04/04/23

INSURANCE: Guernsey overtakes Luxembourg as top European captive domicile.

As published on reinsurancene.ws, Tuesday 4 April, 2023.

Guernsey has overtaken Luxembourg to host the largest number of captive insurance structures in Europe, according to reports from Airmic, a UK association for risk and insurance professionals.

Last year, Guernsey approved 12 new captive licences and had three surrenders, a net increase of nine, giving a total of 201 captives domiciled in the island at the end of 2022.

That was enough to overtake its nearest rival captive domicile, Luxembourg, which reported a total of 195 captives at the end of 2022. The two domiciles were exactly tied in 2021.

“It is testament to the quality and experience of our practitioners,” said Rupert Pleasant, CEO of Guernsey Finance.

“Guernsey is a globally renowned centre for specialist financial services, a jurisdiction of substance, and it is gratifying to reach this milestone,” he added.

Mark Elliott, Chair of the Guernsey International Insurance Association, also commented: “This is a great endorsement of Guernsey’s captive offering … We look forward to continuing to innovate and promote the captive proposition to existing and new clients going forwards.”

Airmic notes that part of Guernsey’s appeal is that it has a regulatory regime separate from the European Union’s Solvency II, which claims to better distinguish between commercial re/insurance and captive insurance.

“This proportionate approach should be very attractive to current and potential captive owners, and especially those who still want a domicile within the European region,” explains Guernsey Finance.