Local industry considering adopting Solvency II model
GUERNSEY’S insurance industry is considering the adoption of some form of Solvency II equivalence.
The Guernsey Financial Services Commission has published a discussion paper on behalf of the Guernsey International Insurance Association setting out the implications of a move towards the European model of capital standards for the insurance industry.
The industry rejected a move to adopt Solvency II equivalence in 2011, considering it inappropriate for a local market dominated by captive insurance.
But the Solvency model, which came into effect in 2016, has changed over that period, and some in the industry say reconsidering that decision could be beneficial to attract reinsurance business.
Bermuda has adopted a bifurcated solvency regime, enabling part of its insurance industry to opt into Solvency II equivalence while part remained non-equivalent, and the Isle of Man sought equivalence for just its life insurance industry.
Guernsey practitioners can now see that Solvency II can be considered a more nuanced proposition than that presented in 2011.
Giia chairman Derek Maddison described the discussion as ‘a very thorny issue’.
Full story in today's Guernsey Press
