Reduction of basic own-fund items
Pursuant to Paragraph 4 of Article 69 of Act No. 100/2016 (in Icelandic) on Insurance Activities, all decisions to reduce an insurance company’s share capital shall be notified in advance to the Financial Supervisory Authority. The Financial Supervisory Authority must approve in advance decisions that result in a reduction to the own-fund items of an insurance company, including share buy-back programmes.
All decisions by an insurance company that result in a reduction to the own-fund items of the company are therefore subject to the prior approval of the Financial Supervisory Authority, including share buy-back programmes, pursuant to Paragraph 4 of Article 69 of Act on Insurance Activities.
The information and data that an insurance company must submit in connection with an application for repayment or redemption of basic own-fund items is covered in greater detail under Point h of Paragraph 1 and Paragraph 2 of Article 71, Point d of Paragraph 1 and Paragraph 2 of Article 73 and Point d of Paragraph 1 and Paragraph 2 of Article 77 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/35 cf. Regulation No. 55/2022 (in Icelandic) on the entry into force of European Union regulations on insurance activities and insurance groups.
A completed application must be sent to the Financial Supervisory Authority three months before the holders of basic own-fund items are notified of the redemption or repayment or before the redemption or repayment is to take place, cf. Article 18 of the Guidelines on Classification of Own Funds of the European Insurance and Pensions Authority (EIOPA). The Financial Supervisory Authority processes the completed application within the same time limit.
Information regarding applications for authorisations for repayment or redemption of own-fund items can be found through the Icelandic site's form search.