European Communities (Insurance Mediation) Regulations, 2005

JurisdictionIreland

I, Brian Cowen, Minister for Finance, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), as amended by the European Communities (Amendment) Act 1993 (No. 25 of 1993), and for the purpose of giving effect to Directive 2002/92/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 December 2002 hereby make the following Regulations:

Part 1

PRELIMINARY AND GENERAL

Citation and commencement

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Insurance Mediation) Regulations 2005.

(2) These Regulations come into operation on 14 January 2005.

Object and scope of these regulations

2. (1) The objective of these Regulations is to give effect to Directive 2002/92/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 December 2002 on insurance mediation.

These Regulations lay down rules for undertaking insurance mediation and reinsurance mediation by persons who undertake or wish to undertake either or both of those act

Interpretation

3. (1) In these Regulations, except where the context otherwise requires—

“application” means an application for registration as an insurance intermediary or reinsurance intermediary;

“authorised officer” means a person appointed and holding office under Regulation 28;

“the Bank” means the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland;

“certificate of registration” means a certificate of registration issued to an insurance intermediary or reinsurance intermediary in accordance with these Regulations;

“durable medium” means anything that—

(a) enables information to be stored in a way that is accessible for future reference for a period of time adequate to the purposes of the information, and

(b) allows the unchanged reproduction of the information stored,

but does not include internet sites that do not meet the criteria set out in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this definition;

“insurance intermediary” means a person who, for remuneration, undertakes or purports to undertake insurance mediation;

“insurance mediation” means any activity involved in proposing or undertaking preparatory work for entering into insurance contracts, or of assisting in the administration and performance of insurance contracts that have been entered into (including dealing with claims under insurance contracts), but does not include such an activity that—

(a) is undertaken by an insurance undertaking or an employee of such an undertaking in the employee’s capacity as such, or

(b) involves the provision of information on an incidental basis in conjunction with some other professional activity, so long as the purpose of the activity is not to assist a person to enter into or perform an insurance contract, or

(c) involves the management of claims of an insurance undertaking on a professional basis, or

(d) involves loss adjusting or expert appraisal of claims for reinsurance undertakings;

“the Insurance Mediation Directive” means Directive 2002/92/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 December 2002 on insurance mediation;

“insurance undertaking” has the same meaning as in the Insurance Act 1989 ;

“large risks” has the meaning given by Article 3A of the European Communities (Non-Life Insurance) Regulations 1976 (S.I. 115/1976);

“Member State” means a Member State of the European Communities;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Finance;

“other Member State” means a Member State other than the State;

“record” means any record of information, however compiled, recorded or stored, and includes—

(a) any book, a register and any other document containing information and

(b) any disc, tape or other article from which information is capable of being produced in any form capable of being reproduced visually or aurally,

and also includes part of a record;

“the Register” means the Register of Insurance Mediation Intermediaries established and maintained under Regulation 25;

“registered” means registered under these Regulations or under a law of another Member State that corresponds to these Regulations;

“reinsurance intermediary” means a person who, for remuneration, undertakes or purports to undertake reinsurance mediation;

“reinsurance mediation” means any activity involved in proposing or undertaking preparatory work for entering into reinsurance contracts, or of assisting in the administration and performance of reinsurance contracts that have been entered into (including dealing with claims under reinsurance contracts), but does not include such an activity that—

(a) is undertaken by a reinsurance undertaking or an employee of such an undertaking in the employee’s capacity as such, or

(b) involves the provision of information on an incidental basis in conjunction with some other professional activity, so long as the purpose of the activity is not to assist a person to enter into or perform a reinsurance contract, or

(c) involves the management of claims of a reinsurance undertaking on a professional basis, or

(c) involves loss adjusting or expert appraisal of claims for insurance undertakings;

(d)

“reinsurance undertaking” means an undertaking, other than an insurance undertaking or an insurance undertaking based outside the European Communities, the main business of which consists of accepting risks ceded by an insurance undertaking, an insurance undertaking based outside the European Communities or any other reinsurance undertaking;

“third country” means a country that is not a Member State, and includes a state, province region or dependent territory of such a country;

“tied insurance intermediary” means any person—

(a) who undertakes insurance mediation for and on behalf of one or more insurance undertakings in the case of insurance products that are not in competition, and

(b) who acts under the direction of those undertakings;

“the 1995 Act” means the Investment Intermediaries Act 1995 (No. 11 of 1995).

(2) In these Regulations—

(a) a reference to a Part or Regulation is a reference to a Part or Regulation of these Regulations, and

(b) a reference to a paragraph or a subparagraph is a reference to the paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs,

(c) unless in either case it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.

(3) If a word or expression that is not defined in this Regulation is used in these Regulations and is also used in the Insurance Mediation Directive, the word or expression has, unless the context otherwise requires, the same meaning in these Regulations as it has in that Directive.

(4) If an enactment or statutory instrument referred to in these Regulations has been amended, or is amended after these Regulations come into operation, the reference is taken to be a reference to the enactment or statutory instrument as amended.

(5) The Bank is the competent authority in the State for the purposes of the application of the Insurance Mediation Directive to the State.

Non-application of these Regulations

4. (1) These Regulations do not—

(a) apply to or in respect of insurance and reinsurance mediation services provided in relation to risks and commitments arising in a country elsewhere than in a Member State, or

(b) apply to insurance mediation activities carried out in third countries or to activities of insurance or reinsurance undertakings, as defined in—

(i) the First Council Directive 73/239/EEC of 24 July 1973 on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the taking-up and pursuit of the business of direct insurance other than life assurance, and

(ii) First Council Directive 79/267/EEC of 5 March 1979 on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the taking-up and pursuit of the business of direct life assurance carried out through insurance intermediaries in third countries.

(2) These regulations do not affect the law of the State relating to insurance mediation business undertaken by insurance and reinsurance intermediaries established in a third country and operating within that State under the principle of freedom to provide services, so long as equal treatment is guaranteed to all persons carrying out or authorised to carry out insurance mediation activities in that State.

Part 2

REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS

Person not to carry on insurance mediation business unless registered

5. (1) A person shall not, in the State or in any other Member State, undertake or purport to undertake insurance mediation or reinsurance mediation, unless the person—

(a) is registered as an insurance intermediary or reinsurance intermediary or

(b) is exempt from registration under these Regulations.

(2) A person who contravenes paragraph (1) commits an offence.

(3) The Bank shall take all reasonably practicable measures to ensure that persons who contravene paragraph (1) cease to undertake insurance mediation or reinsurance mediation within the State and within every other Member State.

Persons who are exempt from registration

6. (1) A person who provides a mediation service for insurance contracts is exempt from registration under these Regulations only if all of the following conditions are satisfied:

(a) the contracts require only knowledge of the insurance cover that is provided under them;

(b) the contracts are not for the provision of life assurance;

(c) the insurance contracts do not cover risks for which the insurers may be liable to indemnify the insured;

(d) the person’s principal professional activity is not insurance mediation;

(e) the insurance provided is complementary—

(i) to a contract for supply of goods and cover the risk of breakdown, loss of or damage to those goods, or

(ii) to a contract for the provision of travel and cover damage to or loss of baggage and other risks linked to the travel, even if the...

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