Munich, August 19, 2024. FWU AG has been in preliminary insolvency proceedings for four weeks and attorney Ivo-Meinert Willrodt from PLUTA Rechtsanwalts GmbH has been acting as provisional insolvency administrator since then. The restructuring expert reports on the first important measures in the proceedings.
“We are currently holding talks with important business partners and are working on various restructuring options. We are already in contact with the company’s financing partners. An investor process is also to be initiated soon,” says Willrodt, explaining the current status of FWU AG. In addition to restructuring expert Ivo-Meinert Willrodt, the PLUTA team includes the attorney-in-chief Wolfgang Bernhardt and attorney-in-chief Martin Jungclaus, as well as industrial clerk Hans-Christian Källner and attorney-in-chief Stefan Riegger.
FWU employs around 400 people and has 10 locations worldwide. In Europe, FWU offers investment products in Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Austria. It is important to stress that the customers (policyholders) are customers of the subsidiaries FWU Life Insurance Lux SA (hereinafter “FLL”) and FWU Life Austria (hereinafter “FLA”) and not customers of FWU AG.
Those responsible are in close contact with the supervisory authorities. The most important question that needs to be answered from the customer’s perspective is the current status and risks for the funds accumulated in the FLL and FLA insurance contract. Willrodt explains: “The customers’ existing deposits are secured and are not directly affected by the parent company’s insolvency proceedings.”
Customers’ existing assets secured
The client funds deposited to date are protected by the respective legal protection mechanisms. The assets of FWU Life Lux (FLL) clients are secured due to regulatory provisions and are held in custody by a third-party bank, Caceis Investor Services, one of the largest depository banks in the world. In Luxembourg, there is a special system, the so-called “triangle of security”, which is intended to protect the rights of clients if an insurance company gets into financial difficulties.
As an insurance company, FWU Life Austria (FLA) is obliged to create a so-called cover fund in order to guarantee that the claims of the policyholders are met. The cover fund is a special fund of an insurance company that must be managed separately from the company’s assets.
Decision of the supervisory authority CAA
FLL cannot pay out any contractual benefits (e.g. surrender) for the time being. The decision of the supervisory authority Commissariat aux Assurances (CAA) to freeze the tied assets of policyholders is a measure to protect the interests of customers. It is important to stress that FWU Life Insurance Lux SA is not in liquidation.
The CAA’s opinion on insolvency relates to the Solvency Capital Requirement and not to the corporate status of FWU Life Insurance Lux SA itself. The company is working on a financial plan to restore the targeted solvency. On August 2, 2024, a supervisory commissioner (commissaire de surveillance) was appointed to oversee the management of FLL’s assets and liabilities.
The FLA has decided to temporarily close new business until the end of September 2024. The reason for this decision is that FWU Life Austria wants to evaluate the new situation and develop a clear strategy.
“FWU – Forward You” is an international group of companies founded in 1983 by Dr. Manfred Dirrheimer. The group, with headquarters in Grünwald, offers a wide range of services: investment advice, funds, unit-linked life insurance as well as front and back office programs for banks and insurance brokers.
FWU offers its investment products in Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Austria. Outside the EU, FWU is also represented in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia.
