Insurance

Jersey has been attracting insurance companies and insurance business to the jursidiction for many years in particular those offering general insurance.

With the convergence of capital markets and insurance / reinsurance markets in the last 10 years or so and Jersey’s expert knowledge for securitisation using special purpose vehicles and other financing structures, a variety of structured insurance products particularly insurance transformers and vehicles for securitisation of insurance risk are evolving within Jersey’s positive legislative and regulatory environment.

Jersey is ranked in the top tier of international finance centres for its regulatory regime and reputation, reflecting the jursidiction authorities’ proper concern for business integrity. The Insurance Business (Jersey) Law 1996 ensures that the insurance supervisory regime in Jersey is in accordance with best international practice and standards whilst at the same time recognising the need to adopt  a flexible approach to the authorisation and regulation of the different types of insurance business being undertaken in Jersey (e.g on fees and solvency margins). 

Jersey’s tax neutrality which includes no stamp duty on transaction documents or notes and no withholding tax makes it an attractive jurisdiction for insurance business. Jersey’s Companies Law has the familiarity of many of the provisions of the equivalent English law but with greater flexibility such as having:

• ICC’s alongside PCCs
• guarantee and unlimited companies as well as various partnership structures,
• no provisions on thin capitalisation
• the ability to make a distribution from any source other than the capital redemption reserve or nominal capital account. 
• the ability to have the redemption of redeemable shares and the buy back of shares by a Jersey company funded from any source including capital. 

The flexibility of Jersey’s Companies Law has given the jursidiction's professionals a framework in which to develop innovative structured insurance products for their clients.