The Prudential Regulation Authority has fined HDI Global SE GBP 4,165,000 for repeatedly submitting inaccurate regulatory returns relating to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, according to a final notice announced by the Bank of England on 20 July 2026. The penalty was reduced by 30% from GBP 5,950,000 to reflect early settlement of the case.
The PRA said the German insurer's UK operations had made multiple incorrect submissions of FSCS Liabilities and FSCS Fee Tariff returns between August 2021 and August 2024, undermining the accuracy of data used to calibrate industry contributions to the compensation scheme. The final notice sets out the timeline of the failings, the remediation the firm has undertaken and the basis for the penalty.
MULTIPLE ERRORS OVER THREE YEARS
According to the final notice, the errors persisted across several reporting cycles and affected returns central to the calculation of firms' FSCS levies. The PRA found that HDI Global SE had failed to apply due skill, care and diligence in preparing the submissions and did not check the PRA Rulebook or related guidance until the summer of 2023, well into the period covered by the case.
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme protects eligible policyholders and depositors when authorised firms fail, and the levies collected from firms are calibrated using the data supplied through the FSCS Liabilities and Fee Tariff returns. Inaccurate submissions can distort the burden between firms and complicate the PRA's ability to oversee the scheme, which explains why the regulator treats such reporting breaches as a serious matter.
The three-year window between August 2021 and August 2024 covers a period in which insurance regulation and reporting requirements were under continued attention from UK supervisors, adding to the significance the PRA attached to the failings identified at HDI Global SE.
EARLY SETTLEMENT REDUCES PENALTY
HDI Global SE agreed to settle at an early stage of the PRA's investigation, qualifying for a 30% discount on the financial penalty. Without that reduction the fine would have been GBP 5,950,000, the regulator said.
The action is part of the PRA's continuing focus on the quality and reliability of regulatory reporting by authorised firms, which underpins supervisors' ability to monitor risks across the banking and insurance sectors. Data submitted to the regulator feeds directly into capital, liquidity and compensation-scheme calculations, and the PRA has repeatedly emphasised that boards and senior management are expected to ensure returns are accurate.
The Bank of England published the final notice on its website, and legal commentary in the days after the announcement highlighted the case as a further example of the PRA's readiness to take enforcement action over reporting failings even in the absence of prudential loss. HDI Global SE is the industrial lines carrier within the Talanx group of Germany, operating in the United Kingdom through its authorised UK branch.
The involvement of an authorised UK branch of a European insurer in a case centred on FSCS reporting also illustrates the reach of the PRA's rules over cross-border groups operating in the United Kingdom. Firms conducting insurance business through a UK branch structure are expected to comply with the same reporting standards as domestically incorporated peers, and the PRA's action against HDI Global SE reinforces that expectation.