David Simpson represents the Bank of England and FCA in €9bn Brexit-related insurance transfer

David Simpson today appeared on behalf of both the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority at a hearing to sanction the transfer of some 440,000 policies of life insurance written in the EEA from AVIVA Life & Pensions UK Ltd to Friends First Life Assurance Company DAC, its wholly-owned subsidiary incorporated in the Republic of Ireland. The transferring business had a total value of some €9bn. The purpose of the scheme was to address concern that AVIVA might become unable to service its EEA policies as a result of losing its “passporting” rights under the Solvency II Directive in the event of a “no-deal Brexit”. Sanctioning the transfer, Mr Justice Snowden considered representations received from 216 policyholders and heard submissions on a number of issues including the effect of Brexit upon FSCS protection, the role of the Temporary Permissions Regime and the approach of various EEA regulators to the provision of cross-border services post-Brexit.

David has acted for the UK regulators in some twenty insurance business transfers under Part VII of FSMA 2000. He has also worked extensively with overseas financial services regulators including the Dubai Financial Services Authority, the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority and the Astana Financial Services Authority.

He is currently heading the Financial Services section of Navigating Brexit, an innovative online resource addressing the legal changes and challenges that flow from the UK’s departure from the European Union.