Opinion of the European Central Bank of 30 July 2012 on the reform of supervision of insurance and retirement provision (CON/2012/61)
Date: 2012-07-30
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Italy, financial stability, financial supervision, insurance, national law, pension fund, supplementary pension

EN 

ECB-PUBLIC 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 30 July 2012  

on the reform of supervision of insurance and retirement provision 

(CON/2012/61) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On  5  July  2012,  the  Italian  Government  adopted  Decree  Law  No  951  on  public  spending  review 

(hereinafter the ‘Decree Law’), which entered into force on 6 July 2012. On 18 July 2012, the European 

Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Ministry of Economic Development for an opinion on 

Article  13  of  the  Decree  Law.  Article  13  concerns  the  establishment  of  a  new  institution  for  the 

supervision of the insurance and retirement provision sectors (Istituto per la vigilanza sulle assicurazioni 

e sul risparmio previdenziale, IVARP). 

The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on Articles 127(4) and 282(5) of the Treaty on the 

Functioning  of  the  European  Union  and  the  third  and  sixth  indents  of  Article 2(1)  of  Council  Decision 

98/415/EC  of  29 June  1998  on  the  consultation  of  the  European  Central  Bank  by  national  authorities 
regarding  draft  legislative  provisions2,  as  the  Decree  Law  relates  to  the  Banca  d’Italia  and  the  rules 

applicable to financial institutions insofar as they materially influence the stability of financial institutions 

and  markets.  In  accordance  with  the  first  sentence  of  Article 17.5  of  the  Rules  of  Procedure  of  the 

European Central Bank, the Governing Council has adopted this opinion. 

1.  

Purpose of the Decree Law 

1.1  Under Article 13 of the Decree Law, the IVARP will be established as a public law institution with 
legal  personality.  The  IVARP  will  replace  the  ISVAP3  and  the  COVIP4,  and  take  over  their 

competences, tasks and administrative and financial resources. With regard to the insurance sector, 

the IVARP will have the same competences and tasks as the ISVAP, and will be entitled to receive 

the  fees  charged  to  insurance  companies,  insurance  intermediaries  and  insurance  assessors  under 
the relevant legislation5. With regards to the retirement provision sector, the COVIP’s competence 

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2  
3  

4  
5  

Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana, No 156, of 6.7.2012, p. 1, Supplemento Ordinario. No. 141 .  
OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  
Istituto per la vigilanza sulle assicurazioni private e di interesse collettivo, Institution for the supervision of private and 
public interest insurance.  
Commissione di vigilanza sui fondi pensione, Commission for the supervision of pension funds.  
With regard to the competences and tasks, see Article 4 of Law No 576 of 12 August 1982 and Article 5 of Legislative 
Decree No 209 of 7 September 2005. Articles 335 to 337 of the latter contain provisions on the fees due to the ISVAP. In 
particular,  according  to  Article  335(2)  insurance  and  reinsurance  companies  are  subject  to  a  fee  based  on  the  premia 
collected  by  such  companies;  the  fee  cannot  exceed  0,2%  of  the  premia.  Insurance  and  reinsurance  intermediaries  are 
subject to a fee whose maximum amount depends on the specific category in question. Insurance assessors are subject to 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
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concerning the supervision of pension funds is transferred to the IVARP, as well as the entitlement 
to receive the fees which pension funds pay to the COVIP under the relevant legislation6.  Some 

other competences will be transferred to the Ministry of Labour and the Welfare State and to the 
CONSAP7. Where competence is transferred to the Ministry of Labour and the Welfare State, the 

latter and the IVARP may enter into special agreements for the exercise by the IVARP of powers 

of verification and control, including via inspections.  

1.2  The  Governance  of  the  IVARP  will  consist  of  a  President,  a  Council  and  the  Directorate  of  the 

Banca  d’Italia,  which  pursuant  to  Article  21  of  the  Statute  of  the  Banca  d’Italia  consists  of  the 
Governor, the Director General and three Deputy Directors General8, enlarged by the addition of 

the  two  IVARP  Councillors,  solely  for  the  purposes  of  the  performance  of  the  institutional 

functions  assigned  to  the  IVARP  in  insurance  and  pension  matters.  The  Council,  which  will  be 

responsible  for  the  overall  administration  of  the  IVARP,  will  consist  of  the  President  and  two 

Councillors,  chosen  among  persons  of  unquestioned  integrity,  independence  and  professional 

expertise  in  insurance  or  pension  matters.  The  Director  General  of  the  Banca  d’Italia  will  be  the 

President  of  the  IVARP,  who  will  in  this  capacity  be  the  legal  representative  of  the  IVARP  and 

chair  the  Council.    The  two  Councillors  will  be  appointed  for  a  term  of  office  of  six  years, 

renewable  once,  within  120  days  from  the  entry  into  force  of  the  Decree  Law,  by  decree  of  the 

President of the Republic upon a resolution adopted by the Council of Ministers at the initiative of 

the  President  of  the  Council  of  Ministers,  acting  on  a  proposal  from  the  Governor  of  the  Banca 

d’Italia,  and  in  agreement  with  the  Minister  for  Economic  Development  and  the  Minister  for 

Labour and the Welfare State. The enlarged Directorate will be responsible for setting guidelines 

and  for  the  strategic  direction  of  the  IVARP  and  will  have  the  power  to  take  all  measures  of 

external importance relating to the performance of the IVARP’s institutional functions of insurance 

and pension supervision. It will also be responsible for the approval of the IVARP’s annual report 

and the adoption of regulatory measures. 

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a fee whose maximum amount is 100 euro. The amount of the aforementioned fees is currently determined on a yearly 
basis by means of a decree of the Ministry of Economy and Finance on a proposal of the ISVAP.  
With  reference  to  the  competences  transferred  from  the  COVIP  to  the  IVARP  see  Legislative  Decree  No  252  of 
5 December  2005.  As  for  the  provisions  concerning  the  fees  on  pension  funds,  see  Article  13(3)  of  Law  No  335  of 
8 August  1995,  according  to  which  the  COVIP  can  be  funded  by  means  of  a  fee  not  exceeding  0,05%  of  the  yearly 
contributions inflows of pension funds. The competences which are transferred to the Ministry of Labour and the Welfare 
State are those set out in Article 14 of Decree Law No 98 of 6 July 2011, converted with amendments into Law No 111 
of 15 July 2011.  
The  CONSAP  (Concessionaria  servizi  assicurativi  pubblici,  Concessionaire  for  public  insurance  services).  will  be 
responsible for keeping a registry of insurance assessors. The Ministry of Economic Development will make provision 
for assigning a quota of the aforementioned fees to the CONSAP by means of decree, after having consulted the IVARP. 
The  Directorate has  authority to adopt  measures of  external  significance regarding  the  exercise  of  the  public  functions 
entrusted by law to the Banca d’Italia or to the Governor in pursuit of the Banca d’Italia’s institutional aims, other than 
decisions falling under the authority of the ESCB. Within the scope of its authority, the Directorate may grant mandates 
to  managers  of  the  Bank,  establishing  how  they  are  to  be  performed,  for  the  adoption  of  measures  that  do  not  require 
discretionary assessments but merely involve the acknowledgement of facts, circumstances and qualifications. According 
to  Article  17  of  the  Statute  of  the  Banca  d’Italia,  the  Director  General  and  the  three  Deputy  Directors  General  are 
appointed by another decision-making body of the Banca d’Italia, the Board of Directors, on a proposal of the Governor. 
The appointment, reappointment and removal from office of the Director General and the Deputy Directors General must 
be  approved  by  a  decree  of  the  President  of  the  Republic  acting  on  a  proposal  from  the  President  of  the  Council  of 
Ministers in agreement with the Minister for the Economy and Finance after consulting the Council of Ministers. 

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1.3  The Statute of the IVARP will be adopted by the Directorate of the Banca d’Italia within 120 days 

from  the  entry  into  force  of  the  Decree  Law,  and  approved  by  decree  of  the  President  of  the 

Republic acting on a proposal from the President of the Council of Ministers, in agreement with the 

Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Labour and the Welfare State, subject to a 

prior resolution of the Council of Ministers. Amendments to the Statute of the IVARP, adopted by 

the  enlarged  Directorate,  will  have  to  be  approved  by  the  same  procedure.  Criteria  for  possible 

secondment of employees from the Banca d’Italia to the IVARP or from the IVARP to the Banca 

d’Italia  will  be  laid  down  in  the  Statute  of  the  IVARP,  and  the  IVARP  will  have  access  to  the 

technical infrastructure of the Banca d’Italia. Within 120 days from the takeover of the functions of 

the ISVAP and the COVIP, the IVARP Council will draft a regulation on the legal, economic and 

pension  treatment  of  IVARP  staff,  and  a  reorganisation  plan  aimed  at  optimizing  resources  and 

reducing operating expenses. A regulation to be issued by the Government within two years of the 

entry into force of the Decree Law will make provision for the establishment of a private institution 

responsible  for  keeping  a  single  register  of  insurance  and  reinsurance  intermediaries  and 

supervision thereof. This institution will be subject to supervision by the IVARP.   

1.4  Several measures are contained in the Decree Law to ensure an adequate level of independence of 

the newly-established IVARP. In the first place, the IVARP’s accounts will be audited by external 

auditors  in  the  manner  established  for  the  Banca  d’Italia  by  Article  27  of  the  Statute  of  the 

European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank (hereinafter the ‘Statute of 

the ESCB’), without prejudice to the controls already performed by the State Audit Office on the 
ISVAP  and  the  COVIP,  pursuant  to  the  legislation  in  force9.  Secondly,  several  provisions 

concerning both the influence of the competent ministries on the organisation of the ISVAP and the 

COVIP, and the regulatory powers of such ministries with reference to the sectors supervised by 

the  ISVAP  and  the  COVIP,  are  repealed,  whereas  such  regulatory  powers  are  transferred  to  the 
IVARP10. 

2. 

General observations  

2.1  The ECB understands that in the Italian legal system the adoption of a Decree Law is part of a two-

phase urgent legislative procedure. In the first phase the Government adopts a Decree Law which 

immediately enters into force and takes effect, for a limited period of 60 days, upon publication in 

the  Official  Journal.  In  the  second  phase,  the  Government  submits  the  Decree  Law  to  the 

Parliament, on the same day as its adoption, for conversion into law within the 60-day period. The 
ECB already noted in paragraph 2 of its Opinion CON/2012/2011 that decree laws are legal acts that 

enter into force on adoption by the Government, and that therefore consultation should take place 

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10  

11  

See  Article  4  of  Law  No  576  of  12  August  1982,  as  amended  by  Article  351(1),  of  Legislative  Decree  No  209  of 
7 September 2005, and Article 18(4), last sentence, of Legislative Decree No 252 of 5 December 2005. 
An exception being the regulatory powers on the integrity and experience requirements for the members of the governing 
bodies and managers of insurances and supplementary pension schemes, which remain with the Ministry of Labour and 
the Welfare State. 
All ECB opinions are available on the ECB’s website at www.ecb.europa.eu.  

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before  adoption.  Consulting  the  ECB  after  the  submission  of  a  decree  law  to  Parliament  is  not 

sufficient  to  comply  with  the  consultation  obligation  and  the  ECB  would  like  to  draw  the 
Ministry’s attention to the proper procedure for its consultations12. 

2.2  With reference to this Decree Law, the ECB understands that the Banca d’Italia is only concerned 

by  Article  13  and  is  not  affected  by  any  other  provision  contained  therein.  The  ECB  notes  that 

Article  13  of  the  Decree  Law  will  only  take  effect  at  a  later  stage,  upon  implementation  of  this 

Article,  in  particular  when  the  Statute  of  the  IVARP  is  adopted.  This  time  lag  should  enable  the 

relevant national authorities to take the ECB’s opinion into consideration before the Article takes 

effect  both  during  the  process  of  conversion  into  law,  and  when  drafting  and  adopting  the 

implementing measures, including the Statute of the IVARP.  

3. 

Contribution to the prudential supervision and the stability of the financial system 

3.1  Article  127(5)  of  the  Treaty  provides  that  the  ESCB  has  to  contribute  to  the  smooth  conduct  of 

policies  pursued  by  the  competent  authorities  relating  to  the  prudential  supervision  of  credit 

institutions and the stability of the financial system. In this context, the ECB has constantly stressed 
the importance of having central banks closely involved in prudential supervision13. With respect to 

the insurance sector in particular, experience has shown that insurance companies are important for 

systemic  financial  stability  because  of  their  size  and  their  interconnectedness  with  the  financial 

sector. In view of the systemic relevance of the insurance sector for financial stability, it is subject 

to macro-prudential oversight by the European Systemic Risk Board. Against this background, the 

ECB welcomes the Decree Law, which ensures that the Banca d’Italia will be closely involved in 

the IVARP both through its decision-making bodies and operationally.  

3.2  The ECB notes that it is of utmost importance to ensure that the IVARP will have full and effective 
supervisory independence, in compliance with international principles14. In this context, the ECB 

welcomes the safeguards included in the Decree Law as regards the personal independence of the 

two  Councillors,  as  well  as  the  operational  independence  of  the  IVARP  and  the  members  of  its 

governing  bodies  (Article  13(4)  and  (13)).  In  this  context,  it  is  also  of  importance  that,  when 

sharing supervisory data with the Ministries of Economic Development and of Labour and Social 

Policies, this is limited to aggregated data. Moreover, the ECB welcomes that any conferral on the 

IVARP of powers of verification and control over entities subject to the oversight of the Ministry 

12 

13  

14  

See Title IV, Section I of the Guide to consultation of the European Central Bank by national authorities regarding draft 
legislative provisions, available on the ECB’s website. See also paragraphs 2.2 and 2.3 of Opinion CON/2012/48. 
On  earlier  attempts  to  confirm  the  attribution  of  responsibility  for  prudential  supervision  to  the  Banca  d’Italia  and  to 
extend the scope of such supervision to all financial intermediaries, see in particular Opinions CON/2007/17, paragraph 
2.2,  and  CON/2004/16,  paragraph  5.  See  also  Opinions  CON/2011/46,  paragraph  2.2,  CON/2011/7,  paragraph  2.1, 
CON/2010/48,  paragraph  2.2,  CON/2010/33,  paragraph  2,  CON/2010/30,  paragraph  2.2,  CON/2010/4,  paragraph  2, 
CON/2008/16,  paragraph  2.2,  CON/2006/39,  paragraph  2.3,  CON/2005/39,  paragraph  5,  CON/2005/26,  paragraph  4, 
CON/2004/31, paragraph 9 and CON/2003/23, parapaphs 6 to 8.  
Primarily,  the  standards  and  guidelines  of  the  International  Association  of  Insurance  Supervisors  (IAIS),  in  particular 
ICP2, available on the IAIS’s website at www.iaisiweb.org. 

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of  Labour  and  Social  Policies  is  subject  to  special  agreements  signed  by  the  IVARP  and  the 

Ministry. 

4. 

Central bank independence and monetary financing 

4.1  Member  States  must  ensure  that  the  national  central  banks  have  sufficient  financial  resources  to 

carry  out  their  ESCB-related  tasks.  In  this  respect,  the  ECB  understands  that  the  functions  to  be 

performed by the members of the Directorate of the Banca d’Italia in the IVARP will be conducted 

in a manner that is fully compatible with the functional, institutional and financial independence of 

the Banca d’Italia and with the personal independence of the members of its Directorate, including 

the Governor and the Director General, which is designed to safeguard the proper performance of 
their tasks under the Treaty and the Statute of the ESCB15. In this respect, the ECB notes that the 

envisaged formal separation between the Banca d’Italia and the IVARP, in particular with regard to 

the IVARP’s distinct legal personality, staff, and financial autonomy, would avoid any liability of 

the Banca d’Italia for the activities or decisions of the IVARP or for obligations entered into by the 

predecessor  authorities.  In  addition,  the  ECB  notes  that  the  IVARP  will  be  financed  via 

contributions  of  the  supervised  institutions  and  understands  that  it  will  not  receive  financial  or 

human resources, with the exception of the secondments referred to in Article 13(25) of the Decree 

Law from the Banca d’Italia.  

4.2  With  regard  to  the  separation  of  the  governance  bodies  of  the  Banca  d’Italia  and  the  IVARP  the 

ECB recommends clarifying in the converting law that the  Directorate of the Banca d’Italia in its 

enlarged composition responsible for the IVARP is a body formally distinct from the Directorate of 

the Banca d’Italia, that the Banca d’Italia will not take any liability for IVARP’s decisions, and that 

the Directorate of the Banca d’Italia remains the only body exclusively entrusted with supervision 

of the banking sector, as provided for in the legislation currently in force. The same clarification 

should be made concerning the function of the IVARP’s President and that of the Banca d’Italia’s 

Director General. 

4.3  The ECB also notes that the contribution of the Banca d’Italia to the IVARP through its Directorate 

members should not affect the Banca d’Italia’s ability to carry out its ESCB-related tasks from an 

operational and financial point of view. The ECB expects that care will be taken to ensure that the 

provision of staff of the Banca d’Italia to the IVARP and the use by the IVARP of the technical 

infrastructures  of  the  Banca  d’Italia,  which  should  serve  to  enhance  the  Banca  d’Italia’s 

contribution  to  the  IVARP’s  supervisory  and  stability-related  policies,  does  not  affect  the  Banca 

d’Italia’s ability to carry out its ESCB-related tasks from an operational and financial point of view. 

4.4  As  regards  autonomy  in  staff  matters  of  the  Banca  d’Italia,  which  is  an  aspect  of  central  bank 

financial independence, the ECB understands that the initial text of the Statute of the IVARP which 

will, inter alia, govern secondments between the Banca d’Italia and the IVARP, will be adopted by 

the Directorate of the Banca d’Italia, whereas future amendments will be decided on in the enlarged 

15  

See the ECB’s Convergence Report of May 2012, p. 22. 

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Directorate of the Banca d’Italia. However, the Statute of a separate authority such as the IVARP 

cannot  provide  for  the  conditions  under  which  Banca  d’Italia  staff  are  seconded  to  that  authority 

unless  those  conditions  are  compliant  with  the  relevant  rules  of  the  Banca  d’Italia  applicable  to 

Banca d’Italia staff, including the approval of secondments by the Banca d’Italia as an employer. 

Therefore, the ECB recommends providing for the necessary explicit clarifications in this sense in 

the converting law.  

4.5   The Decree Law also provides for the possibility for the IVARP to use the technical infrastructure 

of  the  Banca  d’Italia  for  the  performance  of  its  functions,  as  well  as  for  possible  secondment  of 

employees from the Banca d’Italia to the IVARP. In this respect, the ECB notes that the financing 

by  the  Banca  d’Italia  of  such  resources  to  be  used  by  the  IVARP  does  not  appear  to  present 

monetary financing concerns, given that this would in particular facilitate the performance by the 

Banca  d’Italia  of  its  ESCB-related  task  under  Article  127(5)  of  the  Treaty  to  contribute  to  the 

smooth conduct of policies pursued by the IVARP relating to the stability of the financial system. 

In this respect, it is crucial that the Banca d’Italia is in a position to make a meaningful contribution 

to  the  conduct  of  stability-related  policies  by  the  IVARP.  The  ECB  considers  that  the  role 

envisaged for the Banca d’Italia under the Decree Law, as well as possible staff secondment from 

the Banca d’Italia to the IVARP, should serve to enhance the Banca d’Italia’s contribution to the 
IVARP’s stability-related policies16.  

This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website.  

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 30 July 2012. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Mario DRAGHI 

16  

See also paragraph 3.5 of Opinion CON/2010/4. 

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