This briefing is the first in a series that will look at legal aspects of the Solvency II regime and their implications for firms. It considers the legal framework of Solvency II, how near each element of the framework is to completion and what needs to happen next, how Omnibus II has changed the previously published regime, the transitional relief that firms can expect to get from 1 January 2016, and how Solvency II will be applied to insurers and reinsurers in the UK.