The Insurance Distribution Directive

Despite the notable uncertainty concerning the United Kingdom and Gibraltar's future trading relationship with the European Union, there are a number of upcoming developments which the Gibraltar insurance industry and its stakeholders should be monitoring. One such example of this is the European Commission's Directive (EU) 2016/97 on Insurance Distribution (the "Insurance Distribution Directive" (IDD)), which came into force on 22 February 2016.

Understandably, the spectre of Brexit will have taken some attention away from the impact of this and indeed, other EU directives. However, despite what the longer term future may hold, both the UK and Gibraltar will be required to implement the provisions of the IDD into national law by 23 February 2018. This is due to the fact that, based on current forecasts, both jurisdictions shall remain a part of the EU until at least March 2019 (and possibly longer) and will therefore have continuing treaty obligations, including in