Globally, the captive insurance market is seeing one of the strongest innings in the last few decades, with a pandemic-fuelled spurt taking the total from 5,879 in 2020 to 6,191 in 2022.
Investor appetite for exploring this promising sector has been further spurred on by the current, challenging state of the commercial insurance market, with rising inflation, interest rates, and loss costs; the looming threats of recession, climate change, and geopolitical upheaval; and competition from InsurTechs and even noninsurance entities such as e-tailers and manufacturers.
These headwinds are giving more and more companies reason to step away from commercial insurance and consider the benefits of adopting captive insurance. It may be noted that captives may be a single-parent captive wherein they are entirely owned by one entity or have several owners, and might also take on the onus of insuring the risks of organisations other than their major owners. Such flexibility clearly positions captives for promising growth in the insurance space, and Mauritius as a leading International Financial Centre (IFC) can lay claim to an insurance sector that is regarded by industry observers as extremely competitive.
Indeed, by June 2022, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of Mauritius, as the apex regulator for the non-banking financial services sector, had issued licenses to 15 insurers conducting general insurance business; 10 insurers conducting long-term insurance business; four insurers conducting external insurance business; and eight entities as professional reinsurers.
Mauritius takes strides to become a leading captive domicile
With the Mauritius IFC having celebrated its 30th anniversary last year, it should come as no surprise that the jurisdiction enjoys a fairly long history in promoting captive insurance. The captive insurance sector in Mauritius came into being in 1999, shortly after the IFC took root in 1992. Since then, Mauritius has progressively cemented all the required ingredients to be counted among the leading captive domiciles in the world.
Having said that, Mauritius truly took off as a captive domicile in 2015 when the promulgation of the Captive Insurance Act provided a significant incentive in the form of a 10-year tax holiday for pure captives to promote the island as a captive hub for Africa. Illustrious captive majors threw their hats into the ring, and this milestone regulation with all its accompanying developments has made it even easier for global investors to accept Mauritius in this promising arena.
Moreover, the jurisdiction’s overall investor appeal has recently only increased with the pioneering achievement of being completely or largely compliant with all 40 recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on anti-money laundering and combatting terrorism financing, as of September 2022.
Latest regulatory developments in the captive insurance arena
With the aspiration of positioning Mauritius as the emerging captive hub for Africa, the Mauritian government and local regulators have implemented several business-friendly regulations and provided robust support to facilitate and catalyse captive insurance in the jurisdiction.
Following the enactment of the Captive Insurance Act, the FSC has chosen to make further inroads with the Pure Captive Rules in 2016 with the aim of strengthening the framework for captive insurance business introduced by the Captive Insurance Act. The Pure Captive Rules are exclusively in respect of pure captive insurance business and lay down requirements regarding capital, solvency and reporting.
Now, as a logical next step, the FSC is working on regulations to be issued by the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development in Mauritius, followed by new Rules, to allow the licensing of Third Party Captive Insurance business. The draft Captive Insurance Business Rules were accordingly issued for public consultation in April 2022, and are currently in the process of being finalised along with the regulations, based on feedback received in May.
How Rogers Capital can help
Licensed and authorised by the FSC to act as a captive manager, Rogers Capital Captive Insurance Management Services is a pioneer in Mauritius in managing captive insurance vehicles. Our captive manager services range from day-to-day administration to technical insurance related services.
Rogers Capital has the highest quality, security, and compliance standards in place for client information privacy and data protection towards ensuring hassle-free, confidential, accurate, cost-effective, and time-bound captive insurance solutions. Indeed, Rogers Capital was among the founding members of the Tax African Network, the very first international network of tax professionals, gestated and nurtured by Africans and hosted in the Mauritius IFC.
Having helped to serve a dynamic investment community across the globe as one of the leading players of the industry, we, at Rogers Capital, intend to do our share to further strengthen the captive insurance sector which forms a key pillar of our financial services sector.
Recently, Rogers Capital added a prize feather in the jurisdiction’s cap when the Mauritius IFC’s 30th anniversary celebrations coincided with the local launch of the TDB Captive Insurance Company (TCI) by the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB) Group in August 2022.
On that momentous occasion, our CEO, Mr Kabir Ruhee, indicated that Rogers Capital has been associated with the TDB Group through a collaboration that dates back to April 2021. Since then, Rogers Capital has pioneered the structure and implementation of TCI, TDB’s captive insurance subsidiary, as a pivotal component of the group’s risk management.
A multilateral, treaty-based, investment-grade development finance institution, with 41 sovereign and institutional shareholders and assets of USD 7.2 billion, TDB is part of the TDB Group, which also comprises the Trade and Development Fund, the Eastern and Southern African Trade Fund, the TDB Captive Insurance Company, and the TDB Academy.
By bringing one of our leading clients to the island shores, Rogers Capital is pleased to support the development of the captive insurance space in Mauritius. We give you the bandwidth to focus on core business operations, while managing, through a dedicated and expert captive team, your insurance related matters as well as a captive vehicle for the interest and benefit of its insureds and owners.
Taking its place as a regional captive insurance hub
With their ability to design customised insurance coverages, access alternative capital, and generate profits through third-party business, captives are known to add exponential value during market transitions such as those triggered by COVID-19 and the global economic uncertainty amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Moreover, in line with the FSC’s objectives to study new avenues for the development of the financial services sector, to respond to new challenges and to take full advantage of new opportunities for achieving economic sustainability and job creation, there is enhanced focus on developing the captive insurance arena in Mauritius.
Finally, with the continent having one of the lowest insurance penetration levels globally – overtaken only by the Emerging Middle East in presenting sizeable scope for improvement – it is clear that, with Mauritius being one of the top three countries by insurance penetration in Sub-Saharan Africa, the jurisdiction can lead from the front in the rising captive insurance space and take its place in the sun as a regional captive insurance hub.
Sources:
https://www.iii.org/article/background-on-captives-and-other-risk-financing-options
Captive Insurance | Mauritius Financial Services (mauritiusifc.mu)
Captive Insurance Management – Rogers Capital – Global Services
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41288-022-00278-2
