Group Supervisor

1.  A single supervisor, responsible for coordination and exercise of group supervision (group supervisor), shall be designated from among the supervisory authorities of the Member States concerned.

2.  Where the same supervisory authority is competent for all insurance and reinsurance undertakings in a group, the task of group supervisor shall be exercised by that supervisory authority.

In all other cases and subject to paragraph 3, the task of group supervisor shall be exercised:

(a) where a group is headed by an insurance or reinsurance undertaking, by the supervisory authority which has authorised that undertaking;

(b) where a group is not headed by an insurance or reinsurance undertaking, by the following supervisory authority:

(i) where the parent of an insurance or reinsurance undertaking is an insurance holding company or mixed financial holding company, the supervisory authority which has authorised that insurance or reinsurance undertaking,

(ii) where more than one insurance or reinsurance undertaking which have their head offices in the Union have as their parent the same insurance holding company or mixed financial holding company, and one of those undertakings has been authorised in the Member State in which the insurance holding company or mixed financial holding company has its head office, the supervisory authority of the insurance or reinsurance undertaking authorised in that Member State,

(iii) where the group is headed by more than one insurance holding company or mixed financial holding company which have their head offices in different Member States and there is an insurance or reinsurance undertaking in each of those Member States, the supervisory authority of the insurance or reinsurance undertaking with the largest balance sheet total,

(iv) where more than one insurance or reinsurance undertaking which have their head offices in the Union have as their parent the same insurance holding company or mixed financial holding company and none of those undertakings has been authorised in the Member State in which the insurance holding company or mixed financial holding company has its head office, the supervisory authority which authorised the insurance or reinsurance undertaking with the largest balance sheet total, or

(v) where the group is a group without a parent undertaking, or in any circumstances not referred to in points (i) to (iv), the supervisory authority which authorised the insurance or reinsurance undertaking with the largest balance sheet total.

3.  In particular cases, the supervisory authorities concerned may, at the request of any of the other supervisory authorities, take a joint decision to derogate from the criteria set out in paragraph 2 where their application would be inappropriate, taking into account the structure of the group and the relative importance of the insurance and reinsurance undertakings' activities in different countries, and designate a different supervisory authority as group supervisor.

For that purpose, any of the supervisory authorities concerned may request that a discussion be opened on whether the criteria referred to in paragraph 2 are appropriate. Such a discussion shall not take place more often than annually.

The supervisory authorities concerned shall do everything within their power to reach a joint decision on the choice of the group supervisor within three months from the request for discussion. Before taking their decision, the supervisory authorities concerned shall give the group an opportunity to state its opinion.

The designated group supervisor shall submit the joint decision to the group stating the full reasons.

4.  If, within the three-month period referred to in the third subparagraph of paragraph 3, any of the supervisory authorities concerned has referred the matter to EIOPA in accordance with Article 19 of Regulation (EU) No 1094/2010, the supervisory authorities concerned shall defer their joint decision and await any decision that EIOPA may take in accordance with Article 19(3) of that Regulation, and shall take their joint decision in conformity with EIOPA's decision. That joint decision shall be recognised as determinative and shall be applied by the supervisory authorities concerned. The three-month period shall be deemed the conciliation period within the meaning of Article 19(2) of that Regulation.

5.  EIOPA shall take its decision within one month of a referral under paragraph 4. The matter shall not be referred to EIOPA after the end of the three-month period or after a joint decision has been reached. The designated group supervisor shall submit the joint decision to the group and to the college of supervisors stating the full reasons.

6.  In the absence of a joint decision, the task of group supervisor shall be exercised by the supervisory authority identified in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article.

7.  EIOPA shall inform the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission of any major difficulties with the application of paragraphs 2, 3 and 6 on at least an annual basis.

In the event that any major difficulties arise from the application of the criteria set out in paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article, the Commission shall adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 301a further specifying those criteria.

8.  Where a Member State has more than one supervisory authority for the prudential supervision of insurance and reinsurance undertakings, such Member State shall take the necessary measures to ensure coordination between those authorities.