1 SCOR GROUP ....................................................................................................................................................... 4 1.1 Selected Financial Information .......................................................................................................................... 4 1.2 Information about SCOR Group ........................................................................................................................ 7 1.3 Market and financial review ............................................................................................................................. 26 2 CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION ................................................................. 44 2.1 Corporate officers, executives and employees ................................................................................................ 44 2.2 Executive compensation and share ownership ............................................................................................... 70 2.3 Major shareholders and related party transactions .......................................................................................... 99 3 RISK FACTORS AND RISK MANAGEMENT MECHANISMS ........................................................................... 115 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 115 3.2 SCOR’s main risk factors .............................................................................................................................. 116 3.3 SCOR’s main risk management mechanisms ............................................................................................... 133 4 CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS .................................................................................................. 144 4.1 Consolidated balance sheet .......................................................................................................................... 145 4.2 Consolidated statement of income ................................................................................................................ 147 4.3 Consolidated statement of comprehensive income ....................................................................................... 148 4.4 Consolidated statement of cash flows ........................................................................................................... 149 4.5 Consolidated statement of changes in shareholders’ equity .......................................................................... 150 4.6 Notes to the consolidated financial statements ............................................................................................. 153 4.7 Information on holdings ................................................................................................................................. 218 4.8 Statutory auditors .......................................................................................................................................... 219 4.9 Auditing of historical consolidated financial information ................................................................................ 220 5 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ............................................................................................................................ 224 5.1 Charter and bylaws ....................................................................................................................................... 224 5.2 Description of SCOR share capital ................................................................................................................ 231 5.3 Third-party information and statements by experts and declarations of any interest ..................................... 232 5.4 Published information ................................................................................................................................... 232 5.5 Material contracts .......................................................................................................................................... 232
94 million and EUR 202 million respectively (net of acquisition related expenses)
On May 29, 2013, SCOR acquired a 59.9 % stake in the capital of MRM S.A., a listed real estate company subject to the French REIT régime (“Régime des sociétés d’investissements immobiliers cotées” or “SIIC”), as part of a cash capital increase, after the restructuring of MRM S.A. group’s banking and bond debts. This investment amounts to EUR 53.3 million.
SCOR SE wholly owns its operating subsidiaries (excluding the shares held by Directors). SCOR SE also makes loans to its subsidiaries and issues them guarantees so that they can underwrite under favorable conditions, letting them benefit from its financial ratings. SCOR SE provides support in actuarial, accounting, legal, administrative, systems, internal audit, investment, and human resources to Group subsidiaries. Finally, SCOR SE acts, as needed, as retrocessionaire for its two operational subsidiaries through quota share treaties renewed annually which form the instrument for internal control within the Group through the annual allocation of capital to the operating subsidiaries based on the profitability expected from their underwriting. The contracts that formalize the relationships between SCOR SE and its subsidiaries are presented in Appendix C – 5.2.3 Note 4 – Transactions with subsidiaries, affiliates or others.
 enabling ceding companies to build up their business with less upfront capital requirement, particularly when launching new products requiring heavy investment or financing or when they invest in new markets by starting their own operations or acquiring portfolios or companies.
Both treaty and facultative reinsurance can be written on (i) a proportional (or quota share) basis and/or (ii) a nonproportional (or excess of loss or stop loss) basis.
SCOR writes direct insurance, primarily on a business-to-business basis to cover on P&C certain large industrial risks through the Business Solutions domain of SCOR Global P&C and through the participation in Lloyd’s syndicates among which Channel 2015, for which SCOR is the sole capital provider as well as through some participations in Business Ventures and partnerships. For a description of products and services, see Section 1.2.5.2 – Non-Life reinsurance.
SCOR has set a rigorous governance process and an ERM-focused organizational structure:  The Board of Directors approves risk appetite, risk limits and as a consequence, the capital allocated to insurance business investments on the basis of the Board Risk Committee’s recommendation;  The COMEX approves the overall investment strategy and the macro-positioning of the investment portfolio on the basis of the Group Investment Committee’s recommendation.
The Group’s investment mandate, assigned to SCOR Global Investments, consists of:  proposing the macro-positioning of the invested assets portfolio in line with the approved risk appetite and risk limits, respecting a strict ALM process, economic and market expectations, accounting rules and a strict foreign exchange congruency matching between assets and liabilities;  implementing the investment strategy;  optimizing the absolute return on invested assets and focus on the recurrence of yields while controlling their volatility. This objective is achieved through an active and dynamic management of the portfolio, the identification of cycles and market opportunities and a strict qualitative and quantitative risk management.
The Group’s Life and P&C reinsurance global back-office system operates on a custom software package known as “Omega.” Omega was designed to allow the tracking of clients and policyholders within the Group, grant online underwriting authorization throughout the world, track premium and claims, analyze the technical profitability of contracts, and perform quarterly closings based on the latest estimated results. The Omega database reflects the current organization of SCOR Global P&C and SCOR Global Life worldwide reinsurance risk portfolios. After an extensive study, the Group has decided to update and improve Omega, thereby capitalizing on its existing strength. The project, which includes technical modernization and development of functional evolutions, is well underway and is expected to complete mid-2016. The focus in 2015 was again on strengthening SCOR’s front office applications to improve risk selection, anticipation and reactivity in markets and products, and simulations of results. A number of projects have been commenced in recent years which will continue through 2016. Accounting forecasts are developed from underwriting plans and comparative analysis is produced in standard reports. New reserving and financial modeling tools have been implemented over the last years. Non-Life pricing is closely managed using xAct, the global in-house standard treaty pricing tool, which uses standardized models, and profitability analysis, then providing full visibility into proportional and non-proportional business. The underwriting and pricing process of large industrial or specialty risks is now supported by new in-house solutions like ForeWriter or Pacman, embedding the SCOR professionals’ expertise. Control of exposure to natural catastrophes and pricing has been improved through the ongoing development of the SCOR Cat Platform which monitors all liabilities and accumulations through the use and calibration or the model combination deemed as most efficient. Still with SFP&C, the development of a new Claims Platform has been started. In the Life
On December 2, 2015, SCOR successfully placed a dated subordinated notes issued on the Euro market in the amount of EUR 600 million. The coupon was set to 3.0% (until June 8, 2026), and resets every 10 years at the prevailing 10year EUR mid-swap rate +3.25%. It is SCOR’s intention, subject to the evolution of market conditions and to prior
The net result of the Group’s retrocession program were EUR (336) million, EUR (385) million and EUR (453) million in 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively. The impact of alternative retrocession coverage, Atlas VI (SCOR Global P&C) and Atlas IX (SCOR Global Life) (See Section 3.3 - SCOR’s main risk management mechanisms) are not included in the net cost of retrocession as the products are accounted for as derivatives. The total cost recorded in 2015 "other operating expenses" related to Atlas Cat Bonds and the Mortality transfer contract was EUR 19 million (2014: EUR 41 million). Atlas VII catastrophe bonds are accounted for as a reinsurance contract since the beginning of their coverage period in 2014, due to the presence of an ultimate loss clause.
The return on invested assets in 2015 was 3.1% as compared to 2.9% in 2014 and 2.6% in 2013. This increase in investment income on invested assets is essentially due to the active asset management strategy implemented by SCOR Global Investments, which translated into substantial realized capital gains of EUR 170 million, mostly achieved on the equity portfolio and to a lesser extent on the fixed income portfolio.
Investment revenues on invested assets 405 334 303 Realized gains/(losses) on debt securities
For more information on regulatory restrictions on the use of capital, refer to Section 1.2.1 – Introduction and to Section 4.6 – Notes to the consolidated financial statements, Note 13 – Information on share capital, capital management, regulatory framework and shareholders’ equity.
The Group has been granted credit facilities from several companies of the banking sector to guarantee the reinsurance activities of various subsidiaries for a global issued amount of USD 3.4 billion as at December 31, 2015. These last credit facilities are stand-by letters of credit that the banking counterparty agrees to issue in the form acceptable to the American National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) or other appropriate regulatory body.
– Net investment income and investment income on invested assets 1.3.9.3 GROUP COST RATIO
5.0% 5.0% 5.1% (1) Total expenses are investment management expenses, acquisition and administrative expenses and other current operating expenses as presented in
Interest on deposits 161 158 155 Technical result 506 405 357 LIFE TECHNICAL MARGIN
2.1 Corporate officers, executive and employees 44 2.1.1 Corporate governance regime 44 2.1.2 Board of Directors 45 2.1.3 Board of Directors committees 64 2.1.5 Number of employees 69 2.2 Executive compensation and share ownership 70 2.2.1 Remuneration of the executive corporate officer and directors 70 2.2.2 Remuneration of executive committee members (COMEX) other than the Chairman and CEO 81 2.2.3 Stock options and performance shares 83 2.3 Major shareholders and related party transactions 99 2.3.2 Related party transactions and regulated agreements 106 2.3.3 Special report of the Auditors 106
(France)  Permanent Representative of Assurances Mutuelles de France at the Board of Directors of Gespré Europe
 Chief Executive Officer of Macif Sgam (France)  Chairman and Director of Foncière de Lutèce (France)  Vice Chairman and Member of the Supervisory Board of Macifimo ADM, ex GPIM (France)  Director of la Compagnie Foncière MACIF (Permanent Representative of Macif) (France)  Director of Macif Participations (France)  Member of the Supervisory Board of OFI Asset Management (France)  Director of Ofi Holding (Permanent Representative of Macif) (France)  Member of the Supervisory Board of Inter Mutuelles Assistance (Permanent Representative of Macif) (France)  Non-voting director of Macifilia (France)  Non-voting director of Mutavie (France)  Non-voting director of Socram Banque (France)  Non-voting director of Ofivalmo Partenaires (France)  Member of the Executive Committee of Siem (France)  Member of the Steering Committee of Macifimo (France)  Ex officio member at the Board of Directors of Campus (GIE), as an observer (France)  Member of the Executive Board and member of the Bureau of Macif and Vice-Chairman of the Gema (France)  Manager of the GEIE Euresa (Belgium)
Jean-Marc Raby, a French citizen, holds a degree in economics as well as an MBA from HEC. He has spent his entire professional career at the Macif group. He became Regional Director of Macif Centre (a regional Macif entity) in 2000, and was subsequently appointed Deputy CEO of the Macif group, in charge of Economic Management, alongside the CEO, Roger Iseli. In 2012, he was appointed CEO of the Macif group. In June 2014, he was appointed CEO of Sferen.
Asset Management (France)  Chief Executive Officer of SAM Caisse Mutuelle d’Assurances sur la Vie “CMAV” (France)  Chief Executive Officer of SGAM Malakoff Médéric – LMG (France)
Kory Sorenson Director Chairman of the Audit Committee Member of the Strategic Committee, Risk Committee and Crisis Management Committee
Moreover, the non-executive director session is composed of all voting directors, with the exception of the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and the employee director.
Group’s financial statements. The Audit Committee is also in charge of reviewing agreements with related parties (“conventions réglementées”), analyzing and responding to questions from employees with regard to internal controls, the preparation of financial statements and the treatment of internal accounting books and records. It gives its opinion on the organization of internal audit, examines its annual work program, receives internal audit reports and stays informed regarding the implementation of recommendations. Finally, it examines the annual compliance plan and stays informed regarding the Company’s compliance activities.
The Audit Committee met on four occasions in 2015, each meeting lasting approximatively two to three hours. The Chairman and CEO attended all the meetings in 2015.
Refer to Section 2.1.2.1 – Information concerning the members of the Board of Directors.
Simon Pearson, a British citizen, is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries. After graduating in 1987 with an Honours degree in Economics from the University of York, Simon started his actuarial career with a mid-sized UK mutual life insurer, NPI. Qualifying as an Actuary in 1992, Simon held a number of actuarial management positions covering pricing & product development, reserving, embedded value & financial reporting. Simon joined the UK life subsidiary of Gerling Global Re in 1999, becoming the Appointed Actuary in 2001. At the beginning of 2004, Simon became the CEO of the UK subsidiary of the newly established Revios. Upon the integration of Revios into SCOR, he became a member of the SCOR Global Life senior management team at the end of 2006. In 2008, Simon was promoted to manage SGL’s Northern Europe region covering UK, Ireland and Scandinavia. In August 2011, Simon was appointed SGL Head of EMEAA covering Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific. In November 2014, he was appointed Deputy Chief Executive Officer of SCOR Global Life and CEO of SCOR Global Life Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA).
 A target variable annual compensation of EUR 1,200,000 based on 50 % of financial objectives and 50 % of personal objectives, each of these personal objectives being equally weighted. These objectives are defined annually at the beginning of each year by the Board of Directors on the recommendation of the Compensation and Nomination Committee.
In accordance with the recommendations stated in the AFEP-MEDEF Code (§24.3) and pursuant to the implementation Guide of the AFEP-MEDEF, the compensation elements due or attributed to the Executive Corporate Officer for the financial year ended December 31, 2015 are presented below: Compensation elements due or attributed for the financial year ended December 31, 2015
Denis Kessler March 4, 2015 125,000 3,112,500 March 5, 2017 March 5, 2019
In the event of a change in control of the Group, if a member of the Executive Committee is dismissed (except for reason of serious or gross misconduct) or if he decides to resign within a twelve-month period, he will benefit from (i) a cash payment equal to the amount of fixed and variable compensations paid to him by the Group for the two financial
Like all senior executives employed in France, the members of the Executive Committee who joined SCOR before June 30, 2008 and are employed in France, are entitled to a guaranteed capped pension plan condition upon a minimum five years length of service with the Group, the payment of which is based on their average compensation over the last five years. This pension plan was closed to employees hired after June 30, 2008. Executive Committee members that are not employed in France benefit from the collective pension schemes in place in their entity and do not have any specific plan except for members with Swiss contracts who have been awarded a similar advantage than to the one granted to the Executive Committee members employed in France and hired before June 30, 2008.
François De Varenne 7,308 09/16/2005 15.90 116,197 09/16/2009 to 15/09/2015 7,308
Following the authorization by the Shareholders' Meeting on May 6, 2014, the Company's Board of Directors of March 4, 2015, on the proposal of the Compensation and Nomination Committee of February 23, 2015, reproduced a SCOR Long Term Incentive Plan (the “LTIP”), for selected managers and executives of the Group in order to ensure retention of key employees. The performance measurement of this plan of LTIP is set to six years.
The table below presents the total number of shares allocated in 2014 and 2015 by category within the Group, all types of plans included: Total number of LTIP shares allocated in 2015
From 05/03/2013 to 05/03/2015 included 2 years 168 178,000 03/05/2015 Yes
From 19/03/2012 to 19/03/2014 included 2 years 344 2,000 03/19/2014 na
From 12/12/2011 to 12/12/2013 included 2 years 376 2,620 12/12/2013 na
 Section 2.3.1.5 – Capital share;  Section 4.6 – Notes to the consolidated financial statements, Note 17 – Provisions for employee benefits;  Section 4.6 – Notes to the consolidated financial statements, Note 18 – Stock options and share awards, and;  Appendix C – 5.3.5 – Notes to the corporate financial statements, Note 12 – Stock Options.
As its meeting of August 26, 2008, the Board of Directors of the Company authorized, pursuant to Article L. 225-38 of the French Commercial Code (Code de commerce), the signature of the Stand-By Letter of Credit Facility Agreement (the “Facility Agreement”), finalized with BNP Paribas, for the issue of stand-by letters of credit (“SBLC”), with regard to the Group’s insurance and reinsurance activity for a maximum amount up to USD 400,000,000. This Facility Agreement was executed on December 23, 2008.
On November 9, 2011, the Board of Directors of the Company authorized the signature of the amendment #3 to the Facility Agreement concluded on December 23, 2008, with BNP Paribas in order to extend the original agreement for a period of three years beginning January 1, 2012, and ending December 31, 2014, reassess the financial conditions under the Facility Agreement. Within the framework of this amendment, your Company has to renew its financial instruments account agreement into which assets a minimum of EUR 5,000 assets have to be deposited.
At its meeting of November 5, 2014, the Board of Directors of the Company approved an amendment to the settlement of supplementary pension plan that provides for:  cap to 45% of the beneficiary reference income the amount of rent that may be received under the plan; and
cases there is no accounting impact from a 100 basis point change in interest, because valuation interest rates are typically locked-in. Within the Non-Life division, the sensitivity of the portfolio to interest rates is not considered material.
 Secondly, a reduction in the value of future profits could arise from a material unexpected lapsation of policies following a deterioration of the cedent’s financial rating or standing or an event which has a negative effect on the cedent’s reputation.
Non-Life insurance liabilities 0-1 year 1-3 years 3-7 years > 7 years Total In EUR million
(1) Generally speaking, the insurance covers mentioned in this section illustrate the Group policy of transferring some of its own risks. However, these insurance covers remain subject to the provisions of corresponding contracts, specifically those regarding possible sub-limits of cover, particular deductibles and geographic scope of cover and/or particular exclusions
All SCOR’s strategic risks are monitored via a dedicated strategic planning approach and appropriate reporting mechanisms to its main governance bodies. Please refer to section 2 for further details on SCOR’s governance. Many of the risks discussed in the section below arise from or have an impact on other categories of risks to which SCOR is exposed. Therefore, relevant risk management mechanisms for these risks may also be found in the following sections dedicated to specific risk categories.
Within SCOR Global P&C, in order to ensure an adequate and efficient control of the reserves, a report is established on a yearly basis by the Group Actuarial Department, where the Group Chief Actuary, reporting to the Group Chief Risk Officer, gives his opinion on the year-end booked reserves’ adequacy. The main objective of this report is to provide SCOR Executive Committee as well as the Audit Committee with an overall opinion on the reserving adequacy of the P&C division but also to highlight the inherent uncertainties surrounding this assessment. The control of the reserves analyzed by the Actuarial Department of the division and of the Group is centered on three mechanisms:  A quarterly follow-up of the claims activity and review of reserve for each segment through adequate reporting procedures;  An internal annual actuarial analysis, including a review of all segments together with a full analysis of the segments that may have a substantial impact on SCOR’s balance sheet. This analysis is performed by the SCOR Global P&C reserving actuaries and reviewed by the Group Actuarial department. These analyses are recorded in an annual actuarial report;  Regular external reviews of SCOR Global P&C division reserves adequacy are performed including the ones required by local regulators (Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, South Africa, China and SCOR Lloyds’ syndicate).
The Group continues to pursue the active commutations policy of its portfolios initiated in 2003, the main goals being to reduce the volatility of claims reserves, to reduce the administrative costs particularly of the oldest reserves, and to allow the reallocation of capital. This policy will be continued by focusing efforts on the US run-off activities and on some treaties written by the former Converium company acquired by SCOR in 2007.
SCOR’s retrocession departments regularly monitor the Group’s exposure to retrocessionaires taking into account all relevant accounting balances (estimated and actual claims, premiums, reserves and deposits, pledges and security deposits) and provide summary reports to the Risk Committee on a quarterly basis. Note that SCOR typically requires that unrated retrocessionaires pledge assets or provide other forms of collateral to the value of their maximum potential contract liability, even though the actual retrocessionaire liability to SCOR in the balance sheet is lower. Furthermore, to reduce the credit risk arising from its retrocessionaires, SCOR:  requests that certain of its retrocessionaires provide that all or a portion of the receivables from its retrocession contracts be guaranteed by collateral (cash deposits, letters of credit, pledging of securities etc.);  carries out an active commutation policy in Non-Life.
Cash and cash equivalents at January 1 Note 12 860 1,514 1,466
(223) SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY AT DECEMBER 31, 2013 4,980 (1) Fair value of non-controlling interest in MRM S.A. of EUR 36 million, adjustment of EUR (2) million and EUR (1) million for dividends relating to minority shareholders of CPP (2) Movements presented above relate to the issuance of shares on the exercise of stock options for EUR 20 million (EUR 10 million in share capital and EUR
Compared to the 2014 published Registration Document, most of the significant accounting principles and methods were moved to the beginning of the respective Notes explaining balance sheet or income statement line items. Consequently, Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements now only refers to significant general accounting principles.
2015 Percentage 2014 Percentage Consolidation method Country Control Interest Control Interest SCOR SE and its direct subsidiaries SCOR SE France Parent Parent Parent Parent Parent General Security Indemnity Company of Arizona US 100 100 100 100 Full General Security National Insurance Company US 100 100 100 100 Full SCOR Africa Ltd. South Africa 100 100 100 100 Full SCOR Investment Partners France 100 100 100 100 Full SCOR Services Asia-Pacific PTE LTD Singapore 100 100 100 100 Full SCOR Management Services Ireland LTD Ireland 100 100 100 100 Full SCOR Perestrakhovaniye Russia 100 100 100 100 Full SCOR Reinsurance Company US 100 100 100 100 Full SCOR U.S. Corporation US 100 100 100 100 Full SCOR Brasil Participações Ltda. Brazil 100 100 100 100 Full SCOR Global LIFE SE and its subsidiaries SCOR Global Life SE France 100 100 100 100 Full GENERALI Reassurance (Bermuda) Ltd. Company Bermuda 100 100 100 100 Full Revios Canada Holding Corp. Ltd. Canada 100 100 100 100 Full Revios Canada Ltd. Canada 100 100 100 100 Full SCOR Global Life Australia Pty Ltd Australia 100 100 100 100 Full SCOR Global Life USA Holdings Inc. US 100 100 100 100 Full SCOR Global Life Americas Holding Inc. (Delaware) US 100 100 100 100 Full SCOR Global Life Reinsurance International (Barbados) Ltd. Barbados 100 100 100 100 Full SCOR Global Life Reinsurance Ireland Ltd. Ireland 100 100 100 100 Full SCOR Global Life USA Reinsurance Company US 100 100 100 100 Full SCOR Global Life Reinsurance Company of Delaware US 100 100 100 100 Full SCOR Life Insurance Company (SLAC) US 100 100 100 100 Full SCOR Life Reassurance Company (SLRC) US 100 100 100 100 Full Quantitative Data Solutions US 100 100 100 100 Full SCOR Global P&C SE and its subsidiaries SCOR Global P&C SE France 100 100 100 100 Full SCOR Canada Reinsurance Company Canada 100 100 100 100 Full SCOR Reinsurance Asia Pacific Pte Ltd. Singapore 100 100 100 100 Full SCOR Reinsurance Company (Asia) Ltd. Hong Kong 100 100 100 100 Full SCOR Underwriting Ltd. UK 100 100 100 100 Full SCOR UK Company Limited UK 100 100 100 100 Full SCOR Holding (Switzerland) AG and its subsidiaries SCOR Holding (Switzerland) AG Switzerland 100 100 100 100 Full SCOR Holding (UK) Ltd. UK 100 100 100 100 Full SCOR Services Switzerland AG Switzerland 100 100 100 100 Full SCOR Switzerland AG Switzerland 100 100 100 100 Full Real Estate Businesses MRM S.A. France 47.29 59.90 56.50 59.90 Full SCOR Auber France 100 100 100 100 Full
The IFRS 4 liability adequacy testing which includes VOBA recoverability, showed no indicators of impairment for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 or 2013.
The additions to tangible assets in 2015 were mainly related to the acquisition, in June 2015, of the “Asia House” building, located in London. The total purchase price amounts to EUR 32 million (GBP 24 million), including direct attributable costs. The other additions correspond to the on-going construction of the Singapore office in which SCOR purchased four units of an additional floor and to the leasehold improvements in the other properties. These additions are partially offset by disposal of fully amortized assets (leasehold improvements and furniture).
The fair value of hedge funds managed by third parties is based on their Net Asset Value (NAV) as issued by external asset managers. This NAV is regularly audited, at least annually. The fair value of floating rate and overnight deposits with credit institutions is their carrying value.
For securities not considered to be traded on an active and liquid market, especially closed-end funds, SCOR performs a line-by-line analysis based on the expected lifecycle of these instruments and their business model. A security is considered impaired if there is:  a magnitude of decline of more than 50%; or
The following table shows the reconciliation between the opening and closing balances for fair value measurements categorized within Level 3: In EUR million Equity securities Debt securities Loans and receivables Derivative instruments
A hedging instrument is a designated derivative instrument or, in the case of a single foreign currency hedge, a designated non-derivative asset or liability for which the fair value or cash flows offset variations in the fair value or cash flows of the hedged item. The hedged item may be an asset, a liability, a firm commitment, a highly probable scheduled transaction or a net investment in a foreign operation exposing the Group to fluctuations in fair value or future cash flows, and which is designated as being hedged. Hedge effectiveness is monitored periodically by comparing changes in the fair value or cash flows of the hedged item to the changes in the fair value or cash flows of the hedge instrument in order to determine the degree of effectiveness.
Cash-flow hedge accounting is applied when the hedging relationship is determined to be highly effective. Effectiveness testing is performed at the inception of the hedging relationship and at each balance sheet date throughout the term of the hedge relationship. Where hedge effectiveness is not attained, the hedging instrument (interest rate swap) is measured at fair value through income from the date the hedge relationship ceases to be effective. As at December 31, 2015, the fair value of the interest rate swaps was a liability of EUR 23 million (December 31, 2014: liability of EUR 30 million). The amount recognized in other comprehensive income in 2015 is EUR 6 million (2014: EUR (4) million). The amount recognized in the statement of income in 2015 is EUR 1 million (2014: not significant).
P&C Total Gross receivables from ceding companies 1 387 388 (69) 376 307 Provision for bad debts (2) (8) (10) (3) (12) (15) Estimated premiums receivable from cedents, net of commission 2,615 2,310 4,925 2,300 1,999 4,299 Assumed insurance and reinsurance accounts receivable 2,614 2,689 5,303 2,228 2,363 4,591 Amount due from reinsurers 15 65 80 114 79 193 Provision for bad debts - (5) (5) - (1) (1) Receivables from ceded reinsurance transactions 15 60 75 114 78 192 Assumed insurance and reinsurance accounts payable (302) (182) (484) (315) (113) (428) Liabilities for cash deposits from retrocessionaires (360) (331) (691) (400) (300) (700) Amount due to reinsurers (27) (65) (92) (80) (35) (115) Estimated premiums payable to retrocessionaires, net of commission (180) (232) (412) (160) (193) (353) Accounts payable on ceded reinsurance transactions (567) (628) (1,195) (640) (528) (1,168)
The number of shares held as treasury shares by the Company or its subsidiaries at December 31, 2015 amounted to 6,661,000 shares compared to 6,593,132 shares at the end of 2014. These treasury shares are not entitled to dividends.
The resolution to be presented to the Annual General Meeting to approve, during the first half of 2016, the accounts for the financial year 2015, sets out the distribution of a dividend of EUR 1.50 per share for the financial year 2015.
SCOR has entered into a cross-currency swap which exchanges CHF 250 million of the principal into EUR and exchanges the CHF coupon on the notes to EUR 5.8975% and matures on November 30, 2018. Refer to Note 9 – Derivative Instruments.
On December 7, 2015, SCOR issued EUR 600 million dated subordinated notes on the Euro market, redeemable by SCOR at each interest payment date, from June 8, 2026. The coupon has been set to 3% (until June 8, 2026, the first call date), and resets every 10 years at the prevailing 10-year EUR mid-swap rate +3.25% (until June 8, 2046, final redemption date).
In EUR million 2015 2014 GROSS CLAIMS RESERVES AND CLAIMS ESTIMATES AS AT JANUARY 1 11,088 10,691 Ceded claims reserves and claims estimates as at January 1 (619) (629) Net claims reserves and claims estimates as at January 1 10,469 10,062 Revaluation of opening balance at current year end exchange rates 546 397 Net claims reserves and claims estimates as at January 1 – revalued 11,015 10,459 Net claims incurred relating to the current calendar year 1,923 1,729 Net claims incurred for prior calendar years 1,014 892 Total net claims incurred 2,937 2,621 Net claims payments for the current calendar year (47) (75) Net claims payments for prior calendar years (2,791) (2,530) Total net claims payments (2,838) (2,605) Reclassifications - 3 Effect of other foreign exchange rate movements 2 (9) Net claim reserves and claims estimates as at December 31 11,116 10,469 Ceded claims reserves and claims estimates as at December 31 (634) (619) GROSS CLAIMS RESERVES AND CLAIMS ESTIMATES AS AT DECEMBER 31 11,750 11,088
Changes in past service costs resulting from the adoption or modification of a defined benefit plan are fully and immediately recorded as income or expense. If a defined benefit plan is not wholly funded, provisions are recognized.
US Canada Switzerland UK Euro zone Assumptions as at December 31, 2015 Discount rate 4.51% 2.00% 0.90% 3.90% 2.21% Salary increase - - 1.50% 3.50% 2.50% Assumptions as at December 31, 2014 Discount rate 4.21% 3.80% 1.35% 4.00% 2.06% Salary increase - - 1.70% 3.40% 2.50% Assumptions as at December 31, 2013
Dilutive effects - Stock options and share-based compensation - Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders and estimated conversions 2.91 (1) Average number of shares during the period (2) Calculated assuming all options are exercised where the average SCOR share price for the year exceeds the option exercise price
Tour First -1, Place des saisons 92037 Paris-La Défense cedex, France
In compliance with the assignment entrusted to us by your annual general meeting, we hereby report to you, for the year ended December 31, 2015, on:  the audit of the accompanying consolidated financial statements of SCOR SE;  the justification of our assessments;  the specific verification required by law. These consolidated financial statements have been approved by the Board of Directors. Our role is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements, based on our audit.
Under Article L. 225-43 of the French commercial Code, the Directors, other than the legal entities, Chief Executive Officer (Directeur Général) and Chief Operating Officers (Directeurs Généraux Délégués) may not borrow money or obtain a guarantee from the Company. Any such loan or guarantee would be void and may not be relied upon by third parties.
The Board of Directors can also decide to allow the shareholders to participate in and vote at any shareholders’ Meeting by videoconference or by any means of telecommunication that allows them to be identified and in compliance with the conditions set by applicable regulations.
The Company certifies that all the following information stated in this Registration Document and received from third parties has been accurately reproduced and that as far as the Company is aware and is able to ascertain from information published by such third party, no facts have been omitted, which would render the reproduced information inaccurate or misleading:  Data issued from the Standard & Poor’s Global Reinsurance Highlights (2015 and 2014 Edition) and relating to the ranking on reinsurance market participants quoted in Section 1.1.1 - Group key figures and Section 1.3.4 - Information on SCOR‘s competitive position;  Ratings issued by the Standard & Poor’s, Fitch Ratings, AM Best and Moody’s rating agencies quoted in Section 1.2.4 - Ratings information and Appendix A - 2 - Internal control and risk management procedures;  2014 Society of Actuaries (SOA) and Munich Re Life survey of U.S. life reinsurance, published in 2015, quoted in Section 1.3.5.3 – SCOR Global Life.
APPENDIX A: REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS In accordance with the provisions of article L. 225-37 of the French Commercial Code, this report serves to set forth the composition of the Board of Directors and the implementation of the principle of balanced representation of women and men among its members, the terms and conditions for the preparation and organization of the work of the Company’s Board of Directors, in addition to the internal control and risk management procedures that have been implemented by the Company. This report has been approved by the Board of Directors on February 23, 2016.
2 INTERNAL CONTROL AND RISK MANAGEMENT PROCEDURES The Group has identified the following categories of risks, as described in Section 3.2 – SCOR’s main risk factors:  Strategic risks
The four general objectives sought through the application of this framework are: 1. to ensure that strategic objectives are properly implemented in the Group; 2. to ultimately achieve better operating efficiency and use of resources; 3. to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations; 4. to ensure reliable accounting and financial information.
Within this environment, control responsibilities are exercised as follows:  SCOR SE’s Board of Directors relies on several dedicated committees, including but not limited to the Audit Committee and the Risk Committee to exercise its control responsibility over the objectives it has set for the Company. These two committees are both chaired by independent directors;  SCOR SE’s Board of Directors, following a recommendation made by the Compensation and Nomination Committee, has decided that a number independent directors of SCOR SE should be members of the Boards of some of the main subsidiaries in various countries with a view to enhancing the Group’s oversight of local operations;  The Group’s Executive Committee (the “COMEX”) is chaired by the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SCOR SE. The COMEX defines the procedures for implementing the strategy decided by the SCOR SE’s Board of Directors in line with principles set out in Group policies for its main areas of activities (e.g. investment, finance, risk management) and also approved by the Board of Directors for relevant topics, the underwriting plan and the allocation and management of the resources. In addition, the COMEX supervises the functioning of the Group and the Hubs through a quarterly monitoring of the bodies contributing to the sound administration of the Group. It meets on a weekly basis. In addition to the Chairman and CEO, the COMEX is currently made up of: - The Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO), - The Group Chief Risk Officer (CRO), - The Group Chief Operating Officer (COO), - The SCOR Global P&C Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and his deputy, - The SCOR Global Life Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and his deputy, - The SCOR Global Investments Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Besides SCOR has established reporting principles for all risk management related documents across the Group, with dedicated review processes and governance.
In 2015, SCOR SE reversed EUR 71 million in impairment of its shares in SCOR U.S.
Reinsurance estimates - assumed - - - - Other accruals 164 - 164 39
The costs associated with the acquisition of new Non-Life contracts, essentially commissions, are recorded as assets within the limits of contract profitability. They are amortized over the period of earned premiums. The acquisition costs of Life reinsurance operations are usually not deferred.
5.2 Analysis of key balance sheet items 5.2.1 NOTE 2 - INVESTMENTS
During the year, the treasury advance with SCOR AUBER SAS increased by EUR 55 million and was partly paid back for EUR 49 million. SCOR SE granted a EUR 8 million treasury advance to SCOR Capital Partners SAS.
Share of retrocessionaires in underwriting reserves 473 - - 473 25 - - 25
In EUR million Related companies Other affiliates Other Total Related companies Other affiliates Other Total Other accounts receivable 167 - 68 235 115 - 82 197 Treasury advances granted 77 - - 77 37 - - 37 Transfer pricing receivables 69 - - 69 52 - - 52 Miscellaneous 21 - 68 89 26 - 82 108
Currency Assets Liabilities Surplus Surplus In EUR million 2015 2015 2015 2014 Euro 8,737 7,663 1,074 1,271 US Dollar 774 793 (19) (203) Pounds sterling - 5 (5) 4 Swiss francs 125 1,257 (1,132) (1,015) Japanese yen (2) 4 (6) (9) Australian dollar (2) 7 (9) (13) Yuan 1,070 975 95 (28) New-Zealand dollar (1) 5 (6) (21) Other currencies 49 41 8 14 Total 10,750 10,750 - -
In addition, on January 3, 2007, the company carried out a reverse stock split of shares comprising the capital of SCOR SE with the exchange of one new share with a par value of EUR 7.8769723 for 10 old shares with a nominal value of EUR 0.78769723 per share.
In 2013, SCOR entered into a cross-currency swap which exchanges CHF 250 million of the principal into EUR and exchanges the CHF coupon on the notes to EUR 5.8975% and which matures on November 30, 2018. In 2015, currency forward purchases and sales generated an unrealized losses of EUR (6) million.
Guarantees and securities - - 64 1 Underwriting commitments - - - - Assets pledged to ceding companies - - - - Marketable securities pledged to financial institutions
On June 18, 2009, SCOR commenced an action before the Commercial Court of Nanterre against an insurance company with respect to the recovery of the attorneys fees and costs arising from the Highfields Capital LTD, Highfields Capital I LP and Highfields Capital II LP litigation covered by the directors and officers insurance policy. The proceedings were dismissed on October 24, 2012. On November 23, 2012, SCOR filed an appeal before the Court of Appeal of Versailles. On March 18, 2014, the Court of Appeal of Versailles partially reserved the decision of the Commercial Court and, ruling anew, rejected SCOR SE’s application. After a legal analysis of the decision of the Appeal Court, SCOR SE filed an appeal before the Supreme Court on July 29, 2014. On 22 October 2015, the Supreme Court granted SCOR’s request and referred the case to other judges of the Court of appeal of Versailles to rule on the outstanding issues.
We conducted our audit in accordance with professional standards applicable in France; those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit involves performing procedures, using sampling techniques or other methods of selection, to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made, as well as the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion In our opinion, the financial statements give a true and fair view of the assets and liabilities and of the financial position of the company as at December 31, 2015 and of the results of its operations for the year then ended in accordance with French accounting principles.
No collective agreement related to health and safety in the workplace was signed in 2015.
Due to its geographical locations and applicable local laws, SCOR complies with all the provisions of the International Organization. The themes related to "Elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation" and "Freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining" are especially described in the section 1.3.5 " Diversity and equal opportunities" and in the section 1.3.2 "Social Relations". The social climate within the Group can be considered as good. A good social dialogue exists in each hub and at the European level.
 In Singapore Hub, an employee referral program was launched in 2014. The objective is to implement an alternative source of job applicants to bring in the best high quality talents and support the mission of equal employment opportunity for all candidates.
The Group has 17 employees with disabilities (1): 2 in Germany, 5 in Switzerland, 8 in France, 2 in Italy.
Supporting research and teaching is a core feature of SCOR’s corporate responsibility policy. The Group develops relationships with different kinds of institutions (foundations, associations, schools and universities, research centers) in various forms (corporate sponsorship, scientific research partnerships) in a number fields linked to risk, uncertainty, and reinsurance, both in France and abroad.
We determined the nature and scope of our tests and controls based on the nature and importance of the CSR Information with respect to the characteristics of the Company, the human resources and environmental challenges of its activities, its sustainability strategy and industry best practices. Regarding the CSR information that we considered to be most important (2):  At parent entity level, we referred to documentary sources and conducted interviews to corroborate the qualitative information (organization, policies, actions), performed analytical procedures on the quantitative information and verified, using sampling techniques, the calculations and the consolidation of the data. We also verified that the information was consistent and in agreement with the other information in the management report;  At the level of a representative sample of entities selected by us ( 3) on the basis of their activity, their contribution to the consolidated indicators, their location and a risk analysis, we conducted interviews to verify that procedures are properly applied and we performed tests of details, using sampling techniques, in order to verify the calculations and reconcile the data with the supporting documents. The selected sample represents on average 28% of headcount and between 30% and 69% of quantitative environmental data disclosed.
The balance of income and expenses allocated to the insurance business and shown in the technical statement of income.
For each reinsurance contract, these cover the portion of premiums written during the year relating to future period (between the balance sheet closing date and the date at which the reinsurance contract expires).
The balance sheet of SCOR SE as at December 31, 2015, amounts to EUR 10,750,815,993. The total of financial assets of SCOR SE is EUR 8,969,038,007.
Over the three previous fiscal years, the amounts distributed by SCOR SE as dividends were as follows: Fiscal year ended on: 12/31/2014 12/31/2013 12/31/2012 Number of shares (1) 192,691,479 181,572,894 192,166,752 Net dividend per share