Bermuda Monetary Authority plans captives report

Bermuda’s financial regulator the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) is to publish a report on captives later this year, its  2022 business plan reveals. It will be one of several thematic reports planned for the year, with others focussing on alternative capital, captives, catastrophe risk and cyber (one for both operational resilience and underwriting). It also plans a discussion paper on the use of artificial intelligence in the insurance sector.

The business plan outlines the regulator’s objectives for the years ahead and outlines several headline initiatives. These include plans to integrate environmental, social and governance considerations into its regulation of the insurance industry.

According to the plan, the BMA will provide the insurance sector with “comprehensive guidance on the governance aspects of climate change”, including expectations for boards, risk management, insurer self-solvency assessments considering climate-related risks such as the transition to a low carbon environment and physical risk. It will also assess the insurance and investment fund sectors’ frameworks for opportunities and respective adjustment needed in the context of “green finance”.

Other initiatives for 2022 include transposing the Common Framework for Internationally Active Insurance Groups (IAIG) and Holistic Framework for Systemic Risk into the Bermuda commercial regulatory regime.

“Regarding the latter, the Authority will continue its work on recovery and resolution for insurers (particularly for IAIGs, large domestic insurers and insurance groups). This work will continue to be guided by international developments, including work done at the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) level,” it states.

Elsewhere in the document, the BMA outlines plans for other sectors and across industries: further roll-out of its anti-money laundering/terrorist financing service provider training course; opening up of the innovation hub and sandbox across financial services sectors; joint regulatory technology pilots with industry; and the modernisation of specific legislation

within the investment business and banks and deposit companies regimes.

Craig Swan, BMA Chief Executive Officer, said, “While the past two years have humbled many forecasters, the BMA is optimistic about the year ahead and what we can accomplish. We know there will be challenges. This is a given for a forward-looking regulator—there is no ‘rinse and repeat’ cycle for financial services regulations.

“Yet, adversity sharpens creativity, opportunities can be borne out of threats, and small islands can transform challenges into solutions for the world.”