The Guernsey Financial Services Commission welcomes the announcement by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners of the Bailiwick’s application for Qualified Jurisdiction status. The Commission made the application in July with the support of the Guernsey International Insurance Association and the States of Guernsey. If the Bailiwick were to be recognised, the terms on which Guernsey insurers could write business into US states would improve. The Commission says the skills and capacity of insurers in Guernsey could help US state insurance regulators continue to deliver good outcomes for consumers. The Bailiwick’s insurance sector is internationally focused and includes captives, commercial general insurers, commercial reinsurers, commercial life insurers, special purpose vehicles and cell structures. Insurance is regulated at state level in the United States rather than by the federal government, with matters of mutual interest addressed by the NAIC. The association’s Mutual Recognition of Jurisdictions (E) Working Group oversees the process for evaluating jurisdictions and maintains the lists of Qualified Jurisdictions and Reciprocal Jurisdictions. Guernsey’s application sets out the Bailiwick’s regulatory framework, insurance sector, supervisory approach and cooperation arrangements. It covers laws and regulations, regulatory practices, reinsurer performance, enforcement of final US judgments and solvent schemes of arrangement. The application also highlights the Commission’s statutory powers to cooperate and exchange information with insurance supervisors, including US state insurance regulators. The Commission has entered into 84 MoUs and MMoUs and has been a signatory to the IAIS Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding since November 2010. It was upgraded to the Enhanced Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding of IOSCO in 2024, following an assessment led by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The application forms part of the Finance Sector Strategy 2035, launched in February 2026 by the States of Guernsey, the Commission, Guernsey Finance and GIBA. William Mason, director general, says: “Guernsey has a long and successful track record as an international insurance centre. The quality of our regulation was endorsed by the International Association of Insurance Supervisors through its independent assessment undertaken in 2019. We are looking forward to working with our counterparts in the NAIC over the coming months to explain Guernsey’s robust and proportionate approach to insurance regulation.” Katherine Jane, deputy director general for risk and operations, says: “Guernsey’s regime is based on proportionate, risk-based supervision, strong governance expectations and a clear commitment to regulatory co-operation. Those are the attributes we are seeking to evidence through the NAIC process.” Lisa Peterson, chief actuary, says: “Before joining the Commission, I worked at Canada’s insurance and pensions regulator and one of the things that has struck me since working in Guernsey is how familiar many aspects of the regime feel from a North American supervisory perspective. Guernsey’s approach is proportionate and tailored to the nature of its market, but it is also grounded in the same core objectives: solvency, policyholder protection, sound governance and effective cooperation between regulators.”
