BETA


2006/2199(INI) Crisis of the Equitable Life Assurance Society

Progress: Procedure completed

RoleCommitteeRapporteurShadows
Lead EQUI WALLIS Diana (icon: ALDE ALDE)
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
RoP 208

Events

2007/09/13
   EC - Commission response to text adopted in plenary
Documents
2007/07/18
   EC - Commission response to text adopted in plenary
Documents
2007/06/19
   EP - Results of vote in Parliament
2007/06/19
   EP - Debate in Parliament
2007/06/19
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

By adopting, by 602 votes for, 13 against and 64 abstentions, the recommendation based on the report of the Committee of Inquiry into the crisis of the Equitable Life Assurance Society, the European Parliament accepts the position agreed by the committee responsible concerning the report of the Committee of Inquiry. In doing so, the Parliament approved, unamended, the recommendations made by the Committee of Inquiry (please refer to the summary dated 08/05/2007).

Documents
2007/06/19
   EP - End of procedure in Parliament
2007/06/15
   EP - Motion for a resolution
Documents
2007/06/04
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
Documents
2007/06/04
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary
Documents
2007/05/08
   EP - Vote in committee
Details

The committee of inquiry into the crisis at the Equitable Life Assurance Society adopted, by 13 votes to 0 with 4 abstentions, its final report drafted by Diana WALLIS ( ALDE , UK ). The inquiry was set up in January 2006 in response to two petitions received by Parliament from policyholders who were among the victims of the debacle at the Equitable Life Assurance Society that inflicted major financial losses on over a million people, mainly in Britain but also in other countries, including Ireland and Germany . The problems arose because the company did not set aside adequate reserves to cover its liabilities and then ran into financial difficulties when interest rates began to fall in the 1990s.

The committee looked into the role of the UK government and regulators in implementing EU insurance law and that of the European Commission in monitoring the implementation of such law. The spotlight was on two key issues: the plight of the policyholders and the implications for the European single market in financial services.

Poor implementation of EU law and weakness of financial regulators

The committee concluded that EU life insurance legislation was transposed into British law in an unsatisfactory fashion (this raises the general question of how well EU law is transposed in all the different Member States and how far this process is monitored by the Commission). In addition, the UK 's financial regulators were severely criticised, notably for their “excessive leniency” towards Equitable Life’s solvency margin (its inadequate reserves).

Difficulty in obtaining redress, both inside and outside the UK

When Equitable policyholders (most based in the UK) sought to defend their rights, they "had great difficulty in knowing what route to take or who to apply to in trying to obtain information, make a complaint and obtain redress", whether through the courts, through alternative dispute schemes or through ombudsman services. Non-UK policyholders, such as the 8 000 in Ireland and 4 000 in Germany , suffered from a further problem: which regulatory bodies were responsible? Was it those in the “home state” (the company’s country of origin) or the “host state” (the country where it sold its policies)? The EP inquiry concluded that this was not clear.

Recommendations of the inquiry

Following up on its conclusions, the inquiry made a number of proposals. Regarding the victims of the crisis, MEPs believed that "the UK Government is under an obligation to assume responsibility" and should therefore devise an appropriate scheme "with a view to compensating Equitable Life policyholders within the UK , Ireland , Germany and elsewhere".

Turning to the "lessons for the future", the report stressed as a general point "the need to foster consumer confidence in pension products" (especially given the ageing population and the growing importance of pensions). It requested that "any financial services legislation duly recognises the priority of consumer and investor protection issues", while still minimising red tape and not stifling innovation in the financial services industry.

More specifically, it called for stricter rules on insurance supervision and regulation throughout the EU, for Member States and the Commission to improve the transposition and monitoring of EU legislation and for national regulatory authorities to cooperate better.

The report said that the Commission did not monitor the application of the EU insurance legislation effectively, and should in future be “more proactive” on this front "to ensure that the legislation is producing the required effects".

The inquiry also suggested that the European Parliament's standing committees should play a more active role in following up the implementation of legislation in their own policy areas.

2007/04/03
   EP - Committee draft report
Documents
2006/02/02
   EP - WALLIS Diana (ALDE) appointed as rapporteur in EQUI
2006/01/18
   EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament

Documents

Activities

Votes

B6-0199/2007 - Rapport de la commission d'enquête "Equitable Life" - recommandation #

2007/06/19 Outcome: +: 602, 0: 64, -: 13
DE IT FR PL ES RO GB NL CZ EL HU BE AT SE BG LT DK FI IE SK PT LV SI LU CY EE MT
Total
90
57
62
51
44
35
70
26
22
20
19
19
16
15
17
13
14
13
12
12
20
9
5
5
4
4
5
icon: PPE-DE PPE-DE
240
2

Denmark PPE-DE

For (1)

1

Slovenia PPE-DE

2

Luxembourg PPE-DE

3

Cyprus PPE-DE

1

Estonia PPE-DE

For (1)

1

Malta PPE-DE

2
icon: PSE PSE
181

Czechia PSE

2

Lithuania PSE

2

Finland PSE

2

Ireland PSE

1

Slovakia PSE

For (1)

Abstain (1)

2

Slovenia PSE

For (1)

1

Estonia PSE

2

Malta PSE

Abstain (2)

3
icon: ALDE ALDE
90
2

Austria ALDE

1

Sweden ALDE

For (1)

1

Ireland ALDE

For (1)

1

Latvia ALDE

1

Slovenia ALDE

2

Luxembourg ALDE

For (1)

1

Cyprus ALDE

For (1)

1

Estonia ALDE

For (1)

1
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
41

Italy Verts/ALE

2

Spain Verts/ALE

2

United Kingdom Verts/ALE

5

Belgium Verts/ALE

2

Austria Verts/ALE

2

Sweden Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Denmark Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Finland Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Latvia Verts/ALE

1

Luxembourg Verts/ALE

For (1)

1
icon: GUE/NGL GUE/NGL
35

France GUE/NGL

2

United Kingdom GUE/NGL

1

Netherlands GUE/NGL

2

Greece GUE/NGL

Abstain (1)

2

Sweden GUE/NGL

2

Denmark GUE/NGL

1

Finland GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Ireland GUE/NGL

1

Portugal GUE/NGL

2

Cyprus GUE/NGL

2
icon: UEN UEN
39

Lithuania UEN

2

Denmark UEN

For (1)

1
icon: NI NI
10

United Kingdom NI

Abstain (1)

3

Czechia NI

1

Slovakia NI

2
icon: ITS ITS
21

Italy ITS

For (1)

1

United Kingdom ITS

Abstain (1)

1

Belgium ITS

3

Austria ITS

Abstain (1)

1

Bulgaria ITS

3
icon: IND/DEM IND/DEM
22

France IND/DEM

Abstain (1)

3

Netherlands IND/DEM

2

Czechia IND/DEM

1

Greece IND/DEM

1

Sweden IND/DEM

2

Denmark IND/DEM

Abstain (1)

1

Ireland IND/DEM

For (1)

1

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

docs/1
date
2007-04-18T00:00:00
docs
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type
Amendments tabled in committee
body
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docs/2
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2007-04-18T00:00:00
docs
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Amendments tabled in committee
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docs/4
date
2007-09-13T00:00:00
docs
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Commission response to text adopted in plenary
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EC
docs/4/docs/0/url
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New
/oeil/spdoc.do?i=13829&j=1&l=en
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date
2007-09-13T00:00:00
docs
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type
Commission response to text adopted in plenary
body
EC
docs/0/docs/0/url
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EP
docs
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events/5
date
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type
Decision by Parliament
body
EP
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-6-2007-0264_EN.html title: T6-0264/2007
summary
By adopting, by 602 votes for, 13 against and 64 abstentions, the recommendation based on the report of the Committee of Inquiry into the crisis of the Equitable Life Assurance Society, the European Parliament accepts the position agreed by the committee responsible concerning the report of the Committee of Inquiry. In doing so, the Parliament approved, unamended, the recommendations made by the Committee of Inquiry (please refer to the summary dated 08/05/2007).
events/5
date
2007-06-19T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
body
EP
docs
url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-6-2007-0264_EN.html title: T6-0264/2007
summary
By adopting, by 602 votes for, 13 against and 64 abstentions, the recommendation based on the report of the Committee of Inquiry into the crisis of the Equitable Life Assurance Society, the European Parliament accepts the position agreed by the committee responsible concerning the report of the Committee of Inquiry. In doing so, the Parliament approved, unamended, the recommendations made by the Committee of Inquiry (please refer to the summary dated 08/05/2007).
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 208
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 019
committees/0
type
Responsible Committee
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Inquiry committee on the Equitable Life Assurance Society
committee
EQUI
rapporteur
name: WALLIS Diana date: 2006-02-02T00:00:00 group: Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe abbr: ALDE
committees/0
type
Responsible Committee
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committee_full
Inquiry committee on the Equitable Life Assurance Society
committee
EQUI
date
2006-02-02T00:00:00
rapporteur
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docs/3/docs/0/url
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docs/4/docs/0/url
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docs/5/body
EC
docs/6/body
EC
events/2/docs/0/url
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http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2007-203&language=EN
New
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events/5/docs/0/url
Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P6-TA-2007-264
New
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-6-2007-0264_EN.html
activities
  • date: 2006-01-18T00:00:00 body: EP type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading committees: body: EP responsible: True committee: EQUI date: 2006-02-02T00:00:00 committee_full: EQUI Inquiry committee on the Equitable Life Assurance Society rapporteur: group: ALDE name: WALLIS Diana
  • date: 2007-05-08T00:00:00 body: EP committees: body: EP responsible: True committee: EQUI date: 2006-02-02T00:00:00 committee_full: EQUI Inquiry committee on the Equitable Life Assurance Society rapporteur: group: ALDE name: WALLIS Diana type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • date: 2007-06-04T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2007-203&language=EN type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading title: A6-0203/2007 body: EP type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
  • date: 2007-06-19T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=13829&l=en type: Results of vote in Parliament title: Results of vote in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20070619&type=CRE type: Debate in Parliament title: Debate in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P6-TA-2007-264 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T6-0264/2007 body: EP type: Results of vote in Parliament
commission
  • body: EC dg: Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union commissioner: MCCREEVY Charlie
committees/0
type
Responsible Committee
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Inquiry committee on the Equitable Life Assurance Society
committee
EQUI
date
2006-02-02T00:00:00
rapporteur
name: WALLIS Diana group: Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe abbr: ALDE
committees/0
body
EP
responsible
True
committee
EQUI
date
2006-02-02T00:00:00
committee_full
EQUI Inquiry committee on the Equitable Life Assurance Society
rapporteur
group: ALDE name: WALLIS Diana
docs
  • date: 2007-04-03T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE386.573 title: PE386.573 type: Committee draft report body: EP
  • date: 2007-04-18T00:00:00 docs: title: PE388.357 type: Amendments tabled in committee body: EP
  • date: 2007-04-18T00:00:00 docs: title: PE388.447 type: Amendments tabled in committee body: EP
  • date: 2007-06-04T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2007-203&language=EN title: A6-0203/2007 type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading body: EP
  • date: 2007-06-15T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B6-2007-199&language=EN title: B6-0199/2007 type: Motion for a resolution body: EP
  • date: 2007-07-18T00:00:00 docs: url: /oeil/spdoc.do?i=13829&j=1&l=en title: SP(2007)3798/2 type: Commission response to text adopted in plenary
  • date: 2007-09-13T00:00:00 docs: url: /oeil/spdoc.do?i=13829&j=0&l=en title: SP(2007)4174 type: Commission response to text adopted in plenary
events
  • date: 2006-01-18T00:00:00 type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP
  • date: 2007-05-08T00:00:00 type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading body: EP summary: The committee of inquiry into the crisis at the Equitable Life Assurance Society adopted, by 13 votes to 0 with 4 abstentions, its final report drafted by Diana WALLIS ( ALDE , UK ). The inquiry was set up in January 2006 in response to two petitions received by Parliament from policyholders who were among the victims of the debacle at the Equitable Life Assurance Society that inflicted major financial losses on over a million people, mainly in Britain but also in other countries, including Ireland and Germany . The problems arose because the company did not set aside adequate reserves to cover its liabilities and then ran into financial difficulties when interest rates began to fall in the 1990s. The committee looked into the role of the UK government and regulators in implementing EU insurance law and that of the European Commission in monitoring the implementation of such law. The spotlight was on two key issues: the plight of the policyholders and the implications for the European single market in financial services. Poor implementation of EU law and weakness of financial regulators The committee concluded that EU life insurance legislation was transposed into British law in an unsatisfactory fashion (this raises the general question of how well EU law is transposed in all the different Member States and how far this process is monitored by the Commission). In addition, the UK 's financial regulators were severely criticised, notably for their “excessive leniency” towards Equitable Life’s solvency margin (its inadequate reserves). Difficulty in obtaining redress, both inside and outside the UK When Equitable policyholders (most based in the UK) sought to defend their rights, they "had great difficulty in knowing what route to take or who to apply to in trying to obtain information, make a complaint and obtain redress", whether through the courts, through alternative dispute schemes or through ombudsman services. Non-UK policyholders, such as the 8 000 in Ireland and 4 000 in Germany , suffered from a further problem: which regulatory bodies were responsible? Was it those in the “home state” (the company’s country of origin) or the “host state” (the country where it sold its policies)? The EP inquiry concluded that this was not clear. Recommendations of the inquiry Following up on its conclusions, the inquiry made a number of proposals. Regarding the victims of the crisis, MEPs believed that "the UK Government is under an obligation to assume responsibility" and should therefore devise an appropriate scheme "with a view to compensating Equitable Life policyholders within the UK , Ireland , Germany and elsewhere". Turning to the "lessons for the future", the report stressed as a general point "the need to foster consumer confidence in pension products" (especially given the ageing population and the growing importance of pensions). It requested that "any financial services legislation duly recognises the priority of consumer and investor protection issues", while still minimising red tape and not stifling innovation in the financial services industry. More specifically, it called for stricter rules on insurance supervision and regulation throughout the EU, for Member States and the Commission to improve the transposition and monitoring of EU legislation and for national regulatory authorities to cooperate better. The report said that the Commission did not monitor the application of the EU insurance legislation effectively, and should in future be “more proactive” on this front "to ensure that the legislation is producing the required effects". The inquiry also suggested that the European Parliament's standing committees should play a more active role in following up the implementation of legislation in their own policy areas.
  • date: 2007-06-04T00:00:00 type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2007-203&language=EN title: A6-0203/2007
  • date: 2007-06-19T00:00:00 type: Results of vote in Parliament body: EP docs: url: https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=13829&l=en title: Results of vote in Parliament
  • date: 2007-06-19T00:00:00 type: Debate in Parliament body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20070619&type=CRE title: Debate in Parliament
  • date: 2007-06-19T00:00:00 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P6-TA-2007-264 title: T6-0264/2007 summary: By adopting, by 602 votes for, 13 against and 64 abstentions, the recommendation based on the report of the Committee of Inquiry into the crisis of the Equitable Life Assurance Society, the European Parliament accepts the position agreed by the committee responsible concerning the report of the Committee of Inquiry. In doing so, the Parliament approved, unamended, the recommendations made by the Committee of Inquiry (please refer to the summary dated 08/05/2007).
  • date: 2007-06-19T00:00:00 type: End of procedure in Parliament body: EP
links
other
  • body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/internal_market/ title: Internal Market and Services commissioner: MCCREEVY Charlie
procedure/dossier_of_the_committee
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EQUI/6/39096
New
  • EQUI/6/39096
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 019
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 019
procedure/subject
Old
  • 2.50.05 Insurance, pension funds
  • 4.60.06 Consumers' economic and legal interests
New
2.50.05
Insurance, pension funds
4.60.06
Consumers' economic and legal interests
activities
  • date: 2006-01-18T00:00:00 body: EP type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading committees: body: EP responsible: True committee: EQUI date: 2006-02-02T00:00:00 committee_full: EQUI Inquiry committee on the Equitable Life Assurance Society rapporteur: group: ALDE name: WALLIS Diana
  • date: 2007-05-08T00:00:00 body: EP committees: body: EP responsible: True committee: EQUI date: 2006-02-02T00:00:00 committee_full: EQUI Inquiry committee on the Equitable Life Assurance Society rapporteur: group: ALDE name: WALLIS Diana type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • date: 2007-06-04T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2007-203&language=EN type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading title: A6-0203/2007 body: EP type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
  • date: 2007-06-19T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=13829&l=en type: Results of vote in Parliament title: Results of vote in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20070619&type=CRE type: Debate in Parliament title: Debate in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P6-TA-2007-264 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T6-0264/2007 body: EP type: Results of vote in Parliament
committees
  • body: EP responsible: True committee: EQUI date: 2006-02-02T00:00:00 committee_full: EQUI Inquiry committee on the Equitable Life Assurance Society rapporteur: group: ALDE name: WALLIS Diana
links
other
  • body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/internal_market/ title: Internal Market and Services commissioner: MCCREEVY Charlie
procedure
dossier_of_the_committee
EQUI/6/39096
reference
2006/2199(INI)
title
Crisis of the Equitable Life Assurance Society
legal_basis
Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 019
stage_reached
Procedure completed
subtype
Special committee/Committee of inquiry
type
INI - Own-initiative procedure
subject