PKF Malta will participate in the New York Captive Owners Summit, planned to take place on the 31 October 2016 in New York. This is a sequel event, under an innovative, more intimate setting, especially created for America’s leading captive owners.
PKF Malta will participate in the New York Captive Owners Summit, planned to take place on the 31 October 2016 in New York. This is a sequel event, under an innovative, more intimate setting, especially created for America’s leading captive owners.
FinanceMalta, being at the forefront to stimulate investment, believes this initiative will help Malta in its quest to remain a compelling proposition for prospective investors seeking to establish or extend their footprint in Europe. The New York Captive Owners Summit is a highly exclusive learning and networking event, centered around a series of in-depth roundtable sessions.
A previous event was organised on 29 March 2016, with the support of FinanceMalta, Bee Insurance Management and a host of keynote speakers, in New York, promoting captive insurance opportunities for the US market. This was the first Malta-focused event of its kind, seeking to attract US companies to host their European captives in Malta.
Topics included: how to survive the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act and Common Reporting Standard; what regulations one should look out for; and finally, the advantages that Malta offers as a domicile that continues to strengthen its position in Europe as a strong player in the captive market. Developed over a decade of continued building of the country’s financial services infrastructure and legal framework, this makes the operation of captives more attractive on this island. The jewel in Malta’s crown is the protected cell company (PCC). Malta is the only full EU member state that can offer PCCs. Malta is also the only EU member state that offers the securitisation cell company structure used for asset-backed financing or insurance-linked securities platforms.
The insurance market is experiencing a dramatic change in culture, mainly due to the aftermath of Solvency II. While many are entwined with allocating their resources to complete the QRTs and thematic reviews, a survey carried out on the local market shows that 57 percent of local insurers, have been somewhat surprised at the magnitude of additional effort necessary to be compliant for Pillar III relative to the time available. The XBRL converting issue is one of the main factors that locally contributed to additional difficulty in meeting the deadlines.
Without any doubt, one of the key advantages of Malta remains our geographical disposition. This is an attraction to multinational operators and to a number of household names in the risk management industry. Malta has managed to prosper from being small, thus affording to give the flexibility and accessibility with a stronger customer focus. At PKF Malta we pride ourselves in being the right size to provide the right solutions with the right people. This is evidenced in the assistance our team of insurance, tax, finance and legal experts may provide during a company’s feasibility, pre-licensing and licensing process and as well throughout an entity’s ongoing operation.
We provide value adding recommendations and have assisted clients in embedding risk management processes into their day-to-day operations. The first year of reporting will be challenging for insurers as they get to grips to the Solvency II requirements. PKF is able to provide expert advice to help insurers and/or start-ups face up to these financial reporting challenges. As service providers, we place value on the relationship we build with our clients. We believe that, by basing a relationship on trust, we can provide clients the best tailor-made service possible.
We endeavour to provide our clients with the right combination of skills, experience, statistical methodologies and programmes to deliver the assurance and support their need.
PKF is committed to train our staff to enable them to provide client service of the highest standards. Professional staff proposed for respective projects are closely involved throughout the work and provide main source of continuity. A number of key experts enable delivery of all the objectives in a timely manner.
The company has an insurance team providing specialised services to the insurance industry. Licensed by the Malta Financial Services Authority as an approved auditor in carrying out external audits to insurance companies and insurance intermediary companies, it works closely with specialised service providers within the local industry to cater for clients’ needs including set-up arrangements. Being an integrated member firm of PKF International, it also teams up with overseas offices to deliver specialised technical solutions to the local insurance industry.
It is worth noting that in the EU there has been a plateauing effect experienced by the captive market, which is mainly be attributed to uncertainty due to the complex rules of Solvency II. The learning curve has been great, however, the benefits are starting to be felt within the market and undoubtedly there is a window of opportunity to refocus again on market development. Recent developments in the EU insurance industry are also characterised with topics on Brexit and its possible ramifications.
PKF Malta has seen the potential of the growth in the US market, and the need for this market to have somewhere to overspill, as US firms set up in Europe to insure their European risks. This has become poignant in the need for multinationals to insure their employee benefits through their captives. It’s a difficult task that is however becoming more possible than ever, with the benefits beginning to make a difference in balance sheets.
