25 July 2012

EIOPA: 2012 Report on Market Developments

This report provides a general overview on the developments in cross-border arrangements of Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision (IORPs), following the implementation by Member States of Directive 2003/41/EC.

This is the sixth report in a series on Market Developments and shows the growth in the number of cross-border IORPs, as formally notified to Member States during the course of a twelve-month period from June 2011 until June 2012.

The update asked for a report on new cross-border IORPs homed in their territory, including descriptive data such as benefit type (Defined Benefit or Defined Contribution) and the number of members and beneficiaries involved in the cross-border arrangement. Respondents also reported on any new host state activity of existing crossborder IORPs, since it is possible for an existing institution to expand its activity into another Member State.

Following on from the three most recent reports, EIOPA repeated the question whether or not any established IORP had withdrawn from previously reported cross-border activity. The cessation of activity was a new category introduced in 2009 to capture the situation where arrangements had been set up and notified in previous reports, but for a variety of reasons, they were then formally withdrawn.

In 2010 and 2011, an additional question was asked as to whether any existing IORPs have never had any members in the host state in relation to the cross-border activity. This was designed to find out about dormant or inactive IORPs that had not formally withdrawn but were not operating as active IORPs. This additional question was repeated this year.

As is now well documented, Member States have adopted different approaches as to how they identify and/or recognise a cross-border arrangement. In particular, it must not be assumed that notification of a cross-border arrangement by the home state is agreed with by the host state and has been followed by actual cross-border membership. Therefore some care must be taken in reaching conclusions relating to home and host state activity and making comparisons between states.

Nevertheless, this report continues to facilitate the tracking of individual states’ cross-border activity over time and provides a view of the overall level of activity across the EEA.

The results of the 2012 survey show that during the 12 month period from June 2011 to June 2012, a total of six new cross-border IORPs have been reported. This represents an increase of 7 per cent on the total number of cases reported in the 2011 report.

However, the results also show the cessation of cross-border activity by six IORPs during the reporting period. Information on withdrawals is only presented where the Member State Competent Authority has been formally notified of a withdrawal, and the full procedures for withdrawal have been undertaken by the IORP in question. The requirements for this may vary from state to state.

Full report

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