively 5 applicants are from the former British colonies Malta and Cyprus.
In Graph 3.1 it can be observed that out of 302 decisions of recognition registered so far in the
IMI system for insurance agents and insurance brokers, the overwhelming majority (300
decisions) consists of positive decisions (applicants received recognition of qualification and
the right to practice the profession concerned), only 2 decisions (taken by the UK for the
requests of two German nationals for chartered insurance practitioner qualification
recognition) were neutral (applications are still pending), and there were no negative decision
(rejection of the application for the recognition of qualifications acquired in another MS).
Graph 3.1 - Structure by type of decision for recognition of qualifications in the category
Insurance broker during 1997 / 8-2012
99,34%
0,66%
Dec iz ii poz itive
Dec iz ii neutre
Graph 3.2 - Structure by host countries of the decisions qualifications recognition registered
in the category Insurance broker in 1997 / 8-2012
98%
2%
Marea B ritanie
Aus tria
Positive decisions
Neutral decisions
United Kingdom
Austria
Graph 3.3 - Structure by countries of origin of the requests for the qualifications recognition
registered in the category Insurance broker in 1997 / 8-2012
78%
0,66%
2%2%
0,33%
5%
8%
1%1%
Irlanda
Malta
G ermania
C ipru
F ranta
G rec ia
E lvetia
Italia
Danemarc a
L uxemburg
Marea B ritanie
Aus tria
Olanda
Source: all three charts are based on the data processed by the author from the EC database
with the regulated professions for the Insurance broker generic category, listed in Table 3.1
(on 30.04.2013)
In the top of professions in terms of the number of decisions on recognition of qualifications
acquired in another MS than that of the establishment / permanent practice, the professions
included in the generic category of "insurance broker" are placed as follows:
• the 88th place for the whole period (1997/8 - 2012), with 302 decisions;
• the 78th place for the period 2005 / 6-2012, with 258 decisions;
• the 93 place for the period 2010-2012, 62 decisions.
For comparison, we mention that the first position is occupied by the generic category "doctor
of medicine" (physicians) with 50 780 decisions adopted during 1997/8 – 2012, from which
49 155 decisions in the period 2005 / 6-2012 and for the period 2010 - 2012, on the first place
has passed the generic category "nurse" (nurses), with 22 301 decisions.
In the case of temporary provision of insurance services - Freedom of Services - FOS
(freedom to provide services), there are no declarations recorded in the IMI database. At EU
level, cross-border insurance services, however, are regulated, meaning the notification
obligation of the intent to provide them, known as the "notification procedure" (notification
procedure) or "European Passport" (European passport), notification which must made by the
provider to the CA of the host MS through the CA of the home MS.
For the establishment / permanent provision of insurance activity - Freedom of Establishment
- FOE (freedom of establishment), as shown in Table 1.1 of Chapter 1 of this guide, the three
systems of recognition set out in Directive 2005/36 / EC on the recognition of professional
qualifications, the professions registered by the EU MS within the Insurance broker general
category are covered by either the general system of qualifications recognition (Denmark,
France, Malta, UK, Hungary) either of the system of automatic recognition of qualifications
Ireland
Malta
Germany
Cyprus
France
Greece
Switzerland
Italy
Denmark
Luxembourg
United Kingdom
Austria
Nederland
attested by professional experience in certain industrial, craft and commercial activities
(Austria, Czech Republic).
In Romania, the insurance professions are not included in the Law 200/2004 for transposition
of Directive 2005/36/EC on recognition of professional qualifications. Law 32/2000 on
insurance and reinsurance in Romania, as amended and supplemented, contains provisions
regarding the freedom of establishment of EEA insurers and intermediaries in Romania and of
the Romanian insurers in other EEA MS. The regulation of the insurance intermediary
professions occurred after the last amendments and supplements of the Law 32/2000. In the
Order of CSA. No.9/2012 are specified the conditions to access the practice of intermediation
activity - following the qualification programs authorized by CSA finalized with graduation
exam. In the EIOPA report it is mentioned that “In Romania, the insurance supervisor
recognises only training certificates issued by professional associations authorised in Romania
and graduation certificates obtained in Romania.” 15
.
In Austria, where the system of qualifications recognition, including those of the insurance
sector, acquired in other the EU MS, EEA and Swiss Confederation is based on Directive
2005/36/EC, BMWFJ (Federal Ministry of Economy, Family and Youth) is the CA
coordinating at national and international level and, also, the CA for declaring of cross-border
services (temporary or occasional) in commercial activities (regulated by the Law on trade,
crafts and industry - GewO), but the CA for the processes of qualifications recognition
certified by professional experience in certain industrial, craft and trade activities (including
also the insurance broker) for establishing / permanent performance are the regional
government (Landeshauptmann), which can record the intermediaries from other SM EEA or
Switzerland on the basis of evidence that they are registered in the register of insurance
intermediaries in the respective country (made by notification to the CA of home MS).
In the Czech Republic, the Law 38/2004 on insurance intermediaries and independent loss
assessors provides that, upon receipt of a notification from the CA from another MS
concerning an insurance intermediary intention of establishment in the Czech Republic, the
Ministry of Finance is required to inform the intermediary concerned about the general
conditions of the provision of intermediation services of insurance products in the Czech
Republic and to record him in the Czech register of insurance intermediaries within one
month from the date of receipt from CA in the home MS the identification data and
confirmation that it is recorded in the register of insurance intermediaries of the home MS.
In the case of the general system for the of qualifications recognition, the recognition is not
automatic, but it requires a comparison between the training provided in the two states - that
in which the applicant has acquired the qualification (home country) and in which it wants to
practice permanently (host country), and the possibility, in case of "substantial differences",
of the application of the compensatory measures (aptitude test or adaptation period - Article
23 of the Directive).
For the general system of recognition, the application for recognition is submitted to the CA
of the host MS. This application must be accompanied by a series of documents and
certificates listed in Annex VII to Directive 2005/36/EC.
The documents that can be requested when submitting an application for recognition are:
15
EIOPA - Report on a mapping exercise on Industry Training Standards applied by national competent authorities, 28
September 2012, p. 13
• proof of nationality;
• evidence of establishment in another MS of the EU, EEA or Swiss Confederation;
• documents regarding professional qualification, competences and practical experience:
certificate of competence or evidence of formal qualification issued by the CA of the origin
MS;
• other documents, if they are required also to financial auditors from the host MS - evidence
of reputation, solvency, proof that the applicant is medically fit, financial status, professional
insurance.
The CA from the host MS may request copies and translations authenticated by a notary for
the most important documents, but not for standardized documents (e.g. passport, identity
card). Also, there can not be required original documents, only copies. In the case when the
applicant can not provide all the requested information, CA of the host country should try to
obtain them from the CA of the origin MS trough the IMI system.
As recognition procedure, the CA of the host MS shall, within one month, to confirm the
receipt of the file and to draw attention to any missing documents, if applicable. The CA
deadline to grant recognition or decide to apply an aptitude test is 4 months. Any rejection
must be substantiated and the rejection or failing to take a decision within the time limit
mentioned above could be challenged before the national courts.
The aptitude test can be applied provided that the CA of the host MS, based on the documents
received determines the differences between the two qualifications which must be covered by
compensatory measures. In setting the aptitude test subjects, the CA of the host MS should
consider not only the knowledge acquired by the applicant in the formal qualifications, but
also those that the person has acquired in informal and non-formal as well as practical
experience . In the vision of EC, the CA of the host MS should hold at least two sessions of
aptitude tests per year. In order to achieve the recognition and organize the aptitude test, the
CA may charge a fee provided that it does not exceed the costs involved and is not
discriminatory against its own nationals placed in similar situations. Once obtained the
qualification recognition, the applicant can practice the profession in the same conditions as
those acquired the qualification in the host MS, the professional regulations of the host MS
being applicable.
In Denmark, the request for qualification recognition together with the all documentation
must be submitted to Finanstilsynet (Danish Financial Supervisory Authority), but it appeals
to Styrelsen for Universiteter og Internationalisering (Danish Agency for Universities and
Internationalisation - the CA in Denmark for the transposition and implementation of
Directive 2005 / 36/CE on the qualification recognition) in order to carry out comparisons
between qualification acquired by the applicant in the home SM and the qualifications
required in Denmark, in order to decide whether it will be subject to an aptitude test / a
probationary period or not.
Although, of the 9 EU MS analyzed in this guide, only 4 have registered the insurance
intermediary regulated professions in the IMI system, pursuant to Directive 2005/36/EC on
recognition of professional qualifications (Austria and the Czech Republic adopting the
qualifications recognition system certified by professional experience in certain industrial
craft and commercial activities, and Denmark and the United Kingdom adopting the general
system of recognition of qualifications), we can consider that the other 5 MS automatically
accepted the adoption of general system for recognition giventhe fact that the CA countries
are signatories to the Luxembourg Protocol on cooperation of the EU MS CA in the
implementation of Directive 2002/92/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9
December 2002 on insurance mediation.
In paragraph 2.2.2. of the Protocol16 - Mutual Recognition – is stipulated that Even if there is
no specific mutual recognition clause in the Directive 2002/92/CE, the General system serves
as "lex specialis" under the following conditions and circumstances: natural persons fully
qualified as insurance intermediaries in a EU Member State wishing to take up the same
profession in another EU Member State on the basis of permanent establishment, without
keeping their original licence, should also be able to benefit from Title III, Chapter I of
Directive 2005/36/EC (which regulates the general system of qualification recognition)as the
situation is not covered by the Directive 2002/92/CE.
Annex II of the Protocol presents a model the notification of an insurance intermediary who
wishes to practice, based on freedom of establishment, in another MS than that in which it has
acquired the qualification and it was recorded. The information in this form, in the case of
phisical persons, are:
• name, surname;
• address or registration number;
• intermediary category, if applicable, and the name the insurer, if the intermediary operates
for and on its behalf;
• classes of brokered insurance products, if applicable;
• work carried out in the home MS;
• the current CA name;
• online register address where the intermediary is listed;
• the date, name and position of notification sender.
The AC of the host MS may require also additional data.
16
Protocol Relating to the Cooperation of the Competent Authorities of the Member States of the European Union in
Particular Concerning the Application of Directive 2002/92/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9
December 2002 on Insurance Mediation, CEIOPS-DOC-02/06 Rev 1, Oct. 2008, p. 9 – at
https://eiopa.europa.eu/fileadmin/tx_dam/files/publications/protocols/Luxembourg_Protocol%20_without%20annexes_Rev1
_Oct2008.pdf
Against a decision on the recognition of qualifications, considered not in line with Directive
2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications, one can act in a lecture stage
appealing to SOLVIT system which constitutes a possibility of complaint simpler than the
legal way.
The SOLVIT is an online network, operational since July 2002, in which the EU MS are
working together to solve in a pre-legal stage, problems caused by the misapplication or non-
application of Internal Market Community legislation by the public authorities.
There is a SOLVIT centre in every EU MS, as well as in Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
The centers are part of the central government and must give solutions to the problems raised
by citizens or companies within 10 weeks, and the network utilization is free.
The Romanian SOLVIT Centre is located within the Ministry of European Affairs (can be
contacted at e-mail [email protected] ).
The SOLVIT mechanism operating conditions are:
• to be about the failure or misapplication of EU legislation by a Member State administration,
• to be about a cross border case
• that there is no action already in place for its settlement.
The cross border nature does not imply the petitioner to be in another MS than the one where
the problem has occurred. It is enough to have an international element that could make
applicable the provisions of Community legislation (e.g., a Romanian citizen wants to
practice in Germany and has difficulty on engagement). The functioning of the SOLVIT
system is shown in the diagram below.
Source: http://www.romania-actualitati.ro/conceptul_de_cetatenie_europeana-50325 (as of
07/17/2013)
How does it work
Country A Country A
Home
SOLVIT
centre
Lead
SOLVIT
centre
Work together to
find solutions
Work
together to
present
problem
and find
solutions
Work
together to
negotiate
problem
Problem
Natural or legal
person
Public
Authority
For instance, if a Romanian citizen has a complaint regarding the rules of the internal market,
it will address SOLVIT ROMANIA (the organization that can handle the case depending on
the nationality of the person who submitted the complaint).
If a Romanian citizen has obtained the qualification in Austria, wishing to be employed in
Germany and has a complaint in this regard, it will address the centre in Austria. The
application will be analyzed and if deemed that the case is a breach of the Community law, it
will contact LEAD SOLVIT centre (responsible SOLVIT Centre). If they agree with the
proposal, it will go further to the respondent authority. The client is assisted in a language he
understands, but more important is that there is a SOLVIT centre responsible who knows
what procedures should be followed and which authorities should be contacted to resolve the
issue.
In order to obtain a good result, SOLVIT rely on the relationship with the respondent
authority. This is because it is an informal network and does not have the authority of a judge.
The reasons for which not all the petitions are addressed include:
• certain issues related to the Member State legislation, if it can not give a quick solution, the
case is considered unsolved;
• the respondent authority is not willing to cooperate, in which case the petitioner is advised to
consult the courts which are able to oblige the CA to modify their behavior accordingly to the
reported aspect.
For problems related to national legislation, SOLVIT centres are working together to see how
it can be amended.
4. EXERCISE IN THE EU OF THE INSURANCE AGENT AND INSURANCE BROKER
PROFESSIONS
According to BIPAR17 over 80,000 insurance mediation firms, with over 250,000 employees,
are operating in the EU internal market, therefore in all MS. Most of the intermediaries are
small businesses or even micro-businesses, place near the consumers, both in urban and rural
areas. They provide personalized services almost entirely to local private clients and to small
entreprises and are facing growing competition from the alternative distribution channels.
Many intermediaries are small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that serve other SMEs in all
sectors of activity at regional and national level and ever more in foreign markets following
their customers whenever they engaged in import - export activities, they are setting up
subsidiaries or branches or open their offices abroad. Some of the intermediates are large
companies that operate throughout Europe or even globally, having as client portfolio
especially the large firms (corporate customers). And some of them are active not only in
insurance but also in reinsurance. Therefore, overall, BIPAR consider that the insurance
market is still quite fragmented in the EU, and cross-border competition is limited by a
number of barriers to market access, such as lack of harmonization of the legislation SM
regarding the insurance contract and taxation, which leads to the reduction of purchasing
options for the consumers and obstructing operations of insurers. Insurance intermediaries
should assist consumers to overcome these barriers, but often this goal remains only an
aspiration.
17
BIPAR, The European Federation of Insurance Intermediaries – BIPAR response to the European Commission’s
Consultation document on the review of the Insurance Mediation Directive (IMD), February 2011
In concordance with IMD118
, in all MS of the EU, Insurance and reinsurance intermediaries
have the obligation to hold professional indemnity insurance and to demonstrate its financial
capacity. The professional insurance must cover the whole territory of the Community and to
be at least EUR 1000000 for each claim request and in aggregate EUR 1500000 per year for
all claims (unless such insurance or comparable guarantee is already provided by an insurance
undertaking, reinsurance undertaking on whose behalf the intermediary is acting if such
undertaking has taken on full responsibility for the intermediary's actions.
The measures to protect customers against the inability of the insurance intermediary to
transfer the premium to the insurance undertaking or to transfer the amount of claim or return
premium to the insured shall take any one or more of the following forms:
provisions laid down by law or contract whereby monies paid by the customer to the
intermediary are treated as having been paid to the undertaking, whereas monies paid
by the undertaking to the intermediary are not treated as having been paid to the
customer until the customer actually receives them;
to have financial capacity amounting, on a permanent basis, to 4 % of the sum of
annual premiums received, subject to a minimum of EUR 15000;
a requirement that customers' monies shall be transferred via strictly segregated client
accounts and that these accounts shall not be used to reimburse other creditors in the
event of bankruptcy
a requirement that a guarantee fund be set up.
According to IMD1, The amounts referred to as minimum for the professional insurance and
financial capacity shall be reviewed regularly, every five years, in order to take account of
changes in the European Index of Consumer Prices as published by Eurostat
Moreover, Insurance and reinsurance intermediaries shall be of good repute, the minimum
condition being that they shall have a clean police record (or other equivalent proof in relation
to serious criminal offences linked to crimes against property or to financial activities and
they should not have previously been declared bankrupt ( unless they have been rehabilitated
in accordance with national law).
In proposal for revision of the Directive 2002/92/EC, that is the the IMD2 project, it is
provided the obligation of the insurance intermediaries to disclose any situation of conflict of
interest. They should advise the customers about their status (broker, tied agent, employee of
an insurance company) and the fee they receive. IMD2 provides for a transitional period of 5
years, for which the requirement applies only to life insurance intermediaries, the insurance
intermediaries in other classes are required to provide this information only during the
transition only on customer demand (motivation of the exemption is that to ease the transition
to the new regulations of the insurance mediation SMEs).
The IMD2 project also provides that independent brokers will be allowed to accept fee only
for contracts on insurance mediation with an investment component for the client.
18
Directiva Parlamentului European si a Consiliului 2002/92/CE din 9 decembrie 2002 privind intermedierea de asigurari, p.
8 – 10, la
http://www.csa-isc.ro/files/directive/2002_92.pdf
CONCLUSIONS
The EIOPA report based on the survey conducted between March-September 2012 on
vocational training standards applied by the CA from EU MS and EEA19 is the latest
document and the most complete research which addressed the issue of this guide. Therefore,
we consider appropriate to render below the general conclusions presented in this report
EIOPA:
1. Knowledge and aptitudes/ability requirements:
are generally a combination of academic and professional experience, but, in some
instances (LU, NO, NL), academic qualifications can be waived if professional
experience is long enough.
In many Members States (BE, BG, CZ, CY, DK, FR, LU, LV, NO, PL, RO and SK),
the requirements for knowledge and ability are more stringent for insurance brokers
than insurance agents, except for some cases (DE, GR, IT, MT) where the
requirements for knowledge and ability are more stringent for agents and brokers than
for other categories of intermediaries.
Notwithstanding the requirement for continuous education in some jurisdictions (see
below), in a large number of cases (AT, BG, CY, FI, FR, DE, HU, IS, LV, LT, LU,
NO, MT, NL and SI), knowledge and ability are only assessed by national competent
authorities before the first registration of the intermediary.
2. Requirement to update knowledge and ability requirements
A large number of jurisdictions (AT, BG, CY, FR, DE, DK, HU, IS, LV, LU, MT and
SI) having no formal requirement, other MS (FI, LI, LT, PT, NO, SE, SK) having a
general obligation of continuous compliance with the knowledge and ability
requirements, others (IE, IT, UK) specify a minimum number of hours (e.g. 30 hours)
of CPD per year and others (BE, CZ, ES, PL, NL, RO, SK) provide the obligation
following certain CVT courses and/or passing of an exam on a certain periodicity /
over a specific number of years;
Apart from few exceptions (IE, IT, PT), there is limited availability for intermediaries
to carry out updating courses through e-learning.
3. The responsibility for assessing knowledge and aptitude/ability at national level varies
considerably between MS, from the assessment being carried out by national competent
authorities only or in tandem with undertakings/professional associations, or through
delegation to professional associations in some MS (BE, LV, NL) or to the
intermediary/undertaking itself. (In IT, for example, the responsibility for assessment differs
according to the category of intermediary)
4. The basic sanctions for failure to possess adequate knowledge and initial aptitude/ability
are (in all the MS analyzed) in refusal to register the intermediary or withdrawal of their
licence/authorisation in case the requirements are not meet permanently, but in some MS are
sanctions in place for suspensions/disqualifications (CZ, ES, IE, IS, LT, NL and SE),
administrative fines (NO, SE and SK) or fines/imprisonment (FR, IE, LI, PL,PT, NL).
5. As regard recognition of qualification aquired in other MS, there is very little experience
amongst national competent authorities to solve the request from those who have aquired the
qualification in one MS and wish to establish themselves in another MS, the proceses may be
carried out by the respective CA, either by national qualification bodies or by professional
associations.
19
EIOPA - Report on a mapping exercise on Industry Training Standards applied by national competent authorities, EIOPA-
BoS-12092, 28 September 2012, p. 5 - 6
The last conclusion from the EIOPA report regarding the process of recognition of
qualifications for the insurance mediation business is confirmed by the analysis carried out in
this guide on regulated professions in the field registered in the IMI system and to the
statistics on recognition processes reported in the system: the fact that at the end of April 2013
only 7 MS had recorded 9 insurance mediation professions in the IMI system, "professional
qualifications" component and, among them, only 2 MS have recorded in the system the
receipt of applications for recognition of the qualifications acquired in other MS (the entire
period of functioning of the IMI system - 1997/8 - 2012) shows, indeed, a little experience in
applying the provisions of Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional
qualifications.
This situation may be due to the fact that IMD1 sectoral directive which regulate also the
professional requirements of the insurance intermediaries, on the one hand, does not contain a
specific provision on mutual recognition of professional qualifications, but on the other hand,
introduces the sole EU registration principle of the insurance intermediaries in order to
facilitate cross-border activities, both under the freedom to provide services (FOS) and under
the freedom of establishment (FOE). According to the principle sole registration, the decision
to register an intermediary, valid for the whole EU, is the sole responsibility of the CA of the
home MS, and the cross-border activities of an intermediary, including the freedom of
establishment (permanent provision, which, according to Directive 2005/36/EC requires the
recognition of professional qualifications acquired in the MS of origin) may be carried out by
following the procedure of intent notification of the intermediary, notification done by CA of
home MS to CA of host. MS
Therefore, the Luxembourg Protocol on cooperation of the EU MS CA in implementation of
Directive 2002/92/EC, initiated in 2006 in order to create a framework for cooperation and
exchange of information between the CA to ensure effective supervision of insurance and
reinsurance intermediaries and facilitate their unique registration in the EU, states that
recognition of qualification must to be made pursuant to Directive 2005/36/EC on a general
recognition system, in the case of an intermediary that wants to establish in another MS
without keeping its license / original authorisation.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Directive 2002/92/ec of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 December 2002
on insurance mediation at
http://www.csa-isc.ro/files/directive/2002_92.pdf
CEIOPS, Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors –
Report on the Implementation of the Insurance Mediation Directive’s Key Provisions,
CEIOPS-DOC-09/07, March 2007 – at
https://eiopa.europa.eu/fileadmin/tx_dam/ files/publications/submissionstotheec/CEIOPS-
DOC-09-07IMDReport.pdf
CEIOPS, Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors – Protocol Relating to
the Cooperation of the Competent Authorities of the Member States of the European Union in Particular
Concerning the Application of Directive 2002/92/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9
December 2002 on Insurance Mediation, EIOPS-DOC-02/06 Rev 1, Oct 2008 – at
https://eiopa.europa.eu/fileadmin/tx_dam/files/publications/protocols/Luxembourg_Protocol%20_without%2
0annexes_Rev1_Oct2008.pdf
EIOPA, European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority - Report on a mapping exercise on
Industry Training Standards applied by national competent authorities, EIOPA-BoS-12092, 28 September
2012 – at
https://eiopa.europa.eu/fileadmin/tx_dam/files/publications/reports/EIOPA-BoS-12-
092_Report_on_mapping_exercise_on_Industry_Training_Standards_applied_by_NCAs.pdf
EIOPA, European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority – Consultation Paper on a Draft Report on
Good Supervisory Practices regarding knowledge and ability requirements for distributors of insurance
products, EIOPA-CP-13/016, 27 June 2013 – at https://eiopa.europa.eu/consultations/consultation-
papers/index.html?no_cache=1&cid=5767&did=32596&sechash=1506a664.
European Commission - Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on insurance
mediation (recast), Brussels, XXX, COM(2012) 360/2, 2012/0175 (COD) – forma bilingvă engleză-română
at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/Notice.do?mode=dbl&lng1=en,ro&lang=&lng2=bg,cs,da,de,el,en,es,et,fi,fr,it,lv,ro
,sk,sl,sv,&val=681131:cs&page=0
Dr. Alina Domaradzka, Lecturer, EIPA Luxembourg – The Revision of the Insurance Mediation Rules at EU
Level and its Impact on Consumer Protection – at
http://www.eipa.eu/files/repository/eipascope/20121213145141_ADO_Eipascope2012_2.pdf
The European Federation of Insurance Intermediaries (BIPAR) Response - European Commission’s
Consultation document on the Review of the Insurance Mediation Directive (IMD), February 2011
London Economics – Insurance Intermediaries in Europe – 2012 Update, report to BIPAR, September 2012 –
at http://www.bipar.eu/en/library/economic-data
PwC – Study on the impact of the revision of the Insurance Mediation Directive (ETD/2007/IM/B2/51),
Final Report, prepared for the EC DG Internal Market and Services, May 23rd 2011 – at
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/insurance/docs/mediation/imd_final_en.pdf
Act no. 930 of 18 September 2008 - Consolidated Insurance Mediation Act, GlobalDenmark Translations,
February 2009, at
http://www.finanstilsynet.dk/upload/Finanstilsynet/Mediafiles/newdoc/Acts/CAct930_180908.pdf
Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin)/ Federal Financial Supervisory Authority in
Germany - ’12 Annual Report, Bonn and Frankfurt am Main, May 2013, at http://www.bafin.de/
SharedDocs/Downloads/EN/Jahresbericht/dl_annualreport_2012.pdf?__blob=publicationFile
The Insurance Supervisory Commission (CSA) - Report on the insurance market and the activity carried out
in 2012, Bucharest, June 2013 - at http://www.csa-isc.ro/files/Raport%20anual%20CSA%202012.pdf
IMF Country Report no. 12/139 – Spain: IAIS Insurance Core Principles: Detailed Assessment of
Observance, June 2012, at http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2012/cr12139.pdf
IMF Country Report no. 11/272 – Germany: Financial Sector Assessment Program - Detailed Assessment of
Observance on Insurance Core Principles, September 2011, at
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2011/cr11272.pdf
IMF Country Report no. 11/234 – UK: Insurance Core Principles Detailed Assessment of Observance, July
2011, at http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2011/cr11234.pdf
IMF, Monetary and Financial Systems Department - Detailed Assessment of Observance of the Insurance
Core Principles, Italy, February 2006, at
http://www.dt.tesoro.it/export/sites/sitodt/modules/documenti_it/rapporti_finanziari_internazionali/rapporti_f
inanziari_internazionali/05Detailed-Assessment-of-Observance-.pdf
Capgemini and EFMA – World Insurance Report 2013, at
http://www.capgemini.com/sites/default/files/resource/pdf/wir_2013_0.pdf
European Commission, Internal Market and Services DG (2010) – Group of Coordinators for the
Recognition of Professional Qualifications – Frequently Asked Questions (Update 22 October 2010 –
MARKT D/3418/6/2006-EN) at
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/qualifications/docs/future/faq_en.pdf
European Commission – User Guide, Directive 2005/36/EC, at
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/qualifications/docs/guide/users_guide_en.pdf
European Commission – Code of Conduct approved by the Group of Coordinators for the Directive
2005/36/EC on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications – National Administrative Practices Falling
under Directive 2005/36/EC – at http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/qualifications/docs/future/cocon_en.pdf
European Commission – Commission Staff Working Document on the Transposition and Implementation of
the Professional Qualifications Directive (Directive 2005/36/EC), Brussels, 22 /10/2010, SEC(2010) 1292, at
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/qualifications/docs/evaluation/staff-working-doc_en.pdf
ABBREVIATIONS
AC/CA – Competent Authority (for one or more regulated professions)
AFM - Dutch Authority for Financial Markets
ANC/NAQ – National Authority for Qualifications (from Romania)
ASF/FSA – Financial Supervisory Authority (by merging - CNVM, CSA and CSSPP - Romania)
ASSESS - online system through which CII (UK) provides FPC
BaFin - Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (Federal Financial Supervisory Authority in Germany)
BIPAR - The European Federation of Insurance Intermediaries (Federaţia Europeană a Intermediarilor de
Asigurări)
BMWFJ - Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft, Familie und Jugend (Federal Ministry of Economy, Family and
Youth of Austria)
BMWI - Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie (Ministerul Federal al Economiei şi Tehnologiei
din Germania)
CDFD – College Deskundigheid Financiële Dienstverlening (Financial Services Competences College
/ Council )
CE/EC – European Commission
CEC/EQF – Cadrul European al Calificărilor/European Qualifications Framework
CEIOPS - Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (Comitetul European al
Supraveghetorilor din Asigurări şi Pensii Ocupaţionale, substituted by EIOPA from 1.01.2011)
CII – Institutul Certificat de Asigurari (Chartered Insurance Institute from the United Kingdom)
CNVM – National Securities Commission (from Romania, incorporated in the current ASF)
COR - Classification of Occupations in Romania
CSA – The Insurance Supervisory Commission (from Romania, incorporated in the current ASF)
CSF - Financial Stability Council (at international level)
CSSPP – Supervisory Commission of Private Pension System (from Romania, incorporated in the current ASF)
DFSA - Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finanstilsynet/ Autoritatea Daneză de Supraveghere
Financiară)
DG/GD – General Directorate
DGSFP - Dirección General de Seguros y Fondos de Pensiones (General Directorate of Insurance and
Pension Funds, the Supervisory Authority in Spain)
DIHK - Deutsche Industrie-und Handelskammertag (The Association of German Chambers of Industry and
Commerce)
DNB - De Nederlandsche Bank (Central Bank of the Netherlands)
EFMA – European Financial Management Association (Asociaţia Europeană de Management Financiar)
EFP/ VET - Vocational Education and Training
EIOPA – Autoritatea Europeană de Asigurări şi Pensii Ocupaţionale – AEAPO (The European Insurance and
Occupational Pensions Authority, which substituted CEIOPS from 1.01.2011)
EIPA – European Institute of Public Administration (Institutul European de Administraţie Publică)
FCA - Financial Conduct Authority (Autoritatea de Conduită Financiară din Marea Britanie)
FMA - Finanzmarktaufsichtsbehörde (Austrian Financial Market Authority)
FMI – Fondul Monetar Internaţional (International Monetary Fund – IMF)
FOE - Freedom of Establishment (libertatea de stabilire, în UE)
FOS - Freedom of services (libertatea de a presta servicii, în UE)
FPC CVT - continuing vocational training
FSA - Legea Supravegherii Financiare (Financial Supervision Act of the Netherlands)
G20 – World Forum, a group of finance ministers and central bank governors of 19 countries (South Africa,
Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, South Korea, France, Germany, India,
Indonesia, Italy, Japan, United Britain, Mexico, Russia, USA, Turkey) and EU, countries amounting 90%
of global GDP, 80% of world trade (including EU) and two-thirds of the world population
GewO – The law on trade, crafts and industry (in Austria and Germany)
IAIS – International Association of Insurance Supervisors (Asociaţia Internaţională a Supraveghetorilor în
Asigurări)
IHKs - Industrie- und Handelskammern (chambers of industry and commerce in Germany)
IIS – International Insurance Society (Societatea Internaţională a Asigurărilor)
IMA – Insurance Management Institute (from Romania)
IMD1 - Directive 2002/92/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on insurance mediation
IMD2 - Directive 2002/92/CE, revised
IMI – Internal Market Information system (information system of the EU single market)
IMM/SMEs – small and medium enterprises
IPS - Institute for Social Policy (in Romania)
ISCO-08 - International Standard Classification of Occupations, developed by the ILO in 2008
ISVAP – Instituto per la Vigilanza sulle Assigurazioni Private e di Interesse Collettivo (former insurance
supervisory authority in Italy)
IVASS - Instituto per la Vigilanza sulle Assigurazioni ( the current insurance supervisory authority in Italy)
JO – Official Journal of UE
LCS - Ley de Contrato de Seguro (Insurance contract law in Spain)
LMSP - Ley de Mediación de los Seguros Privados (Law on private insurance mediation in Spain)
MEC - Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness in Spain
MEN – Ministry of National Education (from Romania)
MO – Official Journal (in Romania)
OCDE – Organizaţia pentru Cooperare şi Dezvoltare Economică (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development – OECD)
Ofqual - Oficiul de Reglementare a Calificărilor şi Examinărilor (Office of Qualifications and Examinations
Regulation, in the United Kingdom)
OIM - Organizaţia Internaţională a Muncii (International Labour Organisation – ILO)
PRA - Autoritatea de Supraveghere Prudenţială (Prudential Regulation Authority from Marea Britanie)
ROSSP - Reglamento de Ordenación y Supervisión de los Seguros Privados (The Code of organisation and
supervision of private insurances in Spain)
SEE/EEA – European Economic Area (all EU MS + Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway)
SM/MS – Member State (of the European Union)
TRLOSSP - Texto Refundido Ley de Odenación y Supervisión de los Seguros Privados (Law on the
organization and supervision of private insurance organizations in Spain)
UE/EU – European Union
VAG - Versicherungsaufsichtsgesetz (The law on the supervision of insurance in Austria and Germany)
VersVermV - Versicherungsvermittlerverordnung (Law on Insurance Mediation in Germany)
USEFUL LINKS
EU MS insurance authorities–
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/insurance/links/index_en.htm#maincontentSec2
CE database with information regarding the transposition into national law of MS of the Directives on
Financial Services Action Plan -
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/finances/actionplan/transposition/index_en.htm
EIOPA - https://eiopa.europa.eu/
IAIS - http://www.iaisweb.org/
IIS – http://iisonline.org/about-iis/
BIPAR - http://www.bipar.eu/
EC database of the regulated professions in the MS –
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/qualifications/regprof/index.cfm?newlang=en
National Contact Points for qualifications recognition from MS
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/qualifications/contact/national_contact_points_en.htm
MS SOLVIT Centers http://ec.europa.eu/solvit