Transfers of Insurance Portfolios in the European Union and the European Economic Area

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Insurance portfolio transfers are a key legal tool for insurance undertakings to align their portfolios to their current business strategies. The Solvency II Directive provides a general framework in relation to cross-border portfolio transfers within the European Union. However not all scenarios are covered by the provisions of the Solvency II Directive. One of the main advantages of such portfolio transfer is that—different from (most) other legal tools—it does not require the consent of each individual policyholder, but only the approval of the relevant national supervisory authority/ies. On a detailed level, the supervisory practices within the European Union diverge, which is shown in this chapter using examples from Germany and France. Overall, this chapter aims to provide a structured approach in relation to the various possible scenarios of cross-border portfolio transfers within the European Union and the required supervisory involvement.</jats:p>