The need for a new solvency system If in the past, many insurance companies were frequently experiencing difficulties and disruption, these could all too often be traced back to failings in risk management. It should be pointed out that traditional methods and systems for conducting risk management had failed, or could no longer meet modern-day demands for efficient risk management. Solvency II means that an up-to-date initiative is available, which will better control the solvency of insurers and protect insured parties against capital
loss. The problem: solvency regulations in force up to now, which focus exclusively on balance sheet codes, are not really risk sensitive. In
future, however, thanks to Solvency II, more effective and more meaningful methods of managing solvency should come into use. An example of one such procedure, which insurance companies often use already to determine the financial capital required, is Value Based Management. From the perspective of financial supervision too, there is a need to use Solvency II to set up a new solvency system. This should avoid regulatory
arbitrage between banks, which under Basel II are subject to new risk management obligations, and in the
future, insurance companies. There is also a fundamental need for a pan-European levelling out of account tendering requirements for insurance companies. These requirements vary greatly in the different member states of the European Union (EU) and are therefore difficult to compare. For these reasons, it is the aim of the EU Solvency II project to establish a solvency system which takes better account of an insurer’s actual risks. The main requirements of the system are that it should not contain too many regulations and should be clear, able to reflect current market developments and be based on general account tendering principles.