Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

Article 91 Amendments to Directive 2002/92/EC

Directive 2002/92/EC is hereby amended as follows:

(1)

Article 2 is amended as follows:

(a)

in point 3, the second paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘With the exception of Chapter III A of this Directive, those activities, when undertaken by an insurance undertaking or an employee of an insurance undertaking who is acting under the responsibility of the insurance undertaking shall not be considered to be insurance mediation or insurance distribution’;

(b)

the following point is added:

‘(13)

For the purposes of Chapter IIIA, ‘insurance-based investment product’ means an insurance product which offers a maturity or surrender value and where that maturity or surrender value is wholly or partially exposed, directly or indirectly, to market fluctuations and shall not include:

(a)

non-life insurance products as listed in Annex I of Directive 2009/138/EC (Classes of Non-life Insurance);

(b)

life insurance contracts where the benefits under the contract are payable only on death or in respect of incapacity due to injury, sickness or infirmity;

(c)

pension products which, under national law, are recognised as having the primary purpose of providing the investor with an income in retirement, and which entitles the investor to certain benefits;

(d)

officially recognised occupational pension schemes falling under the scope of Directive 2003/41/EC or Directive 2009/138/EC;

(e)

individual pension products for which a financial contribution from the employer is required by national law and where the employer or the employee has no choice as to the pension product or provider.’;

(2)

the following chapter is inserted:

‘CHAPTER IIIA Additional customer protection requirements in relation to insurance-Based investment products

Article 13a Scope

Subject to the exception in the second subparagraph of Article 2(3), this Chapter lays down additional requirements on insurance mediation activities and to direct sales carried out by insurance undertakings when they are carried out in relation to the sale of insurance-based investment products. Those activities shall be referred to as insurance distribution activities.

Article 13b Prevention of conflicts of interest

An insurance intermediary or insurance undertaking shall maintain and operate effective organisational and administrative arrangements with a view to taking all reasonable steps designed to prevent conflicts of interest, as determined in Article 13c, from adversely affecting the interests of its customers.

Article 13c Conflicts of interests

1. Member States shall require insurance intermediaries and insurance undertakings to take all appropriate steps to identify conflicts of interest between themselves, including their managers, employees and tied insurance intermediaries, or any person directly or indirectly linked to them by control and their customers or between one customer and another that arise in the course of carrying out any insurance distribution activities.

2. Where organisational or administrative arrangements made by the insurance intermediary or insurance undertaking in accordance with Article 13b to manage conflicts of interest are not sufficient to ensure, with reasonable confidence, that risks of damage to customer interests will be prevented, the insurance intermediary or insurance undertaking shall clearly disclose to the customer the general nature and/or sources of conflicts of interest before undertaking business on its behalf.

3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 13e to:

(a) define the steps that insurance intermediaries or insurance undertakings might reasonably be expected to take to identify, prevent, manage and disclose conflicts of interest when carrying out insurance distribution activities;

(b) establish appropriate criteria for determining the types of conflict of interest whose existence may damage the interests of the customers or potential customers of the insurance intermediary or insurance undertaking.

Article 13d General principles and information to customers

1. Member States shall ensure that, when carrying out insurance distribution activities, an insurance intermediary or insurance undertaking acts honestly, fairly and professionally in accordance with the best interests of its customers.

2. All information, including marketing communications, addressed by the insurance intermediary or insurance undertaking to customers or potential customers shall be fair, clear and not misleading. Marketing communications shall be clearly identifiable as such.

3. Member States may prohibit the acceptance or receipt of fees, commissions or any monetary benefits paid or provided to insurance intermediaries or insurance undertakings, by any third party or a person acting on behalf of a third party in relation to the distribution of insurance-based investment products to customers.

Article 13e Exercise of the delegation

1. The power to adopt a delegated act is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article.

2. The power to adopt a delegated act referred to in Article 13c shall be conferred on the Commission for an indeterminate period of time from 2 July 2014.

3. The delegation of powers referred to in Article 13c may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision of revocation shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.

4. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.

5. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 13c shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of three months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by three months at the initiative of the European Parliament or the Council.’.