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Keller concluded that the holistic balance sheet (HBS) – or EIOPA’s renamed “common methodology” approach – would “remain on the agenda. EIOPA recommends to use the concept as a risk-management tool, including a public disclosure of the main elements,” he said.
Keller pointed out that, “for an implementation of that proposal, a change of the current IOPRP Directive is necessary”, but he added that, so far, there had been “no reaction” from European institutions. The BaFin representative said he expected the HBS concept to be used in “possible further stress tests”.
Also speaking at the conference, Martin Schrader, chairman at the Pensionskasse Rundfunk, warned that the introduction of HBS elements “via the back door of stress tests” could deter companies from offering occupational pensions. “Both employers and employees will see there is a problem rolling towards us,” he said. “But I’m unsure whether HBS is suited to explain this problem to members.”
EIOPA’s announcement that some of the data calculated under an HBS approach might have to be published has already changed the debate on the future of occupational pensions. One example is the debate over industry-wide pension plans in Germany, where guarantees are to be taken on by neither the company nor the pension fund but rather a protection plan.
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