Volatility adjustment to the relevant risk-free interest rate term structure

1.  Member States may require prior approval by supervisory authorities for insurance and reinsurance undertakings to apply a volatility adjustment to the relevant risk-free interest rate term structure to calculate the best estimate referred to in Article 77(2).

2.  For each relevant currency, the volatility adjustment to the relevant risk-free interest rate term structure shall be based on the spread between the interest rate that could be earned from assets included in a reference portfolio for that currency and the rates of the relevant basic risk-free interest rate term structure for that currency.

The reference portfolio for a currency shall be representative for the assets which are denominated in that currency and which insurance and reinsurance undertakings are invested in to cover the best estimate for insurance and reinsurance obligations denominated in that currency.

3.  The amount of the volatility adjustment to risk-free interest rates shall correspond to 65 % of the risk-corrected currency spread.

The risk-corrected currency spread shall be calculated as the difference between the spread referred to in paragraph 2 and the portion of that spread that is attributable to a realistic assessment of expected losses or unexpected credit or other risk of the assets.

The volatility adjustment shall apply only to the relevant risk-free interest rates of the term structure that are not derived by means of extrapolation in accordance with Article 77a. The extrapolation of the relevant risk-free interest rate term structure shall be based on those adjusted risk-free interest rates.

4.  For each relevant country, the volatility adjustment to the risk-free interest rates referred to in paragraph 3 for the currency of that country shall, before the application of the 65 % factor, be increased by the difference between the risk-corrected country spread and twice the risk-corrected currency spread whenever that difference is positive and the risk-corrected country spread is higher than 85 basis points. The increased volatility adjustment shall be applied to the calculation of the best estimate for insurance and reinsurance obligations of products sold in the insurance market of that country. The risk-corrected country spread is calculated in the same way as the risk-corrected currency spread for the currency of that country, but based on a reference portfolio that is representative for the assets which insurance and reinsurance undertakings are invested in to cover the best estimate for insurance and reinsurance obligations of products sold in the insurance market of that country and denominated in the currency of that country.

5.  The volatility adjustment shall not be applied with respect to insurance obligations where the relevant risk-free interest rate term structure to calculate the best estimate for those obligations includes a matching adjustment under Article 77b.

6.  By way of derogation from Article 101, the Solvency Capital Requirement shall not cover the risk of loss of basic own funds resulting from changes of the volatility adjustment.