A new competition law framework for the Insurance sector: the Commission's new block exemption

On 24 March 2010, the European Commission (the "Commission") published a new Insurance Block Exemption Regulation ("IBER"), to replace existing Regulation 358/2003/EC, which expires on 31 March 2010.

The revised IBER will significantly restrict the types of co-operation among insurers and reinsurers which are automatically exempt from EU and national competition rules. Insurers will have a six month grace period until 1 October 2010 to assess whether existing arrangements qualify under the new IBER.

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