EU has no plans to make 'living wills' mandatory for funds, insurers
LONDON (Reuters) - The European Union has no plans to copy banking rules and make "living wills" mandatory for insurers and asset managers, the bloc's financial services chief said on Tuesday.
Banks are required to have plans showing how they could recover from a major market shock. Regulators also draw up plans for each lender on how it would be smoothly closed down in the event of impending failure.
The aim is to avoid taxpayer bailouts and the huge market disruption seen when Lehman Brothers bank went bust in 2008. Other financial sectors have been waiting to see if regulators would follow suit with them.
"We of course expect all insurers to be ready with resolution and recovery plans. But at present, we're not convinced that new EU legislation is needed," said EU financial services commissioner Jonathan Hill, who has powers to propose legislation.
"We'll continue to closely monitor the situation very carefully. And we will take the same approach to the asset management sector," Hill said at an event in Brussels.
Hill's comments suggest that the non-binding guidance and principles being formulated at the global level for insurers and asset managers won't be cut and pasted into EU law as many banking rules have been.
(Reporting by Huw Jones; editing by Adrian Croft)
