L 79/12 Official Journal of the European Union 25.3.2015 COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2015/499 of 24 March 2015 laying down implementing technical standards with regard to the procedures to be used for granting supervisory approval for the use of ancillary own-fund items in accordance with Directive 2009/138/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (Text with EEA relevance) THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to Directive 2009/138/EC of 25 November 2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the taking-up and pursuit of the business of Insurance and Reinsurance (Solvency II) ('), and in particular Article 92(3) thereof, Whereas: (1) Insurance and reinsurance undertakings should prepare applications for approval of ancillary own-fund items on a prudent and realistic basis. (2)  The application for an ancillary own-fund item is a strategic decision for risk management and capital planning purposes. Based on the ultimate responsibility of the administrative, management or supervisory body for compliance as set out in Article 40 of Directive 2009/138/EC, its involvement in the decision-making process on the application should be carefully considered. (3)  The insurance or reinsurance undertaking should include all relevant facts necessary for an assessment by the supervisory authority, including an assessment by the insurance or reinsurance undertaking of how the item would meet the criteria for an ancillary own-fund item and, on being called up, for classification as a basic own- fund item so that the supervisory authority can make timely decisions based on appropriate evidence. (4)  The information to be included by an insurance or reinsurance undertaking in its application should be specified to ensure a consistent basis for decision-making by the supervisory authority. (5)  Due to interdependencies between different approval applications under Directive 2009/138/EC, when applying for approval of an ancillary own-fund item the insurance or reinsurance undertaking should inform the supervisory authority of other applications concerning the items in Article 308a(1) of Directive 2009/138/EC, which are currently ongoing or foreseen within the next 6 months. Such requirement is necessary to ensure supervisory assessments are based on transparent and unbiased information. (6)  The ability for supervisory authorities and insurance and reinsurance undertakings to assess the status of a group of counterparties as though it were a single counterparty is considered to be particularly relevant where a mutual or mutual-type undertaking has a large number of homogeneous non-corporate members from whom it can make a call for supplementary contributions. (7)  The ancillary own funds approval process envisages ongoing communication between the supervisory authorities and insurance and reinsurance undertakings. That includes communication before a formal application is submitted to the supervisory authority and after an application has been approved, through the supervisory review process. Such ongoing communication is necessary to ensure that supervisory assessments are based on relevant and up-to-date information. (8)  When the supervisory authority receives notification from an insurance or reinsurance undertaking that there has been a reduction in the loss-absorbency of an approved ancillary own-fund item, the supervisory authority should revise downward the approved amount or withdraw its approval of the method in order to ensure that it is consistent with that reduced loss-absorbency. (9)  Article 226 of Directive 2009/138/EC permits a group of insurance or reinsurance undertakings to apply for ancillary own-fund item approval in respect of an intermediate insurance holding company or an intermediate mixed financial holding company. In those cases, the same rules should apply to the intermediate insurance holding company or the intermediate mixed financial holding company as though it were an insurance or reinsurance undertaking. This should also apply where a group is headed by an insurance holding company or a mixed financial holding company in accordance with Article 235 of Directive 2009/138/EC. () OJL335,17.12.2009, p. 1.