Skip to content
Risk ManagementCISO

Solvency II for CISOs

What does Solvency II require of a CISO?

Directive 2009/138/EC of the European Parliament and Council on the taking-up and pursuit of the business of Insurance and Reinsurance. Under Solvency II, which defines 60 controls, a CISO's work is deciding which controls you own outright, which you share and which belong to another team, then holding the evidence for the first group.

Which Solvency II controls land on the CISO

CISOs own the organisation's information security strategy, budget, and risk posture. They translate compliance requirements into security programmes, report to the board, and balance security investment against business objectives.

Solvency II defines 60 controls across 15 domains that directly affect the CISO role. Understanding which controls fall within your ownership, which are shared, and which are owned by other teams is the foundation of effective compliance management.

What a CISO is accountable for under Solvency II

1

Defining and executing the information security strategy aligned to business goals

2

Presenting cyber risk posture and compliance status to the board and executive team

3

Allocating security budget across people, process, and technology investments

4

Managing the security organisation and building a security-aware culture

5

Overseeing incident response capability and crisis management readiness

Where CISOs lose time on Solvency II

These are the most common obstacles CISOs face when managing Solvency II compliance, and how to address them:

Challenge 1

Justifying security investment to the board with clear business metrics

Challenge 2

Managing compliance across multiple frameworks without duplicating effort

Challenge 3

Hiring and retaining qualified security professionals in a competitive market

Challenge 4

Keeping pace with evolving threats while maintaining compliance baselines

Challenge 5

Balancing security controls with business agility and user experience

A working order for a CISO starting on Solvency II

1. Readiness Assessment

Take a 5-minute readiness assessment to identify your organisation's current gap profile against Solvency II. Get a prioritised action plan tailored to your specific situation.

2. Cross-Framework Mapping

Use our platform to map Solvency II controls against other frameworks you already comply with. Identify overlapping controls to reduce duplicate effort.

3. Build Your Toolkit

Equip yourself with Solvency II toolkits, self-assessments, and implementation guides from our store. Resources designed specifically for CISOs managing compliance programmes.

4. Continuous Monitoring

Establish ongoing compliance monitoring using our platform's gap analysis tools. Track your maturity over time and demonstrate progress to stakeholders.

Solvency II in your sector

Solvency II for Healthcare→Solvency II for Financial Services→Solvency II for Technology→Solvency II for Government→Solvency II for Manufacturing→Solvency II for Energy→Solvency II for Retail→Solvency II for Education→

Who else owns part of Solvency II

Solvency II for Compliance OfficersView guide →Solvency II for Risk ManagersView guide →Solvency II for IT DirectorsView guide →Solvency II for DPOsView guide →Solvency II for AuditorsView guide →

Questions CISOs ask about Solvency II

What does a CISO need to know about Solvency II?
As a CISO, your key responsibilities under Solvency II include defining and executing the information security strategy aligned to business goals and presenting cyber risk posture and compliance status to the board and executive team. The framework contains 60 controls that fall within your area of responsibility. Understanding which controls you own versus which are shared with other teams is critical for effective implementation.
How does Solvency II affect the CISO role?
Solvency II directly impacts CISOs through defining and executing the information security strategy aligned to business goals, presenting cyber risk posture and compliance status to the board and executive team, allocating security budget across people, process, and technology investments. The framework provides structure that helps CISOs demonstrate due diligence and report compliance status to stakeholders.
What are the biggest Solvency II challenges for CISOs?
Common challenges include justifying security investment to the board with clear business metrics; managing compliance across multiple frameworks without duplicating effort; hiring and retaining qualified security professionals in a competitive market. Using cross-framework mapping tools and automated evidence collection can significantly reduce these pain points.
How should a CISO prepare for a Solvency II audit?
Start by conducting a readiness assessment to identify gaps. Then focus on allocating security budget across people, process, and technology investments and managing the security organisation and building a security-aware culture. Maintain a current evidence repository and ensure all control owners have documented their processes. Our readiness reports provide a prioritised action plan specific to your gap profile.
What tools help CISOs manage Solvency II compliance?
Effective Solvency II compliance management requires tools for gap analysis, control mapping, evidence collection, and reporting. Our compliance platform provides AI-powered gap analysis across 1,120 frameworks with 315K+ verified control-to-control mappings, helping CISOs identify overlapping requirements and reduce duplicate compliance effort.

CISO: How ready is your organisation for Solvency II?

Answer 25 questions and get a professional readiness report with gap analysis, maturity scores, and prioritised action items. Results in 5 minutes.

Get Your Readiness ReportBrowse Toolkits & Resources
Written and maintained by Gerard Blokdyk, The Art of Service.Last updated .