The new regulation to change the Deckungsrückstellungs-Verordnung and Pensionsfonds-Aufsichtsverordnung has been published in the edition of the Bundesgesetzblatt (Federal Law Gazette) of 22 October 2018. The new rules for calculating the additional interest reserve thus come into force just in time for their application on 31.12.2018. The regulation has again been slightly amended in comparison with the draft bill in order to clarify the calculation rules.
In §5 (3) sentence 6 DeckRV, the rounding rule is now specified in more detail. It now reads: “The following differences, rounded to the second decimal place next up, shall be calculated”. This makes it clear that rounding up of negative numbers means “rounding away from zero”. In sentence 7 the word “Betrag” was changed to “Absolutbetrag” (=absolute value). It follows that the policy reserves as at 31.12.2018 are calculated with a reference interest rate of 2.09% (see article Update on interest rates for the Zinszusatzreserve).
This will enable life insurers to use the new method for calculating the actuarial provision as at 31 December 2018. According to the GDV, this will considerably slow down the further build-up of the additional interest reserve. Instead of increasing the ZZR from today € 60 bn to € 134 bn in 2023, the ZZR wil increase from € 60 bn to only € 77 bn in 2024, shown in a scenario published by the GDV. This will considerably reduce the burden on companies and customers.