The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) has licensed Gateway Rivers Insurance Company as a captive insurer under rules recently adopted to implement Senate Bill (SB) 734. Gateway Rivers is the wholly-owned captive insurance subsidiary of AT&T, based in Dallas.
SB734 removed a particular regulatory barrier, which then allowed captive insurers to operate in Texas.
Commissioner of Insurance, Julia Rathgeber, said: "We're very pleased to have this business in Texas. Our state has a thriving insurance market and these new rules will help make it even more robust."
Leslie Ward, vice president of legislative and external affairs of AT&T Texas, commented: "The licensing of AT&T's captive insurance operations in Texas allows us to conduct business more efficiently and keep our risk management operations closer to home."
"Any day that lawmakers and regulators can eliminate obstacles to business operations is a day when Texas becomes even more attractive as a corporate home.”
The TDI rules and statute require that affiliated companies have significant operations in Texas in order to form or move a captive there. Captive insurers licensed in Texas can only insure operational risks of affiliated companies and controlled unaffiliated business. The statute also prohibits captives from accepting insurance policy risks of an insurance affiliate.
