Section 46 of Institute for the Supervision of Insurance (IVASS) Regulation 40/2018 concerns (re)insurance distribution and provides that undertakings must:

  • implement internal written policies to ensure:
    • compliance with the professional, organisational and honourability requirements necessary to carry out distribution activities directly or through distribution networks; and
    • the proper undertaking and management of risks in the context of distribution activities and compliance with the rules on conduct; and
  • draft an annual report on the control over their distribution networks, which must be submitted to the board and the compliance division and delivered to IVASS.

The report must contain details on:

  • the monitoring actions carried out in order to verify the proper implementation of the adopted policies and the outcome thereof;
  • the issues identified and the measures adopted or deemed appropriate; and
  • the proposed remedies for amending the adopted policies (where needed).

Pending IVASS's issuance of measures setting out the specific contents of the report and the time and modalities for its submission to the regulator, IVASS and the Association of Insurance Companies (ANIA) clarified on 8 January 2020 and 14 January 2020, respectively, a number of matters, including as follows:

  • Pending the issue of the above measures, undertakings must comply with Section 46 of Regulation 40/2018.
  • Reports must be validated by the compliance division or, in exceptional cases, the audit division.
  • Undertakings must follow the instructions set out in Private Insurance Regulatory Authority Order 2743/2009 in order to comply with Section 46.
  • Undertakings which perform business in Italy under the freedom of establishment or freedom to provide services regime must comply with Section 46, which is included in the list of general good provisions.

The deadline to submit the 2019 report and data relating to distribution networks to IVASS is 29 February 2020.