Insurance activity can be undertaken in Italy by i) an Italian insurance company that has met all the conditions set by the applicable Italian law and regulations and that has been admitted by the Italian Insurance Supervising Authority (IVASS); ii) an EEA insurance company that has notified the regulator in its home country that it intends to carry on business in Italy under either the right of establishment regime (by establishing a branch office or in case of any permanent presence on the Italian territory, including the organisation of an office managed by the undertaking's own staff or by a person who is independent but has permanent authority to act for the undertaking) or directly on a freedom-of-services basis; iii) a non-EEA insurance company that has been given permission by IVASS to set up a branch office.
Setting up a domestic insurance company in Italy requires that several legal and financial conditions be met (including setting up as a specific type of company, a minimum paid-up capital and a head-office within Italy). The specific licensing process with IVASS can be lengthy. A domestic insurance company is also subject to IVASS regulation.
Foreign insurers from EEA countries may also undertake insurance activities in Italy either by establishing a branch office or by providing insurance activities directly. In both cases, insurers are permitted to carry out the same activities in Italy as in their home country provided (i) they have notified their home country regulator of their intention, and (ii) the home country regulator has notified IVASS of their intention.
Insurers can start the activity in Italy (i) as soon as IVASS is notified on a freedom-of-services basis, or (ii) after 30 days from notification if establishing a branch office. It is cheaper and quicker to undertake insurance activities in Italy by using the EEA passporting schemes or for a non-EEA company to establish a branch office, than it is to obtain full IVASS authorisation. There is no minimum capital requirement under these schemes and the relationship with IVASS is considerably less demanding. In principle, insurers acting under these schemes are subject only to the control of their home country regulator. However, within 30 days from the receipt of the home country regulator’s notification, IVASS may set further specific conditions to be met by a branch office, to protect the general interest, on a case by case basis.
Companies from non-EEA countries are only entitled to undertake activity in Italy by establishing a local branch.
The Italian general good provisions, listed by IVASS, must be met also by both EEA and non EEA insurance companies.
Social Media cookies collect information about you sharing information from our website via social media tools, or analytics to understand your browsing between social media tools or our Social Media campaigns and our own websites. We do this to optimise the mix of channels to provide you with our content. Details concerning the tools in use are in our privacy policy.