E&Y joins KPMG in Solvency II criticism

Ernst & Young (E&Y) are the second global accountancy firm in a week to knock the unrealistic deadlines for implementing Solvency II, following last week’s news that the European parliament had pushed back its key Omnibus II vote to March 2013.

An E&Y survey, published today, found that 43% of European insurers are unlikely to be ready for Solvency II if it comes into effect as scheduled on 1 January 2014. The survey added that 69% of the same insurers would struggle to meet the tougher data management required under Solvency II.

E&Y have joined KPMG in pointing out the unrealistic deadlines. KPMG insurance director Janine Hawes said the latest delay in the vote made it impossible for insurers to meet the 1 January 2014 deadline.

UK insurers are ready

The good news for this country is that UK insurers are currently the best prepared for Solvency II, along with the Dutch players. Still, the new directive needs insurers domiciled in all European Union countries to be prepared, and rushing ahead with implementation would hit the least prepared countries, such as Germany and Italy.

The E&Y survey pointed out that 90% of European insurers would be ready for Solvency II if it came into force a year later on 1 January 2015.

Solvency II has often been savaged for frequent delays to the process, but the research suggests that another delay might be the best solution to avoid the project falling at the first hurdle.