To get an understanding of the circumstances, the paper takes a step back and look at the
situation in 2009. The event is dramatical for politics and the whole economic situation: the
financial crisis. The obstacles for the European insurance industry were that regulations became
even stricter and there was an increasing need for security and less risk. The need for firmer
action in combination with striving for free movement within the European Union led to the
development of an EU directive named Solvency II. The directive’s main purpose is to ensure
that insurance companies within EU hold enough capital in relation to their risks, in order to
minimize the likelihood of insolvency. (Internal non-published material: Solvency II, 2011)