Press Release: Financial services: Commission welcomes adoption of Directive on reorganisation and winding up of insurance undertakings

On 15.2.01, the European Commission welcomed the approval by the European Parliament at its 15th February Strasbourg plenary session of the Council common position on a Directive on Reorganisation and Winding-up of Insurance Undertakings. With this approval, the Directive was adopted without the need for a second reading by the Council. The Directive fills a major gap in the European Union's financial services legislation and forms part of the Financial Services Action Plan, endorsed at the Lisbon European Council. Under the Directive, where an insurance undertaking with branches in other Member States fails, the winding up process will be subject to a single bankruptcy proceeding initiated in the Member State where it has its registered office. While winding up proceedings are, hopefully, rare, the Directive is designed to guarantee consumer protection in such instances.