The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority
("EIOPA") published a peer review on
Product Oversight and Governance ("POG")
requirements on 20 July 2023.
The review covered a period from the application of the
Insurance Distribution Directive ("IDD")
on 1 October 2018 until 31 March 2022.
The review focused on insurance-based investment products
("IBIPs") for several reasons. First,
IBIPs represent a significant portion of the insurance sector in
the EU (23% at the end of 2021). Secondly, IBIPs are complex and
the impact of mis-selling can be very high, as they are often a key
component of household financial planning.
EIOPA reiterated the importance of POG requirements for
insurers, as they play a key role in consumer protection by
ensuring that customers' objectives, interests and
characteristics are taken into account through the product
life-cycle, with the aim of mitigating the risk that products do
not meet consumers' needs.
