Directive 2009/138/EC of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

Article 39 U.K. Transfer of portfolio

1. Under the conditions laid down by national law, Member States shall authorise insurance and reinsurance undertakings with head offices within their territory to transfer all or part of their portfolios of contracts, concluded either under the right of establishment or the freedom to provide services, to an accepting undertaking established within the Community.

Such transfer shall be authorised only if the supervisory authorities of the home Member State of the accepting undertaking certify that after taking the transfer into account the accepting undertaking possesses the necessary eligible own funds to cover the Solvency Capital Requirement referred to in the first paragraph of Article 100.

2. In the case of insurance undertakings paragraphs 3 to 6 shall apply.

3. Where a branch proposes to transfer all or part of its portfolio of contracts, the Member State where that branch is situated shall be consulted.

4. In the circumstances referred to in paragraphs 1 and 3, the supervisory authorities of the home Member State of the transferring insurance undertaking shall authorise the transfer after obtaining the agreement of the authorities of the Member States where the contracts were concluded, either under the right of establishment or the freedom to provide services.

5. The authorities of the Member States consulted shall give their opinion or consent to the authorities of the home Member State of the transferring insurance undertaking within three months of receiving a request for consultation.

The absence of any response within that period from the authorities consulted shall be considered as tacit consent.

6. A transfer of portfolio authorised in accordance with paragraphs 1 to 5 shall be published either prior to or following authorisation, as laid down by the national law of the home Member State, of the Member State in which the risk is situated, or of the Member State of the commitment.

Such transfers shall automatically be valid against policy holders, the insured persons and any other person having rights or obligations arising out of the contracts transferred.

The first and second subparagraphs of this paragraph shall not affect the right of the Member States to give policy holders the option of cancelling contracts within a fixed period after a transfer.