Directive 2002/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

Article 24 Rules for investment diversification

1. As regards the assets covering technical provisions, the home Member State shall require every assurance undertaking to invest no more than:

(a) 10 % of its total gross technical provisions in any one piece of land or building, or a number of pieces of land or buildings close enough to each other to be considered effectively as one investment;

(b) 5 % of its total gross technical provisions in shares and other negotiable securities treated as shares, bonds, debt securities and other money- and capital-market instruments from the same undertaking, or in loans granted to the same borrower, taken together, the loans being loans other than those granted to a State, regional or local authority or to an international organisation of which one or more Member States are members. This limit may be raised to 10 % if an undertaking invests not more than 40 % of its gross technical provisions in the loans or securities of issuing bodies and borrowers in each of which it invests more than 5 % of its assets;

(c) 5 % of its total gross technical provisions in unsecured loans, including 1 % for any single unsecured loan, other than loans granted to credit institutions, assurance undertakings — in so far as Article 6 allows it — and investment undertakings established in a Member State. The limits may be raised to 8 % and 2 % respectively by a decision taken on a case-by-case basis by the competent authority of the home Member State;

(d) 3 % of its total gross technical provisions in the form of cash in hand;

(e) 10 % of its total gross technical provisions in shares, other securities treated as shares and debt securities which are not dealt in on a regulated market.

2. The absence of a limit in paragraph 1 on investment in any particular category does not imply that assets in that category should be accepted as cover for technical provisions without limit. The home Member State shall lay down more detailed rules fixing the conditions for the use of acceptable assets. In particular it shall ensure, in the determination and the application of those rules, that the following principles are complied with:

(i)

assets covering technical provisions must be diversified and spread in such a way as to ensure that there is no excessive reliance on any particular category of asset, investment market or investment;

(ii)

investment in particular types of asset which show high levels of risk, whether because of the nature of the asset or the quality of the issuer, must be restricted to prudent levels;

(iii)

limitations on particular categories of asset must take account of the treatment of reassurance in the calculation of technical provisions;

(iv)

where the assets held include an investment in a subsidiary undertaking which manages all or part of the assurance undertaking's investments on its behalf, the home Member State must, when applying the rules and principles laid down in this Article, take into account the underlying assets held by the subsidiary undertaking; the home Member State may treat the assets of other subsidiaries in the same way;

(v)

the percentage of assets covering technical provisions which are the subject of non-liquid investments must be kept to a prudent level;

(vi)

where the assets held include loans to or debt securities issued by certain credit institutions, the home Member State may, when applying the rules and principles contained in this Article, take into account the underlying assets held by such credit institutions. This treatment may be applied only where the credit institution has its head office in a Member State, is entirely owned by that Member State and/or that State's local authorities and its business, according to its memorandum and articles of association, consists of extending, through its intermediaries, loans to, or guaranteed by, States or local authorities or of loans to bodies closely linked to the State or to local authorities.

3. In the context of the detailed rules laying down the conditions for the use of acceptable assets, the Member State shall give more limitative treatment to:

• any loan unaccompanied by a bank guarantee, a guarantee issued by an assurance undertaking, a mortgage or any other form of security, as compared with loans accompanied by such collateral,

• UCITS not coordinated within the meaning of Directive 85/611/EEC and other investment funds, as compared with UCITS coordinated within the meaning of that Directive,

• securities which are not dealt in on a regulated market, as compared with those which are,

• bonds, debt securities and other money- and capital-market instruments not issued by States, local or regional authorities or undertakings belonging to zone A as defined in Directive 2000/12/EC or the issuers of which are international organisations not numbering at least one Community Member State among their members, as compared with the same financial instruments issued by such bodies.

4. Member States may raise the limit laid down in paragraph 1(b) to 40 % in the case of certain debt securities when these are issued by a credit institution which has its head office in a Member State and is subject by law to special official supervision designed to protect the holders of those debt securities. In particular, sums deriving from the issue of such debt securities must be invested in accordance with the law in assets which, during the whole period of validity of the debt securities, are capable of covering claims attaching to debt securities and which, in the event of failure of the issuer, would be used on a priority basis for the reimbursement of the principal and payment of the accrued interest.

5. Member States shall not require assurance undertakings to invest in particular categories of assets.

6. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, in exceptional circumstances and at the assurance undertaking's request, the home Member State may, temporarily and under a properly reasoned decision, allow exceptions to the rules laid down in paragraph 1(a) to (e), subject to Article 22.