European Union (Insurance Undertakings: Financial Statements) Regulations 2015

JurisdictionIreland
CitationIR SI 262/2015

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 23rd June, 2015.

I, MICHAEL NOONAN , Minister for Finance, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972) and for the purpose of giving effect to Council Directive 91/674/EEC of 23 December 19911 , hereby make the following regulations:

Citation and commencement

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Union (Insurance Undertakings: Financial Statements) Regulations 2015.

(2) These Regulations come into operation on 17 June 2015.

Interpretation

2. (1) In these Regulations—

“Bank” means the Central Bank of Ireland;

“insurance undertaking” has the same meaning as it has in section 275 of the Principal Act;

“Principal Act” means the Companies Act 2014 (No.38 of 2014);

“small or medium company” shall be construed in accordance with section 350 of the Principal Act;

“undertaking” means an insurance undertaking.

(2) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in the Principal Act, and, in particular, in Part 6 of that Act, shall have in these Regulations the same meaning as it has in that Act (or Part) unless the contrary intention appears.

Application of Part 6 of Principal Act to insurance undertakings

3. (1) The provisions of Part 6 of the Principal Act shall apply to an insurance undertaking except to the extent that they are disapplied or modified by these Regulations.

(2) A reference in the Principal Act to any provision of Part 6 of that Act shall be construed, for the purposes of its application to an insurance undertaking, as a reference to that provision as applied by these Regulations.

(3) A reference in Part 6 of the Principal Act to Schedule 3 to that Act shall be construed, for the purposes of its application to an insurance undertaking, as a reference to Schedule 1 to these Regulations.

(4) A reference in Part 6 of the Principal Act to Schedule 4 to that Act shall be construed, for the purposes of its application to an insurance undertaking, as a reference to Schedule 2 to these Regulations.

Application of section 293 (as applied by Regulation 3) of Principal Act to certain undertakings

4. (1) Section 293, as it applies by virtue of Regulation 3, of the Principal Act (obligation to prepare group financial statements) shall also apply to a holding undertaking:

(a) which does not itself carry on any material business apart from the acquisition, management and disposal of interests in subsidiaries; and

(b) whose principal subsidiaries are wholly or mainly insurance undertakings.

(2) In paragraph (1)—

(a) the reference to the management of interests in subsidiaries includes a reference to the provision of services to subsidiaries; and

(b) “principalsubsidiaries”, in relation to a holding undertaking, means those subsidiaries of the undertaking whose results or financial position would principally affect the figures shown in the group financial statements.

Financial statements to be made available to public

5. (1) An insurance undertaking shall—

(a) make available its financial statements prepared in accordance with section 290 or 293 of the Principal Act for public inspection at its head office, and

(b) make available to the public copies of its financial statements on request at a price which does not exceed the cost of making the copy.

(2) A person who contravenes paragraph (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a class A fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both.

Non-application of certain provisions of Principal Act to insurance undertakings

6. (1) An insurance undertaking shall not qualify as a small or medium company for the purposes of Chapter 14 of Part 6 of the Principal Act and any reference in that Part to a small or medium company shall be read as excluding a reference to an insurance undertaking.

(2) In addition to what is provided by paragraph (1), each provision of the Principal Act specified in the Table to this Regulation, in so far as it is not already disapplied by that Act to such an undertaking, shall not apply to an insurance undertaking.

(3) Section 357 of the Principal Act shall not apply to an insurance undertaking.

Table

Sections 297 and 298 (Exemption from consolidation: size of group)

Sections 358 to 364 (Audit exemption)

Section 365 (Dormant company audit exemption)

Section 377 (Small and medium sized companies)

Section 378 (Application of this Chapter in cases where audit exemption available, etc.)

Amendment of Central Bank Act 1942

7. Part 2 of Schedule 2 (as last amended by Regulation 4 (2) of the European Union (European Social Entrepreneurship Funds) Regulations 2015 ( S.I. No.166 of 2015 )) to the Central Bank Act 1942 (No.22 of 1942) is amended by inserting after the last item the following:

57

S.I. No. 262 of 2015

European Union (Insurance Undertakings: Financial Statements) Regulations 2015

The whole instrument

.”.

Revocation of European Communities (Insurance Undertakings:Accounts) Regulations 1996

8. The European Communities (Insurance Undertakings: Accounts) Regulations 1996 ( S.I. No. 23 of 1996 ) are revoked.

SCHEDULE 1

ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES, FORM AND CONTENT OF ENTITY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

PART I

CONSTRUCTION OF REFERENCES TO PROVISIONS OF THIS SCHEDULE

1. (1) Without prejudice to the generality of section 9 of the Interpretation Act 2005 and its application to the body of these Regulations—

(a) a reference in this Schedule to a paragraph or Part is a reference to a paragraph or Part of this Schedule, unless it is indicated that a reference to some other enactment is intended;

(b) a reference in this Schedule to a section is a reference to the section of the Part in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that a reference to some other enactment is intended; and

(c) a reference in this Schedule to a subparagraph or clause is a reference to the subparagraph or clause of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that a reference to some other enactment is intended.

(2) Provisions providing for the interpretation of certain expressions appearing in this Schedule are contained in Part VII.

PART II

GENERAL RULES AND FORMATS

SECTION A

GENERAL RULES

2. (1) Subject to the provisions of this Schedule—

(a) every balance sheet of an undertaking shall show the items listed in the balance sheet format set out in Section B; and

(b) every profit and loss account of an undertaking shall show the items listed in the profit and loss account format so set out, in either case in the order and under the headings and sub-headings given in the format adopted.

(2)Subparagraph (1) shall not be read as requiring the heading or sub-heading for any item in the balance sheet, or profit and loss account, of an undertaking to be distinguished by any letter or number assigned to that item in the formats set out in Section B.

3. (1) Where, in accordance with paragraph 2(1), an undertaking’s balance sheet or profit and loss account for any financial year has been prepared by reference to one of the formats set out in Section B, the directors of the undertaking shall adopt the same format in preparing the financial statements for subsequent financial years unless, in their opinion, there are special reasons for a change.

(2) Where any change is made in the format adopted in preparing a balance sheet or profit and loss account of an undertaking, the reasons for the change, together with full particulars of the change, shall be given in a note to the financial statements in which the new format is first adopted.

4. (1) Any item required in accordance with paragraph 2 to be shown in the balance sheet or profit and loss account of an undertaking may be shown in greater detail than that required by the format adopted.

(2) The balance sheet, or profit and loss account, of an undertaking may include an item representing or covering the amount of any asset or liability or income or expenditure not otherwise covered by any of the items listed in the format adopted but the following shall not be treated as assets in the balance sheet of an undertaking—

(a) preliminary expenses;

(b) expenses of and commission on any issue of shares or debentures;

(c) costs of research; and

(d) own shares or treasury shares.

(3) Items to which Arabic numbers are assigned in the balance sheet format set out in Part B (except for items concerning technical provisions and the reinsurers share of technical provisions), and items to which lower case letters are assigned in the profit and loss account format so set out (except for items I.1, I.4, II.1, II.5 and II.6) may be combined in an undertaking’s financial statements for any financial year in any case where—

(a) the individual amounts of such items are not material to assessing the financial position or profit or loss of the undertaking for the financial year concerned, or

(b) the combination of such items facilitates that assessment.

(4) Where items are combined in an undertaking’s financial statements pursuant to subparagraph (3)(b), the individual amounts of any items so combined shall be disclosed in a note to the financial statements.

5. In respect of every item shown in the balance sheet, or profit and loss account, or notes thereto, of an undertaking, the corresponding amount for the financial year immediately preceding that to which the balance sheet or profit and loss account relates shall also be shown and, if that corresponding amount is not comparable with the amount to be shown for the item in question in respect of the financial year to which the balance sheet or profit and loss account relates, the former amount may be adjusted, and particulars of the adjustment and the reasons therefor...

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