The Guernsey Financial Services Commission has welcomed confirmation that the island has applied for ‘Qualified Jurisdiction’ status with America’s National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the body that coordinates the country’s state-by-state insurance regulators.
Winning such status would formally recognise Guernsey’s regulation of insurers as being of a standard the US trusts.
The application sets out the island’s regulatory framework, its supervisory approach and its cooperation arrangements, and covers everything from local laws and reinsurer performance to the enforcement of US court judgments.
Guernsey’s insurance sector is international in focus and includes captives, commercial insurers and reinsurers, life insurers and cell structures.
At the end of 2025 the island had 549 licensed insurance entities.
GFSC director-general William Mason said the application was a chance to demonstrate the strength of the island’s regime.
‘Guernsey has a long and successful track record as an international insurance centre,’ he said.
‘We are seeking to show that Guernsey is a serious, well-regulated and responsive supervisory counterpart.’
The commission’s chief actuary, Lisa Peterson, who previously worked at Canada’s insurance and pensions regulator, said much of the island’s regime felt familiar from a North American perspective.
‘Guernsey’s approach is proportionate and tailored to the nature of its market, but it is also grounded in the same core objectives – solvency, policyholder protection, sound governance and effective cooperation between regulators,’ she said.
The commission said it had entered into 84 cooperation agreements with other regulators and had been a signatory to the international insurance supervisors’ information-sharing framework since 2010.
The NAIC is the body through which each state coordinates its approach towards insurance regulation, and Qualified Jurisdiction status is seen as ‘a stamp of approval’ for countries that pass the test of regulatory standards.
The primary benefit for the island is expected to be the reinsurance sector, insuring insurers, where Guernsey is a significant international player, and achieving the status would make it easier to attract business from the US. Primary insurance companies use reinsurance to protect themselves against massive financial losses from natural catastrophes, including wildfires.
By shifting a portion of their wildfire risk to global reinsurers, primary insurers can manage balance-sheet exposure and stay solvent.
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