Bermuda Monetary Authority 2026 Business Plan: Overview & Expertise – Insurance (Captives)

Bermuda – Leading Captive Insurance Market

Bermuda is one of the leading captive insurance markets in the world with over 600 registered captive insurers writing an impressive ~$30 billion of annual gross written premiums.

Captives are licensed and regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) via the Insurance Act 1978, as amended (IA). The IA bifurcates captives into two main categories – general business and long-term. Generally speaking, the former writes property and other short-tail business while the latter category writes long-tail lines of business.

Bermuda’s captive market continues to thrive for a number of reasons, including, regulatory excellence (with which ratings bodies are very familiar), proximity to world-leading reinsurance market, speed of licensure, geographic proximity to global hubs of commerce, and a deep bench of experienced service providers.

Why Bermuda for Captives

The Bermuda Monetary Authority has actively refined and adapted the island’s insurance and reinsurance regulatory regime over the past decades in such a way that it is now in a distinguished class.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners in the United States has designated Bermuda as an equivalent and qualifying jurisdiction facing US markets. The European Commission has granted Bermuda Solvency II equivalence facing EU markets.

These two important accreditations offer ease of conducting business, in a sense passporting our registrants into major markets. They also set us apart from other jurisdictions from a regulatory standards standpoint.

The BMA has carefully bifurcated the regulatory regime in Bermuda such that captives are subject to less rigorous requirements relative to commercial insurers and reinsurers. This has kept the costs of establishing and operating a captive low (and globally competitive) relative to commercial entities.

The BMA’s 2026 Business Plan includes a number of initiatives designed to strengthen Bermuda’s insurance regulatory regime. These include, but are not limited to, embedding a common Framework for Internationally Active Insurance Groups in-line with global best-practice, focusing more on climate change and related impacts on insurer’s risk management (where applicable), strengthening the insurance group supervision regime, enhancing collaboration with other regulatory bodies around the world, and proposing enhancements on insurer management and governance accountability.

While these initiatives may not have a direct impact on the regulation of Bermuda captives, they will ensure the continued very high standing of Bermuda as a premier jurisdiction for risk transfer business.

Appleby’s expertise and leadership

Appleby’s Bermuda Insurance & Reinsurance practice is among the top ranked offshore practices in the world. The wider Bermuda office and our practices have also been consistently top-ranked, showcasing our legal expertise in the market. Appleby has a long history and proven track record with captives. Our highly experienced lawyers work with all sizes of captives from small single-parent captives to large and complex mutually owned captives.

The Bermuda team of practitioners provides expert legal advice throughout the entire lifecycle of a captive, from incorporation, structuring (including segregated account structures), licensure, transactional support, governance, obtaining a rating, regulatory and in fewer cases de-registration and liquidation.

While working with a steady flow of new business, Appleby’s Bermuda team also helps with expansion of existing captives, enabling them to write emerging and or other useful lines of business, including the regulatory aspects of this growth. Whatever your captive needs may be, our legal experts are well-prepared to assist.

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