Insurance Insights September 2026

Central Bank of Ireland updates

Central Bank: Third Quarterly Bulletin 2026

The Central Bank of Ireland (Central Bank) has published a press release announcing its third Quarterly Bulletin of 2026, highlighting the resilience of the Irish economy despite elevated geopolitical uncertainty, persistent inflationary pressures and a less favourable global trading environment. Overall, the Bulletin concludes that the Irish economy remains resilient, but stresses that prudent fiscal policy, infrastructure investment and structural reforms will be critical to sustaining growth, reducing inflation and strengthening economic resilience over the medium term.

Central Bank: Annual Payment Fraud Statistics

The Central Bank has published its annual Payment Fraud Statistics report, highlighting a significant increase in the value of fraudulent payments reported by Irish payment service providers during 2025. The report shows that the total value of payment fraud rose by 27% year-on-year to more than €179 million, despite only a marginal increase in the number of fraudulent transactions. The Central Bank emphasises the importance of continued efforts by financial institutions, technology providers and consumers to strengthen fraud prevention measures, improve customer support for affected individuals and enhance reporting of fraud incidents to identify emerging trends and protect consumers.

Central Bank: Remarks by Director of Insurance to the UN Environment Programme Global Sustainable Insurance Summit, Dublin

On 18 September, Seána Cunningham, the Director of Insurance delivered a speech which highlighted climate change as one of the most pressing risks, emphasising that the insurance sector has a critical role in supporting the transition to a more sustainable economy through innovation, improved data sharing and resilience measures to reduce the underlying risk.

EIOPA Q&A Updates

S.06.02

EIOPA clarified in Q&A (#3332) that a listed private equity fund investing predominantly in listed securities of companies engaged in private equity activities should be classified under CIC 47 (Private Equity Funds). EIOPA further confirmed that the CIC prefix should reflect the country of listing, or “XV” where the fund is listed in multiple countries.

Article 51a(2)

EIOPA clarified in Q&A (#3567) that bonds subject to securities lending transactions or repurchase agreements should be included in the CSSR calculation where they remain recognised on the undertaking’s balance sheet. However, derivative exposures should not be included.

S.02.01 and S.06.02

EIOPA clarified in Q&A (#3610) that amendments introduced under taxonomy 2.10.0 affect the treatment of CIC 86, CIC 87 and CIC 88 in balance sheet reporting. As a result, EIOPA confirmed that the existing answer provided in Q&A 2753 will be revised to reflect the updated reporting requirements.

S.06.02

EIOPA clarified in Q&A (#3236) that CIC classifications should be determined based on the most representative risk to which an asset is exposed.

Risk Free Rate (RFR)

EIOPA clarified in Q&A (#3507) that minor differences between published RFR curves and independently replicated calculations may arise due to the timing of market data retrieval and subsequent updates by data providers, particularly for less liquid instruments.

Risk Free Rate (RFR)

EIOPA clarified in Q&A (#3618) that the RFR Technical Documentation is not fully aligned with Article 51a of the Delegated Regulation regarding the calculation of the Credit Spread Sensitivity Ratio CSSR, and the omission will be fixed in the next publication of the RFR Technical Documentation. 

S.27.03

EIOPA clarified in Q&A (#3612) that, for policies renewed during the year, only data related to the policy active at the reporting date should be reported regardless of the fact that such amounts may relate in whole or in part to a later reporting period. For policies expiring during the calendar year, undertakings should report insurance premiums and expenses using an approach consistent with QRT S.05.01.

Long-Term Equity (LTE)

EIOPA provided guidance in Q&A (#3599) regarding the application of the Long-Term Equity treatment to equity investments held through index-tracking ETFs. EIOPA clarified that where a collective investment undertaking does not fall within the categories specified in the Solvency II delegated acts, undertakings should assess eligibility for LTE treatment through a look-through approach to the underlying equity exposures.

Reporting Templates (S.06.04)

EIOPA clarified in Q&A (#3384), the exemption rules in relation to template S.06.02.

S.27.02 and S.27.03

EIOPA clarified in Q&A (#3597) the reporting granularity applicable to certain columns within templates S.27.02.01 and S.27.03.01. Specifically, columns C0080 and C0090 in S.27.02.01 should be reported at peril and year level, while columns C0170 to C0200 in S.27.03.01 should be reported only at peril level.

SD.27.03

EIOPA clarified in Q&A (#3592) that the definition of “number of risks” in the QRT 27.03 is intentionally flexible to accommodate different insurance policy arrangements and market-specific conditions.