The Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers (ABIR), the trade association representing international insurers and reinsurers in Bermuda, and the Irish Insurance Authority, the representative body for the Irish insurance industry, are urging EU policymakers to make regulatory changes to the EU securitization framework.
The groups said such changes would allow proven and well-regulated insurers from jurisdictions such as Solvency II to participate more fully in EU markets and help banks, consumers and businesses across Europe unlock capital.
The two organizations issued a joint industry position paper on 8 March 2026 in Hamilton, Bermuda, stating that the ongoing review of the EU Securitization Framework is an important step in strengthening the EU’s financial competitiveness.
Moyagh Murdock, chief executive of Insurance Ireland, said the organization welcomed the progress made so far by the European Commission. “The European Commission’s proposal to open up comprehensive STS as protection providers to reinsurers/insurers in 2025 is an important and welcome step towards the Savings and Investment Union. However, further progress is needed to support true market scale, as current safeguards remain too narrow to enable a deeper, more scalable market.”
ABIR said stronger securitization markets could improve banks’ ability to manage risks and support lending across Europe.
ABIR President and CEO John Huff commented: “Well-functioning securitization markets will enable banks to effectively manage risk, free up regulatory capital, and expand lending to households, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and long-term investment projects – often without shifting client relationships or relying entirely on capital market investors.”
Huff added: “Within this framework, unfunded credit protection provided by non-life reinsurers is a straightforward and well-established risk transfer tool. By purchasing credit loss insurance, banks can achieve significant risk transfer while retaining the underlying loan portfolio.”
The joint document noted that insurers have been participating in the non-simple, transparent and standardized (STS) EU integrated securitization market since 2018. According to ABIR and Insurance Ireland, these insurers operate under strong prudential, governance and risk management regimes, including Solvency II and equivalent regulatory frameworks in other jurisdictions.
While the European Commission’s proposal acknowledges for the first time the role that insurers can play in STS synthetic securitizations, ABIR and Irish Insurers said some aspects of the proposed framework could limit market participation.
They highlighted the interplay between size thresholds, group recognition rules and cover requirements as potential barriers for EU-authorized insurers based in Solvency II equivalent jurisdictions outside the EU, including Bermuda and Switzerland.
ABIR said such restrictions could narrow the pool of eligible insurance companies. Huff continued: “This unnecessary exclusion could result in severe limitations on the number of eligible insurers, increase counterparty concentration risk, and weaken the vital STS unfunded credit protection market.”
“This is not just a matter of financial technology, as the proposals as currently drafted do not mobilize more private capital, but exclude credible insurance capacity, reduce banks’ risk management options and limit the risk of lending, especially to core asset classes such as residential mortgages, SME loans and long-term infrastructure finance – which is what the European Development Savings and Investment Union (SIU) needs.”
ABIR and Insurance Ireland also highlighted the existing contribution of its members to the European market. The Irish Insurance Agency noted that Irish insurance companies paid out €74 billion in claims in 2023 and protected €300 billion in life and pension assets. Bermuda reinsurers, represented by ABIR, paid approximately €24.8 billion in property and casualty losses and life insurance claims to EU policyholders and cedants between 2016 and 2020.
Huff concluded: “Together the Irish Insurance Authority and the ABIR support a targeted and proportionate clarification of the securitization regulatory scheme to retain strong prudential safeguards while ensuring that the framework is workable in practice, reflects the way insurance groups are actually regulated, and allows for a sufficiently broad and competitive pool of insurance companies to support the EU’s real economy.”
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