1.   The rights and duties assigned to the group supervisor with regard to group supervision shall comprise the following:

(a)	coordination of the gathering and dissemination of relevant or essential information for going concern and emergency situations, including the dissemination of information which is of importance for the supervisory task of a supervisory authority;

(b)	supervisory review and assessment of the financial situation of the group;

(c)	assessment of compliance of the group with the rules on solvency and of risk concentration and intra-group transactions as set out in Articles 218 to 245;

(d)	assessment of the system of governance of the group, as set out in Article 246, and of whether the members of the administrative, management or supervisory body of the participating undertaking fulfil the requirements set out in Articles 42 and 257;

(e)

planning and coordination, through regular meetings held at least annually or through other appropriate means, of supervisory activities in going-concern as well as in emergency situations, in cooperation with the supervisory authorities concerned and taking into account the nature, scale and complexity of the risks inherent in the business of all undertakings that are part of the group;

(f)

other tasks, measures and decisions assigned to the group supervisor by this Directive or deriving from the application of this Directive, in particular leading the process for validation of any internal model at group level as set out in Articles 231 and 233 and leading the process for permitting the application of the regime established in Articles 237 to 240.

2.   In order to facilitate the exercise of the group supervision tasks referred to in paragraph 1, a college of supervisors, chaired by the group supervisor, shall be established.

The college of supervisors shall ensure that cooperation, exchange of information and consultation processes among the supervisory authorities that are members of the college of supervisors, are effectively applied in accordance with Title III, with a view to promoting the convergence of their respective decisions and activities.

3.   The membership of the college of supervisors shall include the group supervisor and supervisory authorities of all the Member States in which the head office of all subsidiary undertakings is situated.

The supervisory authorities of significant branches and related undertakings shall also be allowed to participate in the college of supervisors. However, their participation shall be limited to achieving the objective of an efficient exchange of information.

The effective functioning of the college of supervisors may require that some activities be carried out by a reduced number of supervisory authorities therein.

4.   Without prejudice to any measure adopted pursuant to this Directive, the establishment and functioning of the college of supervisors shall be based on coordination arrangements concluded by the group supervisor and the other supervisory authorities concerned.

In the event of diverging views concerning the coordination arrangements, any member of the college of supervisors may refer the matter to CEIOPS.

After consulting the supervisory authorities concerned, the group supervisor shall duly consider any advice produced by CEIOPS within two months of receipt thereof before taking its final decision. The decision shall state the full reasons and shall contain an explanation of any significant deviation from any advice given by CEIOPS. The group supervisor shall transmit the decision to the other supervisory authorities concerned.

5.   Without prejudice to any measure adopted pursuant to this Directive, the coordination arrangements referred to in paragraph 4 shall specify the procedures for:

(a)	the decision-making process among the supervisory authorities concerned in accordance with Articles 231, 232 and 247;

(b)	consultation under paragraph 4 of this Article and under Article 218(5).

Without prejudice to the rights and duties allocated by this Directive to the group supervisor and to other supervisory authorities, the coordination arrangements may entrust additional tasks to the group supervisor or the other supervisory authorities where this would result in the more efficient supervision of the group and would not impair the supervisory activities of the members of the college of supervisors in respect of their individual responsibilities.

In addition, the coordination arrangements may set out procedures for:

(a)	consultation among the supervisory authorities concerned, in particular as referred to in Articles 213 to 217, 219 to 221, 227, 244 to 246, 250, 256, 260 and 262;

(b)	cooperation with other supervisory authorities.

6.   CEIOPS shall elaborate guidelines for the operational functioning of colleges of supervisors on the basis of comprehensive reviews of their work in order to assess the level of convergence between them. Such reviews shall be carried out at least every three years. Member States shall ensure that the group supervisor transmits to CEIOPS the information on the functioning of the colleges of supervisors and on any difficulties encountered that are relevant for those reviews.

7.   The Commission shall adopt implementing measures for the coordination of group supervision for the purposes of paragraphs 1 to 6, including the definition of ‘significant branch’.

Those measures, designed to amend non-essential elements of this Directive by supplementing it, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 301(3).