CIC head fears retaliation over micro captives case, NCCIA hears

The North Carolina Captive Insurance Association (NCCIA) heard from CIC Services LLC president Sean King at its annual conference last week about its battle with the IRS over micro-captive transactions. King was a speaker for the opening plenary of the conference held at the Washington Duke Inn and Golf Club in Durham, North Carolina.

Alex Webb, a founding member of NCCIA and partner of law firm Webb & Morton, served as Of Counsel to the captive industry Amicus Curiae Brief on the Supreme Court case.

“The discussion on the IRS vs CIC court case ruling has been long anticipated. There was obviously a great deal of enthusiasm in the audience for this topic; we certainly had the best players up on the panel today,” he said. “I think it was obvious Sean King has passion about this as he stuck with it even in the face of what he expects in the form of retaliation, which is a shame that he has to think that, but it is a real thing.”

He concluded: “Kevin Doherty [drafted a joint captive insurance association brief in support of the plaintiff] and his firm did a fantastic job on our briefs. It was the perfect storm, and we are still sailing on it a little bit, waiting on the judge and the district court to do the right thing.”

Other key sessions over the four days of the conference included an NC Department of Insurance overview of its new streamlined process for redomestication by its senior deputy commissioner Debra Walker; and a look at Industry Advocacy and the efforts of trade associations to represent the industry against regulatory intrusions by the IRS, legislation on Capitol Hill, state legislatures and the courts.