Recital 2

(2) The global financial crisis of 2008 exposed the vulnerabilities of the financial sector and its interconnectedness. Causes of distress and failure appeared to be linked to, inter alia, the evolution of financial markets and the intrinsic nature of insurance or reinsurance activities. In that regard, underwriting risks, that is under-provisioned claims, mispricing, that is underestimated premiums, asset-liability mismanagement and investment losses are often referred to as main sources of concern for insurance and reinsurance undertakings. In that context, taxpayer money has been used to restore the deteriorated financial conditions of several insurance undertakings. Although Directive 2009/138/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) aimed at strengthening the financial system in the Union and the resilience of insurance and reinsurance undertakings, it did not completely eliminate the possibility of failures of such insurance and reinsurance undertakings. High market volatilities and prolonged low levels of interest rates could be particularly harmful for the profitability and solvency position of insurance and reinsurance undertakings. The sensitivity of insurance and reinsurance undertakings to market and economic developments therefore calls for particular caution and an adequate framework to manage, including in a pre-emptive manner, potential deteriorations of the financial position of such undertakings. Some recent failures and near-failures, in particular of a cross-border nature, illustrated weaknesses of the current framework that need to be addressed to organise adequately the orderly exit from the market of insurance or reinsurance undertakings.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-10-14 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.