In its new FAQ of 14 July on the collective ruling of 19.3.2025, BaFin has clarified how insurance companies subject to the Investment Ordinance (AnlV) can allocate infrastructure investments to the new infrastructure quota as part of their reporting. It is understandable that such a downstream and rather technical-administrative topic receives little attention. Nevertheless, it is of central importance for insurance companies subject to the AnlV as investors: without knowledge of the requirements relevant to reporting, the new infrastructure ratio can hardly be used in practice.
Quick recap: The infrastructure quota according to § 3 para. 7 AnlV
With the “Eighth Ordinance on the Amendment of Ordinances under the Insurance Supervision Act” (abbreviated 8th VAGVÄndV), which was published in the Federal Law Gazette on 6 February 2025 and entered into force on 7 February 2025, §3Abs.7 AnlV for the first timevariable infrastructure mix ratio in HHeight of 5% of security assetsögens insertedTo.
- The core element is this infrastructure quota in accordance with Section 3 (7) AnlV: This now allows insurance companies regulated under the AnlV to invest up to 5% of their guarantee assets separately in infrastructure projects in the form of “infrastructure facilities and infrastructure companies”. It is of central importance here that it is a separate mixing quota : installations in infrastructure do not (or no longer) have to be counted against the existing mixing quotas pursuant to § 3 (1) to (6) AnlV, which may already have been exhausted by other investments (which was not infrequently the case, especially for the so-called “participation quota”).
- In addition, the infrastructure ratio is not part of the risk capital investment ratio pursuant to section 3 (3) sentence 1 AnlV.
- Extension of the so-called opening clause.
This has increased the scope for direct and indirect investments in “infrastructure facilities and infrastructure companies” under insurance supervisory law. Since then, proportional restrictions on the guarantee assets have been implemented in the investment reality of insurance companies subject to the AnlV in a much more practical way.
What is BaFin’s collective ruling of 19 March 2025 all about?
BaFin’s collective ruling of 19 March 2025 in the context of the Investment Ordinance (AnlV) is a general administrative act issued as a so-called “collective ruling” and regulates the reporting obligations of insurance companies with regard to their investments. Specifically, it is a rule-setting measure with external effect, with which BaFin determines the transfer obligations under national supervisory law. This is quite technical: Specification of the reporting obligations in the form of forms, XBRL/Excel specifications, etc.
And what role do the FAQ of 14.07.2025 play in this?
The FAQ on the collective ruling of 19.03.2025 of the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) regarding the reporting obligations of insurance companies on their investments was now published on 14.07.2025. Specifically, it is about the question of how it can be reported within the framework of the above-mentioned collective decree if an insurance company uses the new infrastructure quota pursuant to Section 3 (7) AnlV. This technical question has arisen because in the “Mixture” annex to the above-mentioned collective decree (including the calculation of the blending quotas), which results from Form F.670.01 , the new infrastructure quota according to § 3 para. 7 AnlV not yet included had been.
And what does the FAQ of 14.07.2025 mean?
More clarity with regard to technical reporting follows from the clear stage directions of the BaFin insurance supervisory authority:
- The insurance company should use the qualitative part of the form F.670.01.
- This qualitative part of the form must be submitted in PDF format (see section A.IV.2 of the above-mentioned collective decision).
- In doing so, the insurance undertaking should state which infrastructure investments are involved in each case within the framework of the investment catalogue of section 2 (1) AnlV, how high the book value of the respective investments is and which mix quotas pursuant to section 3 (1) to (6) AnlV may be “relieved” thereby and to what extent.
Note from practice outside the FAQ of 14.07.2025: In practice , it has become established that insurance companies develop their own reporting forms that show the permissible infrastructure facilities. In this way, numerous insurance companies document the individual forms of investment within the allocation decision.
Rather not technically, but rather once again clarifying the content , the BaFin Insurance Supervisory Authority basically clarifies the infrastructure ratio that:
- the infrastructure quota did not create a new asset class within the catalogue of assets, which is why the infrastructure investments are permissible under section 2 (1) AnlV and must serve to finance infrastructure facilities and infrastructure companies,
- even if the infrastructure quota is used, the installations must be suitable for the guarantee assets in accordance with section 2 (1) AnlV and must be assigned to a number of the investment catalogue,
- Investments for the financing of infrastructure within the meaning of Section 3 (7) AnlV, which are added to an open-ended special AIF, can be offset against the new infrastructure quota .
Results:
- The FAQ of 14.07.2025 concerns a rather little-lit administrative topic of the day-to-day business of numerous institutional investment collection agencies.
- Investors subject to the AnlV represent one of the relevant institutional client groups in Germany.
- The clarifications provided by the BaFin insurance supervisory authority are therefore doubly welcome: for the AnlV investors themselves as well as for the product providers, who can only sell products sustainably if the insurance companies can meet their reporting obligations in a meaningful way.
