Numer 1 (86) 2016

Translation of Summaries into English – Anna Tulińska

All the key issues related to the functioning of group supervision and the functioning of colleges of supervisors have been laid down in the [Polish] Insurance and Reinsurance Activity Act implementing the Solvency II Directive whereas the details have been regulated in the guidelines and binding technical standards. The legislation has introduced an innovative supervision model where a key role is assigned to a group supervisor whilst maintaining an important role of the solo supervisor. The analysis of the adopted solutions presented in this article shows that the special role assigned to the group supervisor may lead to a situation where a competent national supervisory authority of subsidiary undertakings has limited powers as regards the decision-making process at a group level. As a result, it will be difficult to ensure partnership relations in the supervision process between the home countries of insurance companies and their host countries.

Keywords: group supervision competence of EIOPA college of supervisors

The article contains an analysis of several legal issues related to insurance on someone else’s behalf and group insurance. A new perspective on these institutions is necessary in connection with the entry into force of the Insurance and Reinsurance Activity Act. The present article discusses the problem of defining the group insurance contracts, the question of the possibility and consequences of the policyholder’s withdrawal from the group, the prohibition on the remuneration of the policyholder, its contents and exceptions laid down in the act as well as the rules for the delivery of the general insurance conditions to the policyholder.

Keywords: insurance on someone else’s behalf group insurance Insurance and Reinsurance Activity Act remuneration of the policyholder the delivery of the general insurance conditions to the policyholder

Loss and accident prevention in insurance is of major importance in the economic life of business entities as well as individuals. Although almost all these issues are regulated in Polish legislation, they require certain adjustments and organisation in order to eliminate the inconsistency in the regulations and establish clear limits of the freedom of the parties to the contract in determining the duties of insurants and the insured on the one hand, and the limits of insurance coverage provided by insurers, on the other. According to the author several amendments to existing legislation could aim at increasing the party autonomy in contracts. This direction is justified, especially in the face of high market competition in the sector of non-life insurance and voluntary liability insurance, which not only requires taking care of the financial security of insurers but also provides the opportunity of competing by means of an offer adequate to risk accepted.

Keywords: preventive function of insurance prevention duties accident party autonomy in contracts autonomy and freedom to shape the contract loss prevention prevention and rescue costs loss liability insurance

Services provided in the model of so-called cloud computing are becoming more and more popular also in the insurance sector. According to legal regulations, including the Insurance and Reinsurance Activity Act of 11 September 2015, there is no prohibition on the use of this type of solutions. Firstly, the analysis of the admissibility and the conditions for the application of cloud computing services requires taking into consideration aspects related to the personal data processing within cloud computing as well as confidential insurance information. Secondly, the issues connected with outsourcing in insurance activity are essential for the evaluation, especially after the introduction of a new insurance regulation (Solvency II), which raises certain doubts in interpretation and practice, as reinsurance has not been included. The present article is an attempt to analyse this particular IT model pursuant to the above-mentioned regulation.

Keywords: cloud computing insurance secrecy outsourcing in insurance activity Insurance and Reinsurance Activity Act

As from 1 July 2015 the amendment of the Penal Code came into force, which changed, among other things, Article 46. The modifications referred to the construction of the penal measure included in the regulation as well as the scope of its application. The amendment was in fact aimed at a wider implementation of the compensatory function of criminal law, and thus a more complete satisfaction of the victim’s civil claims. The legislator gave expression to these views by placing this provision in a newly created chapter Va, entitled „Forfeiture and compensatory measures”. The above-mentioned function is primarily fulfilled by the change in the nature of the analysed measure, which so far – as a penalty – has had to carry out various functions of criminal law, including the preventive and repressive ones. In the new model it is mainly aimed at the issues of compensation. Accordingly, its present meaning makes it necessary to refocus the existing interpretation of this provision. Therefore, the article presents selected consequences of the amendment and current ways of interpreting the discussed regulation. Moreover, the formal and material grounds for the adjudication of the above-mentioned measure have been shown as well as the scope of its application.

Keywords: criminal liability compensatory measure compensation redress reparation

The term compliance means conformity with widely-understood law and other standards, whose range is often impossible to be precisely determined. The primary purpose of this function in the insurance undertaking, as well as in any other company, is to develop such a business organisation and the cooperation of all its employees to minimise the risk of irregularities, the existence and particularly public disclosure of which, would involve the risk of the insurer’s non-compliance with the legal regulations or internal standards, also of the economic importance to this entity. It is known that even the best operating economic entity might quickly lose its position. Nowadays due to legislative and technological developments accompanied by instant information flow, such a danger is even more real than ever. The non-compliance shall be assessed by the industry, regulators, the public and the market, which will either recognize the undertaking as reliable, or on the contrary. That will frequently lead to the change of the image, and as a result, of business relations and customer perception. Hence, it is in the best interest of the company to necessarily implement an efficient compliance system. It is particularly important in the case of those insurers who treat a good image as a key value.

Keywords: insurance company management system key features the report on the solvency of the insurer compliance Corporate Governance Rules

The Act of 15 September 2015 on the activity of insurance and reinsurance introduced a number of regulations having an impact on accounting and reporting by insurance undertakings. These provisions concern, in particular, a variety of issues, namely: the introduction of separate accounting rules for the purposes of statutory objectives and for the purposes of solvency, the new reporting rules for the purposes of solvency, the regulation how to determine the fair value of insurance technical reserves, the new rules for the payment of compensation and the definition of beneficiaries under the contract of insurance.

Keywords: Insurance and Reinsurance Activity Act solvency accounting reporting