The Bucharest Court of Appeal has upheld the bankruptcy ruling against EUROINS Romania Asigurare-Reasigurare S.A., rejecting the insurer’s appeal against the 2023 decision of the Bucharest Tribunal.

“The Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF) acknowledges the court’s final decision rejecting EUROINS Romania’s appeal against Ruling No. 2920/9.06.2023, issued by the Bucharest Tribunal, which ordered the initiation of bankruptcy proceedings,” ASF announced.

Short recap of the Euroins saga

ASF revoked EUROINS Romania’s operating license on March 17, 2023, citing clear signs of insolvency. The regulator subsequently filed for bankruptcy proceedings and appointed the Policyholders Guarantee Fund (FGA) as interim administrator, tasked with overseeing the company’s operations and safeguarding its assets. As a result, EUROINS’ management was suspended, with FGA's mandate set to expire once a judicial liquidator was appointed.

According to ASF, EUROINS was already in financial distress by June 30, 2022, lacking the required funds to meet its Solvency Capital Requirement (SCR) - a situation that remained unchanged as of September 30, 2022. The insurer needed 2.19 billion lei to restore its solvency and 1.75 billion lei to meet its Minimum Capital Requirement (MCR). Given the severity of the financial shortfall, ASF concluded that a resolution procedure was not a viable option.

EUROINS had been under regulatory scrutiny since 2020, facing multiple ASF investigations that exposed its deteriorating financial position. Between February 2020 and January 2023, ASF imposed 26 sanctions on the company, resulting in fines exceeding 16 million lei from 17 control actions. The insurer contested these penalties in court, but all were upheld, either in lower courts or on final appeal.

A Market Leader in collapse

In June 2023, the Bucharest Tribunal confirmed ASF’s insolvency findings and ordered bankruptcy proceedings, rejecting EUROINS’ repeated attempts to suspend the regulator’s decision.

Before its collapse, EUROINS was one of Romania’s largest insurers, holding a dominant 27% share of the RCA (compulsory motor insurance) market as of March 2023. When bankruptcy proceedings began, more than two million RCA policies issued by the company were still active.

The insurer’s downfall marks the fourth major RCA bankruptcy in less than a decade, following the failures of ASTRA, CARPATICA, and CITY Insurance—a trend that continues to shake confidence in Romania’s insurance sector.