European insurers say new insurance regulations will have an overall positive effect at little cost to the industry.

Compliance costs for the new Solvency II regime - which comes into effect across Europe in 2012 - are expected to be minimal. A new report from consultancy firm Accenture says about 75% of insurers will spend less than €25 million ($40.6 million), while 43% will spend less than €5 million ($8.13 million) on compliance.

More than 90% of insurers say Solvency II will be beneficial for the industry, while 75% say the investment in new systems will support their business needs.