Surrender of licence and end of supervision
An insurance company supervised by FINMA can opt to surrender its licence at any time. This does not mean, however, that it is automatically released from supervision. FINMA remains in charge of protecting the interests of insured persons, also during the run-off phase.
Run-off plan
The procedure for surrendering a licence until release from supervision is regulated in Article 60 of the Insurance Supervision Act (ISA). The insurance company must submit a run-off plan to FINMA for approval on surrendering its licence. The run-off plan must contain information about:
- the run-off of financial obligations arising from insurance contracts;
- the resources provided for this purpose, and
- the person responsible.
No new insurance contracts
An insurance company which has surrendered its licence is prohibited from writing new insurance business in the relevant insurance sectors. Neither the terms nor the scope of existing insurance contracts may be extended.
Supervision ends only after all obligations have been met
An insurance company will only be released from supervision and have any sureties provided returned to it, when it has satisfied all obligations of its insurance contracts and met its other obligations under supervisory law.
