Guernsey set to announce new reinsurer

Guernsey is set to announce the arrival of a new reinsurer to be formed on the domicile.

Captive International understands that the entity is a start-up operation which has been given the regulatory green light and has started recruiting staff.

However, similar requests for incorporation on the island from other parties have been refused.

Addressing an audience of pension fund asset managers and trustees in London this week, the island’s authorisations deputy director John Dunford said: “We are not afraid to wield the big stick.” But he added that this was rarely deployed with re/insurers.

Dunford said that the regulator was often a barrier to entry for firms but he “did not want that to be the case” in Guernsey where it has been decided not to opt for Solvency II equivalency and instead has adopted its own risk based solvency model.

Even then Guernsey is “open to discussion as to how that applies to particular licensees” Dunford told the London gathering.