Guernsey was for the second year running named best non-EU domicile at the 2018 European & UK Captive Awards, held in Luxembourg on Tuesday.
The judging panel noted that Guernsey continued to lead the way for captive formations in Europe – more than half of the 17 new licensed structures in Europe in 2017 – and cited its non-Solvency II regime was a key differentiator.
As Guernsey is not part of the UK or the EU, it is outside the scope of the Solvency II regime. Following a public consultation in early 2017, Guernsey reaffirmed it would not be seeking equivalence with Solvency II. Instead, its own regime distinguishes between different classes of insurer, such as commercial and captive insurers, and places proportionate regulatory burdens on each.
Guernsey observes the IAIS Insurance Core Principles – the global standard for international insurance supervision – and the Guernsey Financial Services Commission maintains a discretion to modify regulatory requirements on a case-by-case basis.
There are over 800 captives in Europe, of nearly 6,500 worldwide, with Guernsey’s market share of European business at 38%. The island has also applied its captive expertise to niche markets such as longevity risk transfer.
There were a number of other Guernsey winners at the awards – BDO’s Guernsey office won the Accounting Specialist Category at the awards, and several firms with Guernsey offices, including Generali, Willis Towers Watson, Aon, EY and Marsh, were also winners.
• The full list of winners can be found here