ITALY Law and Practice Contributed by: Giovanna Aucone and Debora Gobbo, FIVERS Studio Legale e Tributario
products. IVASS addresses these risks within its pru- dential and ESG supervisory framework, monitoring insurers’ assumptions, provisioning and long-term sustainability. 3. Cyber risk and digital resilience – cyber risk is grow- ing due to the increasing digitalisation of insurance operations, while market demand for cyber insurance remains limited. IVASS has strengthened superviso- ry expectations on ICT risk management, incident reporting and outsourcing governance, in line with the EU Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), with a focus on operational resilience and consumer protec- tion. Overall, IVASS’s approach is based on continuous monitoring, stronger governance and risk manage- ment expectations, and alignment with EU rules, rather than on ad hoc national measures. 11.2 New Products or Alternative Solutions In response to emerging systemic risks, the Italian insurance market is developing new products and alternative solutions aimed at improving protection, resilience and prevention, often combining traditional insurance coverage with value-added services. 1. Climate change and natural catastrophe risks – recent market research shows that, following the leg- islative obligation for Italian enterprises to take out catastrophe insurance, most insurance undertakings now offer CAT/NAT (regarding catastrophes and natu- ral disasters) products. Coverage is typically provid- ed either as part of a property insurance policy or as standalone insurance, mainly covering earthquakes, floods and hailstorms. Some products are tailored to specific sectors, such as agriculture. By contrast, business interruption coverage and parametric insur- ance solutions are still less widespread. 2. Longevity and demographic risks are mainly addressed through Long-Term Care (LTC) insurance policies. While most insurance undertakings offer this type of coverage, market demand remains limited due to low customer awareness and relatively high costs. To enhance the perceived value of these products, insurers increasingly combine insurance coverage with ancillary services, such as personalised home-
care, agreements with nursing homes and access to healthcare facilities. 3. As regards cyber risk, only around half of insurance undertakings currently offer cyber-insurance products, covering risks such as malware, ransomware and cyber extortion, data breaches and business inter- ruption. To raise awareness and improve risk preven- tion, insurers increasingly complement cyber policies with additional services, including risk assessments, monitoring tools, staff training and partnerships with IT and cybersecurity providers. 12. Developments in Insurance Law 12.1 Significant Legislative or Regulatory Developments Regarding recent developments, most notably, Italy has introduced a new compulsory insurance require- ment for Italian businesses registered in the Business Register and foreign companies with a branch in Italy (excluding agricultural enterprises) covering dam- ages caused by natural catastrophic events (such as earthquakes, floods and similar calamities). This reform represents a structural change for the non-life market and entails important prudential and conduct- of-business implications, including risk accumulation management, reinsurance arrangements and trans- parency of policy terms. The increased exposure to catastrophe risk may also incentivise the use of ART solutions, including insurance-lined securities (such as catastrophe bonds). From a policyholder protection perspective, the regu- latory framework has been strengthened through the establishment of new safeguards. In particular, the Life Insurance Guarantee Fund ( Fondo di garanzia vita ) has been set up to protect policyholders in the event of a crisis or insolvency of a life insurance undertaking. In addition, an Insurance Arbitrator ( Arbitro assicura - tivo ) has been introduced as a dedicated alternative dispute resolution mechanism, enhancing consumer access to a fast and effective out-of-court system for resolving disputes with insurers and intermediaries.
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