Banking & Financial Services Lawyers

Bermuda Monetary Authority 2026 Business Plan: Overview & Expertise – Banking

Bermuda is not considered an international banking center and only banks licensed by the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) under the Banks and Deposit Companies Act 1999 (BDCA) are entitled to undertake banking businesses in or from Bermuda. As banking is defined as deposit taking (as opposed to lending), international banks are generally able to lend to Bermuda-based borrowers subject to applicable restrictions relating to carrying on business in Bermuda.

David Clark

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

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.

Brad Adderley, Matthew Carr

Bermuda Monetary Authority 2026 Business Plan: Overview & Expertise – General Corporate

The Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA), an independent body that has been in existence since 1969, is an integrated regulator and supervisor responsible for the licensing, supervision and regulation of financial institutions in Bermuda. The BMA’s mandate includes entities conducting insurance, deposit taking, investment and trust business. The BMA conducts risk-based supervision and enforcement, including enforcing anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing standards. The BMA sets prudential rules, issues codes of conduct and devises industry guidance to ensure the jurisdiction adheres to international standards.

Matthew Ebbs-Brewer, Sally Penrose

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

The Bermuda Monetary Authority’s (BMA) 2026 Business Plan (Plan) outlines continued strengthening of Bermuda’s position as a leading global insurance and reinsurance jurisdiction.

Brad Adderley, Cathryn Minors

Bermuda Monetary Authority 2026 Business Plan: Overview & Expertise – FinTech

By any serious measure, Bermuda’s FinTech strategy for 2026 is not incremental. It is deliberate. It is disciplined. And it is designed to position Bermuda not as a follower in digital finance — but as a standard-setter.

Jerome Wilson

Bermuda Monetary Authority 2026 Business Plan: Overview & Expertise – Regulatory

Bermuda operates a highly integrated regulatory architecture under which the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) exercises consolidated oversight across insurance, banking, investment business and funds, trusts, corporate service providers, money services and digital asset activity. While the statutory framework has long been risk-based, the previous five years marks a clear evolution in supervisory practices. The BMA moved decisively beyond technical compliance and periodic reporting toward an emphasis on supervisory judgement, governance outcomes and system-wide resilience.

John Wasty, Jarion Richardson

Bermuda: A Dispute Resolution Overview

Bermuda continues to be an established offshore disputes jurisdiction, supported by a specialist commercial court and the increasing use of arbitration to resolve complex commercial and private wealth disputes.

John Wasty, Claire van Overdijk KC, Sam Riihiluoma, Anna Markiewicz, Robert Nash

Preparing for and Managing a CIMA Onsite Inspection

The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) is empowered, under the Monetary Authority Act and certain other regulatory laws, to inspect regulated financial service providers (FSP) in the Cayman Islands such as banks, trust companies, administrators, investment managers and virtual asset service providers for compliance with applicable regulatory frameworks. CIMA routinely conducts onsite inspections of such regulated entities – which can be full-scope (involving a review of all areas of a regulated entity's business operations) or thematically focused on specific areas such as corporate governance and/or internal controls, policies and procedures pertaining to AML/CFT/CPF. With the breadth and number of onsite inspections carried out by CIMA having increased through 2024 and 2025 we consider, in this briefing: (i) the CIMA onsite inspection process; (ii) the latest feedback available from CIMA in respect of inspections conducted to date; and (iii) some frequently asked questions in relation to CIMA onsite inspections.

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Martin Byers, Simon Raftopoulos, Peter Colegate, Maree Martin, Menelik Miller

Injunctive Relief in Another Form? Cayman Court's Jurisdiction to Appoint JPLs Despite Ongoing Arbitration

In Peakwave Investment Management Ltd v Energy Evolution GP Ltd [link],[1] the Grand Court confirmed that it has jurisdiction to appoint provisional liquidators notwithstanding the fact that the company’s shareholders are engaged in an arbitration over its affairs, as mandated by a binding arbitration agreement. This article considers the decision and its implications.

David Lee, Will Porter