The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has launched a consultation on integrated data collection for pension funds and insurers.

The consultation is in response to the amended Solvency II Directive, with EIOPA mandated by the European Commission to produce a report on potential measures to reduce duplications, inconsistencies, improve data standardisation and data sharing, and reduce compliance costs for the pensions and insurance sectors.

It added that the objectives of its consultation align with its efforts to reduce administrative burdens for supervisors and undertakings, and reflect its recognition of well-structured, reusable data as a strategic asset in its 2030 Strategy.

Special attention has been given to the collection of derivatives and fund look-through data, including the potential for simplification and harmonisation of reporting requirements for Collective Investment Undertakings (CIUs).

EIOPA stated that the inclusion of IORPs in the consultation reflects its “long-standing objective” to harmonise regulatory reporting across the sectors it supervises. It described IORPs reporting as “fragmented” in contrast to the insurance sector, which has a well-harmonised reporting system based on Solvency II.

Currently, IORPs are subject to a diverse set of regulatory reporting and disclosure obligations at both national and European levels. For example, National Competent Authorities (NCAs) are mandated by EIOPA to collect information from IORPs.

However, this EU-level requirement is often complemented by national supervisory requirements and statistical data requests to support national initiatives.

EIOPA noted that the supervisory requirements, as well as the design of pension schemes, are often highly diverse across the EU, another contrast of the insurance sector.

“In recent years, discussions have increasingly highlighted the need to improve the harmonisation of reporting for IORPs, reduce administrative burden, particularly for smaller and less complex schemes, and enhance alignment with national processes,” the consultation stated.

Despite this, due to the fragmented national supervisory requirements, “such discussions have not proved very effective at the EU level”.

In parallel to these challenges, the consultation acknowledged the growing interest in integrating sustainability-related data, improving transparency, and developing more modular approaches that reflect the specific characteristics of pension providers.

Therefore, stakeholders have been asked to share with EIOPA information on overlaps, inconsistencies, or gaps in their regulatory reporting and product disclosure requirements, as well as the main challenges they face in preparing and submitting IORPs' regulatory data, and how these could be simplified or improved.

EIOPA has also asked IORPs to make it aware of any overlaps, inconsistencies or gaps between ESG-related disclosure obligations under IORP II and other applicable frameworks.

It also asked if there are any data point gaps or redundancies in the current sustainability reporting and disclosure requirements that hinder their ability to identify, assess, mitigate, and manage sustainability-related risks, or that create unnecessary burden and complexity.

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