The Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) has increased registrations for Class 1, 2 and 3 insurers from seven to ten year-on-year, with new companies including captives from Latin America covering the risks of predominantly Colombian parents and Canadian captives covering property and general liability risks.
“The authority is pleased to see that the jurisdiction’s efforts to promote Bermuda’s captive sector—particularly in growth regions of Latin America and Canada—have resulted in an increase in new captives registered during the first six months of 2015,” said Shelby Weldon, director of licensing and authorisations the BMA.
“It is also important to note that these are quality captives, writing quality business.”
In addition to captives, Bermuda continues to be the world’s premier domicile for insurance-linked securities (ILS), with 14 new special purpose insurers (SPIs) registering in H1 2015, compared with 16 new SPIs recorded during H1 2014.
In total, the BMA registered 45 new insurers and intermediaries during H1 2015, which is on par with the 44 registrations recorded during the same period in 2014.
In the commercial reinsurance sector, three new Class 4 reinsurers capitalised at a minimum of $100 million each were formed, as well as three new Class 3A reinsurers.
Weldon continued: “The ability to attract over $1 billion of capital in just two new Class 4 reinsurers speaks to the continued significance of the Bermuda market.”
“In addition, an increase in the number of new insurance intermediaries setting up in Bermuda—increasing from eight to 11 year-on-year—also demonstrates Bermuda’s attractiveness as a global insurance marketplace.”
At a similar level to last year, Bermuda’s life insurance (long-term) sector attracted one new Class E and three new Class C firms.
The BMA stated that the formation of a Chinese SPI established to facilitate a programme of catastrophe bond transactions with China’s largest reinsurer was a “particularly important” part of 2015.
“During H1 2015, the authority noted a number of newly registered insurers expressly designed to facilitate the Chinese insurance market,” Weldon said.
“Attracting business from China has been an objective for the jurisdiction for many years. The formation of these insurers is an important milestone in this regard.”
