The European Commission (EC) has given formal approval to inreon, a joint venture between Swiss Re and Munich Re which is an online business-to-business reinsurance trading platform.
The trading platform will enable insurers and insurance brokers to obtain bids from reinsurers on big property and catastrophic risks and conclude reinsurance contracts online.
Inreon's parent companies notified the deal to the EC to seek reassurance that it would not violate competition rules in the European Union.
The Commission has concluded that the notified operation does not currently restrict competition within the meaning of Article 81(1) of the EU treaty.
It was announced today that after a detailed investigation "the Commission has considered that the notified operation provides adequate safeguards to ensure that the parent companies and other participants in inreon do not have access to confidential information on their competitors".
The admission criteria were also deemed to be clear, objective and non-discriminatory and both reinsurers and insurers are free to participate in other (online) exchanges.
