Bermuda has been awarded provisional equivalence with tough new rules on business solvency by the European Commission.

The Island joins Australia, Brazil, Canada and the US in a delegated decision by the Commission under the Solvency II regulations, although captives are not included in the recommendation.

The decision will now be reviewed by the European Parliament and the European Council.

Bermuda Monetary Authority CEO Jeremy Cox said: “This is good for Bermuda, but it is not the compete and final result we seek.

“The authority has an unreserved commitment to achieving full equivalence with Solvency II.

“It is essentially a timing issue. The European Commission included Bermuda on this new provisional list of countries before the deadline for Bermuda’s submission on measures to be implemented for full equivalence.”

The European Insurance and Occupational Pension Authority (EIOPA) earlier this year recommended Bermuda for equivalence — but with some reservations.

Mr Cox said: “The authority has been working aggressively on addressing these caveats and we are well on target.”

And he added that it was hoped a final decision on equivalence would be made sometime late this year or early in 2016.

Mr Cox said: “The bar is very high for non-European jurisdictions yet we firmly believe that a pathway to full equivalence exists for Bermuda.

“Executives of the authority met with members of the European Commission in Brussels just last week and discussions were favourable. By the end of this month, we will have all remaining measures in place.”

Mr Cox added: “Today’s announcement is by no means the end — this is a phase of the journey.

“As noted in the delegated decision, further special reviews outside the proposed reviews are intended to take place.

“Full equivalence will help expand the global market for risk transfer products and in turn widen the choice of capacity for buyers of these programmes.”