The European Commission has today announced it will delay the application date of the Insurance Based Investment Products (PRIIPs) regulation until 1 January 2018.
This follows on from the decision of the European Parliament to reject the secondary legislation Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on the PRIIPs Key Information Document (KID), as reported, in September.
At the end of last month, as reported, it was suggested that a 12 month delay was imminent although the European Commission refused to comment at the time.
A decision on PRIIPs was originally set for a final debate in the European Commission following the landmark decision by MEPs to overturn recommendations for implementation, as reported, with the discussion taking place yesterday.
The decision to delay the launch of PRIIPs until New Year’s Day 2018, as was previously expected, was officially taken by the European College of Commissioners yesterday and has been confirmed today.
Association of British Insurers (ABI), director of regulation, Hugh Savill said that the ABI is pleased with the announcement to delay the implementation of the PRIIPs regulation by one year.
‘Complex requirements’
“This will give insurers the much needed time to implement the complex requirements,” said Savill. “The ABI has continuously engaged with EU and UK policymakers on this and we welcome that they have recognised the need for a delay.
“While this situation should not have arisen in the first place, we now hope that the right changes are made to RTS. Otherwise, the KID will not be a useful and meaningful document for UK consumers. We will continue to work with the FCA and EIOPA to ensure that the consumer-friendly objectives of the regulation can be met.”
Paul Stanfield, pictured left, chief executive of European IFA professional body FEIFA and secretary general of FECIF, said: “As I, and many other relevant stakeholders, had hoped, common sense seems to have prevailed. Whilst PRIIPS is very necessary and relevant regulation, the proposed implementation was potentially counter-productive for consumers, and completely unworkable in some scenarios.
“Hopefully a sensible and meaningful dialogue will now ensue and we can reach a solution that is in line with the original intentions,” he said.
PRIIPs has been debated widely across the last 12 months and saw a landmark overturn vote by the European Commission relating the the proposition’s KID documentation that may observers were calling misleading amid concerns of a future miss-selling scandal.
Stanfield added: “The additional time now needs to be used sensibly and productively to address the concerns expressed by consumer groups and industry experts.”
