Abstract

The term «Product oversight and governance» (POG) indicates the set of supervisory obligations that regulate the process of designing and implementing insurance products (life and non-life) intended for placement on the market with a view to consumer protection. As clarified by the doctrine, the new supervisory area can be framed according to three different interpretations: it is a rule of organization of the subjects involved in the product sales process; it is a rule of conduct that allows the distribution chain to know the product better and to place it correctly; it is a tool for connecting the activities of the producer and the distributor with a view to consumer protection. European regulatory developments have partly mitigated this initial gap by providing, at least for the insurance sector, a further legal basis on product governance. Driven by the legislation already approved in the financial sector and by the need to guarantee a strengthening of policyholder protection similar to that provided for by the MiFID2 directive, as part of the negotiations for the approval of the new directive on insurance distribution which would replace the IMD directive, a provision regarding product governance similar to that provided for by the MiFID2 directive has also been introduced in the insurance sector (art. 25 of directive 2016/97/ EU, so-called IDD directive).The general directive on insurance distribution has thus extended its scope of application: in addition to the rules of transparency and correctness of the conduct of distributors, it has introduced the notion of manufacturer and indicated the organizational rules to be respected in the conception phase which precedes the distribution of the product. The new systematic placement of the POG rules has not, however, simultaneously changed the original legal nature of the institution. Due to the peculiarities of the insurance sector, in which the producer and contractual party is a supervised entity to which prudential rules apply, the rules on product governance can still be firmly framed as a specific aspect of corporate governance.