CIRCULAR BCL 2015/239

Introduction of a statistical collection from insurance companies

Luxembourg, 9 November 2015

To all insurance companies

Ladies and Gentlemen,

On 28 November 2014, the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) adopted ECB Regulation 2014/50 on statistical reporting requirements applicable to insurance companies.

This regulation complements the existing framework of ECB statistical activities necessary to enable the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) to perform its functions by defining the natural and legal persons subject to reporting obligations, the confidentiality regime, and adequate implementation and sanction provisions, in accordance with Article 5.4 of the Statutes of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank.

In particular, this regulation takes into account Regulation (EC) No 2533/98, as amended by Regulation (EC) No 951/2009, which provides, in Article 2(1), that in order to ensure compliance with its statistical reporting obligations, the European Central Bank (ECB),

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assisted by the national central banks (NCBs), has the right to collect statistical information within the limits of the reference population subject to reporting and the elements necessary to ensure the missions of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). It follows from Article 2(2)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 that insurance companies are part of the reference reporting population for the purpose of complying with statistical reporting obligations to the ECB, notably in the area of monetary and banking statistics. Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 imposes on the ECB the obligation to specify the effective population subject to reporting, within the limits of the reference population, and empowers it to exempt specific categories of reporting agents from statistical reporting obligations wholly or partially.

The statistical reporting obligations imposed on insurance companies aim to provide the ECB with adequate statistics concerning the financial activities of the insurance companies sub-sector in Member States whose currency is the euro. The collection of statistical information relating to insurance companies is necessary to meet regular or ad hoc analysis needs, to facilitate the ECB's monetary and financial analysis, and for the ESCB to contribute to the stability of the financial system.

On the basis of the aforementioned ECB regulations, the Banque Centrale du Luxembourg (BCL) has developed a statistical collection for insurance companies, the characteristics of which are detailed in this circular.

1 Objectives

On the basis of ECB Regulation 2014/50, the BCL has developed a collection system intended to meet the following objectives:

• complete coverage of the foreseeable requirements of the European Central Bank in terms of monetary and financial statistics;
• harmonization with existing statistical collections from other categories of reporting agents;
• consistency with data collected for prudential supervision purposes;

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This consistency, which is not possible for all information to be collected, allows the use of prudential data in the process of compiling data destined for the ECB and contributes to the quality control of collected data.

• compatibility with the ESA2010 standard (European System of Accounts 2010). The conformity of data collected according to the ESA2010 standard facilitates their use in the field of national accounting and in the balance of payments and thus avoids additional surveys;
• coverage of the foreseeable requirements of the Systemic Risk Committee in the field of financial stability.

2 Insurance companies

2.1 Definitions

In accordance with Article 1 of ECB Regulation 2014/50, "insurance company" means a company or quasi-company financial whose main function consists of providing financial intermediation services resulting from the pooling of risks, mainly in the form of direct insurance or reinsurance activities.

The following are included in the definition:

• a company or quasi-company financial providing life insurance services: policyholders make regular or ad hoc payments to the insurer, in exchange for which the insurer undertakes to provide the policyholders with an agreed sum, or an annuity, at a given date or before that date;
• a company or quasi-company financial providing non-life insurance services to cover risks such as accident, illness, fire, or credit default risks;
• a company or quasi-company financial providing reinsurance services: the insurer takes out insurance to protect itself against claims of an exceptionally high number or amount.

The following are not included in the definition:

• investment funds meeting the definition of Article 1 of ECB Regulation (EU) No 1073/2013 of 18 October 2013 on statistics on the assets and liabilities of investment funds (ECB/2013/38) (OJ L 297 of 7.11.2013, p. 73);

# BANQUE CENTRALE DU LUXEMBOURG
EUROSYSTEM

- securitisation vehicles meeting the definition of Article 1 of ECB Regulation (EU) No 1075/2013 of 18 October 2013 on statistics on the assets and liabilities of securitisation vehicles (ECB/2013/40) (OJ L 297 of 7.11.2013, p. 107);

- monetary financial institutions meeting the definition of Article 1 of ECB Regulation (EU) No 1071/2013 of 24 September 2013 concerning the balance sheet of the monetary financial institutions sector (ECB/2013/33) (OJ L 297 of 7.11.2013, p. 1);

- pension funds meeting the definition of paragraph 2.105 of ESA 2010.

"Branch" means an agency or branch not incorporated as a company of an insurance or reinsurance company.

## 2.2 List of insurance companies

The ECB establishes and updates, for statistical purposes, a list of insurance companies constituting the reference reporting population. For this purpose, Luxembourg insurance companies provide the BCL with the data requested by it in accordance with its instructions. The BCL transmits this information to the ECB, which establishes the list of insurance companies for the entire euro area and ensures access to this list and its updates through appropriate channels, including electronic means via the Internet, or, at the request of the concerned reporting agents, on paper.

## 3 Statistical data collection

The statistical data collection addressed to all insurance companies is intended for statistical purposes and is based primarily on the requirements set out in the aforementioned ECB regulations.

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# BANQUE CENTRALE DU LUXEMBOURG  
EUROSYSTEM

Reporting agents provide the Banque Centrale du Luxembourg (BCL) with:

- monthly, security holdings broken down by security taken individually;

- quarterly, end-of-quarter stock data relating to the assets and liabilities of insurance companies and, where applicable, adjustments related to revaluations and quarterly financial transactions;

- quarterly, end-of-quarter stock data relating to non-life insurance technical reserves broken down by business sector and geographical zone;

- annually, information on premiums written, claims incurred, and commissions paid.

## 3.1 Data on the assets and liabilities of insurance companies

In accordance with ECB Regulation 2014/50, the BCL must provide the ECB with quarterly information on:

- the stocks of assets and liabilities of insurance companies (unconsolidated balance sheet);

- adjustments related to revaluations and financial transactions of insurance companies.

### 3.1.1 Reporting of stocks

Regarding information on stocks, the ECB regulation provides for a quarterly collection of data from insurance companies.

The BCL has opted for the introduction of a single report, based on solo accounts (excluding assets and liabilities of branches), for all insurance companies regardless of the existence of prudential reporting for insurance companies falling under the supervision of the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF).

The S 2.18-L report "Quarterly statistical balance sheet of insurance companies – Luxembourg entity" allows for the collection of all necessary information on the stocks of assets and liabilities of insurance companies.

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# BANQUE CENTRALE DU LUXEMBOURG
EUROSYSTEM

## 3.1.2 Revaluations and financial transactions

Regarding information on adjustments related to revaluations and financial transactions carried out by insurance companies, the ECB regulation provides for a quarterly collection of data from insurance companies.

The BCL has also opted for the introduction of a single report for all insurance companies regardless of the existence of prudential reporting for insurance companies falling under the supervision of the CSSF.

The S 2.19-L report "Information on valuation effects affecting the balance sheet of insurance companies – Luxembourg entity" allows for the collection of all necessary information for the calculation of revaluations and financial transactions of insurance companies.

## 3.2 Data on premiums written, claims incurred, and commissions paid

In accordance with ECB Regulation 2014/50, the BCL must provide the ECB with annual information on:

- premiums written;

- claims incurred;

- commissions paid.

The S 4.3-L report "Annual premiums, claims, and commissions of insurance companies – Luxembourg entity" allows for the collection of all necessary information.

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# BANQUE CENTRALE DU LUXEMBOURG  
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## 3.3 Security-by-security reporting

Taking into account ECB Regulation 2012/24¹ concerning statistics on security holdings, the BCL has opted for the implementation of a monthly security-by-security collection to detail the security holdings by insurance companies.

Finally, it should be noted that all instructions for the establishment of statistical reporting are published and can be downloaded from the BCL website:  
[http://www.bcl.lu/en/index.html](http://www.bcl.lu/en/index.html)

## 3.4 Entities subject to statistical reporting by the BCL

### 3.4.1 Reporting population

The reference reporting population consists of resident insurance companies located on the territory of Luxembourg as well as branches of foreign companies registered in Luxembourg.

When a reporting agent does not have legal personality under Luxembourg law, the reporting of information required under this circular is carried out by persons legally authorized to represent it or, in the absence of official representation, by persons who, under Luxembourg law, are responsible for the acts of the branch.

### 3.4.2 Derogations

The BCL may grant the following derogations from the reporting obligations provided for:

- the BCL may exempt insurance companies from all reporting obligations set out in the annex, except for annual data relating to premiums, claims, and commissions, provided that the insurance companies contributing to the aggregated annual assets/liabilities represent at least 95% of the total market share of insurance companies established in Luxembourg. The BCL verifies compliance with this condition in good time to grant or withdraw any derogation if necessary, this decision taking effect at the beginning of each calendar year;

- the BCL may exempt insurance companies from the monthly and quarterly reporting obligations set out in the annex, provided that the insurance companies contributing to the aggregated annual assets/liabilities represent at least 80% of the total market share of insurance companies established in Luxembourg. The BCL verifies compliance with this condition in good time to grant or withdraw any derogation if necessary, this decision taking effect at the beginning of each calendar year;

- the BCL may grant derogations to insurance companies regarding the reporting of cash holdings and deposits at nominal value.

Insurance companies may choose, with the prior consent of the BCL, not to use the derogations mentioned above but to comply with the full reporting obligations.

### 3.4.3 List of entities subject to statistical reporting by the BCL

The list of companies subject to statistical reporting corresponds to the reporting population.

In this context, all reporting agents are subject to annual reporting.

The BCL will contact individually the insurance companies that will be subject to the monthly and quarterly statistical reporting obligation to determine by mutual agreement the practical arrangements for the execution of the statistical reporting obligation in view of the derogations mentioned under point 3.4.2.

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¹ Regulation (EU) No 1011/2012 of the European Central Bank of 17 October 2012 concerning statistics on security holdings (ECB/2012/24)

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# BANQUE CENTRALE DU LUXEMBOURG  
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## 4 Quality of transmitted data

It should be emphasized that the quality of data transmitted to the BCL is important and that it is necessary to submit data for verification rules detailed in the technical documentation before transmission. Only rigorous control carried out at the time of data production can meet both quality requirements and deadlines. This point is all the more important as the data thus collected are controlled by the ECB services before being aggregated with data from other Member States. Any significant error or negligence will have damaging repercussions on the reputation of the entire Luxembourg financial community.

## 5 Compliance with reporting deadlines

The BCL will establish and publish on its website a table listing the precise dates by which statistical reports must be submitted.

Since the BCL must subsequently transmit aggregated quarterly statistical reports to the European Central Bank, it is therefore essential that reporting agents respect the delivery deadlines so that the BCL can meet its commitments within the framework of the ESCB.

## 6 Implementation of the new collection

The provision of this information is mandatory from 2016.

In order to determine the stock variations of the first quarter or month of reporting, the initial S 2.18-L, S 4.3-L, and security-by-security (TPTASS) reports covering data as of 31 December 2015 must be provided to the BCL by 31 January 2016.

The first monthly declaration, consisting of the security-by-security report (TPTASS), will cover data as of the end of January 2016.

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# BANQUE CENTRALE DU LUXEMBOURG  
EUROSYSTEM

The first quarterly declaration, consisting of the S 2.18-L and S 2.19-L reports, will cover data as of the end of March 2016 and the valuation effects occurring during the first quarter of 2016, respectively.

Please accept, Ladies and Gentlemen, the assurance of our most distinguished sentiments.

**BANQUE CENTRALE DU LUXEMBOURG**

Pierre BECK  
Director

Serge KOLB  
Director

Gaston REINESCH  
General Director