24 June 2013Law & regulation

Vermont tweaks captive legislation


The state of Vermont has announced a series of changes to the state's captive legislation. Governor Peter Shmulin said the changes would “continue to advance Vermont’s standing as the ‘Gold Standard’ choice for domiciles”.

Dan Towle, Vermont's director of financial services, told Captive International: “Updating our legislation is an annual tradition in Vermont. I have been with the state for 14 years and can’t recall a year we did not make modifications to Vermont’s captive law. We never become complacent towards the needs of the marketplace and we are always looking for ways to improve upon what we do.”

The changes in the law allow incorporated cells to enter into contracts, allow pure captives to establish multiple accounts, authorise branch captives to ensure the same risks as other structures, authorise special purpose financial captives to be consolidated under common ownership for the purposes of calculating premium taxes and eliminate limitations on a reciprocal subscriber’s contingent assessment liability.

Towle continued: “There is now more clarity and more options in our captive law than before. We are always open to legislative suggestions, but first and foremost they need to be prudent and fit into what has always been a tradition in Vermont: licensing quality companies.”