The Financial Supervisory Authority (KNF) has reported that on 5 July 2018 the National Bank of Hungary (Magyar Nemzeti Bank) decided to temporarily suspend the sale of life insurance products offered in the territory of Hungary by the Slovak insurance undertaking NOVIS Poist’ovňa a.s.
The sale of the products was suspended by the National Bank of Hungary pursuant to the applicable domestic laws and to the provisions of Solvency II. The full text of the communication of the National Bank of Hungary on the suspension of sales of products offered by NOVIS Poist’ovňa a.s. is available here.
The decision of the National Bank of Hungary to temporarily suspend the sale by NOVIS Poist’ovňa a.s. of unit-linked life insurance products in the territory of Hungary is a consequence of irregularities identified by the Hungarian supervisor in the area of performance of information obligations relating to insurance contracts, in particular with regard to the information on profitability of products and preservation of the premiums paid.
NOVIS Poist’ovňa a.s. operates in the territory of Poland under the freedom to provide services following approval by the National Bank of Slovakia (Národná banka Slovenska) and it is authorised to carry out cross-border sales of insurance products providing coverage of risks classified under classes 1, 3, 4 and 5 of Section I. The report on solvency and financial condition of NOVIS Poist’ovňa a.s (available on the website of NOVIS Poist’ovňa a.s.) shows that the said insurance undertaking started to sell its products in the territory of Poland in March 2017. The KNF notes that NOVIS Poist’ovňa a.s. is not a KNF-supervised entity. The undertaking is supervised by the National Bankk of Slovakia.
The activities of NOVIS Poist’ovňa a.s. have been approved by the National Bank of Slovakia, which is responsible for prudential supervision of that undertaking. Although as part of its activities in Poland, NOVIS Poist’ovňa a.s. only provides cross-border services, the UE law allows the KNF to undertake, in special cases, measures to remove any irregularities which might threaten the security of the domestic insurance market or be detrimental to the interests of clients. The KNF works closely with EIOPA and insurance supervisors in the EU Member States in which products of NOVIS Poist’ovňa a.s. are distributed.
