(142)The assessment under Articles 172, 227 and 260 of Directive 2009/138/EC of whether a third country's solvency or prudential regime is equivalent to that laid down in Title I or Title III of that Directive should be an ongoing process and should be carried out with the objective of ensuring that the third country solvency or prudential regime demonstrates an equivalent level of policyholder and beneficiary protection as that provided under that Directive.