Gibraltar’s licensed insurers are able to cover risks both in the United Kingdom and other EU member states, without the need of a separate licence, as a result of the confirmation by the United Kingdom Government on the 11th June 1997 that the supervisory regime in Gibraltar matched the supervision standards in the United Kingdom. There are currently a number of insurers in Gibraltar who are making use of this benefit and providing cross border services into countries of the European Union in accordance with European law. In 2012, the total gross premium income written by insurance companies in Gibraltar was £3.8bn and these companies held assets of over £9.0bn.
In July 2014 HM Government of Gibraltar reached an agreement with the UK Government to enable Part VII transfers to Gibraltar from the UK.
Solvency 2 is a fundamental review of the capital adequacy regime for the European insurance industry. It will establish a revised set of EU-wide capital requirements and risk management standards, which will be consistently applied across Europe. The Gibraltar Financial Services Regulator is keeping Gibraltar insurance licencees informed of the expected impact this new legislation will have both from an operational and a regulatory compliance perspective.
In 2014 the Gibraltar Financial Services Regulator issued guidance regarding their approach to Insurance Linked Securities. HM Government of Gibraltar has strong ambitions in Gibraltar becoming the Insurance Linked Securities (ILS) jurisdiction of choice within the European Union. Gibraltar's Insurance Companies (Special Purpose Vehicles) Regulations 2009 will be the primary legislation for Gibraltar to enter the ILS market and its 2001 protected cell companies legislation will be an attractive part of Gibraltar's ILS offering.
PwC has extensive experience in the insurance industry. We have access to industry experts both locally and in the PwC global network allowing us to provide a quality service to clients . This allows us to service the variety of insurance licencees based in Gibraltar, including both non-life and life direct insurance/reinsurance entities and captive insurers.
See link for full details regarding the types of services that PwC can provide licensed insurance entities.
