The Texas department of insurance has licensed Gateway Rivers, the wholly-owned captive insurance subsidiary of AT&T based in Dallas, as the state opens its doors to captives.
The decision follows the state’s recent implementation of SB734 (authored by Senator John Carona and sponsored by Representative John Smithee) which enables captive insurers to operate in Texas.
Commissioner of insurance Julia Rathgeber, says "We're very pleased to have this business in Texas, our state has a thriving insurance market and these new rules will help make it even more robust."
AT&T has more than 246,000 employees worldwide, including 36,000 employees in Texas.
The TDI rules and statute require that affiliated companies have significant operations in Texas in order to form or move a captive there. Captive insurers licensed in Texas can only insure operational risks of affiliated companies and controlled unaffiliated business. The statute prohibits captives from accepting insurance policy risks of an insurance affiliate.
"The licensing of AT&T's captive insurance operations in Texas allows us to conduct business more efficiently and keep our risk management operations closer to home," says Leslie Ward, vice president - legislative and external affairs of AT&T Texas. "Any day that lawmakers and regulators can eliminate obstacles to business operations is a day when Texas becomes even more attractive as a corporate home. We are impressed with the Texas legislature'sand insurance commissioner's ability to take a business concept and make it a reality in Texas in less than a year."