Applied Filters
Your guide through the captive maze
Quest is one of the best-known captive service companies in Bermuda and the US and has been forming and managing single parent, group, and association captives since 1979. Jeff Kenneson of Quest Captive Management talked to Captive International about Quest’s business and the trends he is seeing in the market.
What are you buying?
Insurance tends to be viewed as a contract, but in reality the choice between one insurance policy and another is more like the one a shopper makes when considering which of two widgets to buy, and that could have profound implications for legal disputes, says Matthew Queen of Venture Captive Management.
Tax benefits for captives are not a crime
A series of high-profile victories in court for the IRS over 831(b) captives has tarnished the reputation of these structures, but they do not deserve their shady reputation, as Jeremy Colombik of Management Services International told Captive International.
It’s time for captives to fight back against regulatory overreach
There have been a number of high profile fights between states and captives in recent years, including Johnson & Johnson v New Jersey, Stewart’s Shops v New York and Microsoft v Washington. If these cases haven’t grabbed your attention you need to wake up, says Gary Osborne, vice president at Risk Partners.
The NAIC and multi-state abuse of risk retention groups
RRGs are regulated by the state in which they domicile, and are free to do business in other states, but many non-domiciliary states are operating well outside the scope of the law, says Jon Harkavy of Risk Services.
A proposal for a digital domicile
Captives are still domiciled in physical jurisdictions and regulated by real people, but for how much longer? In the future, regulation could be provided by sophisticated and fully autonomous websites, reducing costs and increasing efficiency, says Matthew Queen of Venture Captive Management.
Incubators of innovation
Captive insurance companies have played an integral role in bringing ERM to the middle market, and enterprise risk captives have been hotbeds of innovation, finding new ways to price unusual risks, says Andrew Rennick of Womble Bond Dickinson.
The uncertain future of 831(b)s
The Syzygy opinion marks the third significant microcaptive loss in the US Tax Court, and prominent captive managers have come under fire for allegedly designing and selling sham 831(b) captives. What does this mean for their future? US Captive investigates.
Pilot v Commissioner: key questions raised and left unanswered
Just 10 days before the scheduled trial in the US Tax Court, the taxpayers conceded the remaining issues in Pilot Series of Fortress Insurance et al v Commissioner. The pretrial pleadings highlighted many of the key questions that remain open in litigation over the tax treatment of captive insurance transactions. Those questions—and the parties’ efforts to answer them—provide a roadmap of what to expect as additional cases move toward trial. Jenny Johnson Ware, founding partner of tax litigation boutique Johnson Moore, analyses those key questions and what we can learn from them—despite the fact that the Tax Court will not be providing any answers.
Domiciles: business friendly or tax focused? How to prepare your captive
Could high-profile settlements with the State of Washington lead to more captive domiciles following a similar path? Or will they adopt a more pro-business stance, like North Carolina? Pete Kranz, executive managing director and captive practice leader of Beecher Carlson, provides some key considerations on where to domicile a captive.
