Reporting obligation for insurance intermediaries to FINMA: Where are the details?

With the introduction of new legal provisions in the Insurance Supervision Act (ISA) and the Supervision Ordinance (SO) from January 1, 2024, registered insurance intermediaries are required to submit annual reports to FINMA. This applies to the 2024 financial year and thus for the first time to reporting at the end of 2024. The exact details for the reports are still missing.

In accordance with Article 190b paragraph 1 of the Supervision Ordinance (SO), FINMA collects the relevant key figures and information on the activities of registered insurance intermediaries on an annual basis. This is collected from natural persons as well as legal entities and partnerships that offer or conclude insurance contracts.

The type of data collected depends on the size, type and risks of the intermediaries’ activities (Art. 190b para. 4 SO). This categorization will be applied from the 2025 financial year, based on the intermediaries’ registration data.

Initial situation for the technical implementation provisions

Article 190b paragraph 5 SO authorizes FINMA to define technical provisions on reporting. According to Article 93 of the Insurance Ordinance FINMA (AVO FINMA), the reports must be submitted by May 31 of each year at the latest for the previous financial year. FINMA defines the required key figures by September 30 of the respective year and makes this information available to insurance intermediaries.

Reporting for the 2024 financial year

A reduced survey will be carried out for the 2024 financial year in order to gather important initial information. The corresponding survey will be published on the survey and application platform (EHP) in mid-December, including a data collection aid. The submission deadline is May 31, 2025.

Reporting for the 2025 financial year

The requirements for the 2025 financial year should largely correspond to those of 2024, but FINMA will differentiate the data more strongly according to the size, type and risks of the intermediary activity. Changes will be made where necessary based on the findings of the 2024 survey.

Trouble for insurance brokers and IT companies

thebroker learned from an IT company that offers solutions for insurance brokers and SMEs that FINMA had still not provided the detailed information needed to update its program. An inquiry to FINMA revealed that the key points of the new reporting obligation were already published on its website in 2023. But this is precisely where the problem lies. The information from 2023 is not sufficient to determine the details for the reports.

FINMA also writes that it communicated on its website at the end of 2023 that insurance intermediaries will receive information in mid-December 2024 stating that the survey will be published on the EHP. They would also receive a survey aid. The survey must be submitted by May 31, 2025. The crux of the matter is that if data is to be automatically output from broker software, it must be recorded in advance. This is because the software manufacturers, for their part, need enough time for programming. December 2024 is therefore too late and there is still uncertainty as to whether all the details have been clarified and whether further specifications are needed.

Insurance brokers and the Swiss Insurance Brokers Association (SIBA) in the dark

thebroker has also asked insurance brokers and SIBA, who feel they have been left out in the cold, as written inquiries to FINMA in connection with the reporting obligation are not answered promptly. FINMA usually takes weeks to respond. When enquiring by telephone, people are referred to the e-mail address vermittler.aufsicht@finma.ch.

Perhaps FINMA could have foreseen that there would understandably be many inquiries. Timely information would certainly have been helpful.

thebroker

Read also: SIBA: Support with the implementation of the revised intermediary supervision