Solvency II and XBRL: New Rules and Technologies in Insurance Supervision

Purpose – the aim of this paper is to analyze the way in which the insurance industry is confronting the renewal of its regulatory framework with respect to the levels of solvency that insurance entities should maintain, and how technological initiatives in general, and the implementation of the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) mark-up language in particular, are making a key contribution to the process of adaptation to the new regulation. Design/methodology/approach – In this general review, we analyse the particular advantages that the application of the XBRL standard can offer in this process, and highlight new lines for further research. Findings – In this scenario, it is becoming urgent to have available a technological system such XBRL, that provides support to the important and periodical operations of consolidation of financial information, and to ensure the digital transparency of the insurer organisations that are engaged in this new regulatory challenge. Practical implications – XBRL represents the key resource for the information support used in the European COREP project for implementation of Basle II in the Union, so, the implementation of Solvency II can take full advantage of this previous experience. For that reason, a proposal for action is incorporated. Originality/value – the affiliation of the authors to the insurance sector, the academia and the XBRL community contributes to a complete view of the possibilities of this breaking project.