The long-awaited bill regulating activities of direct offshore foreign insurers ("DOFIs") in Australia has finally been released. Although the broad aspects of the Bill were released on 3 May, we've had to wait for the Bill before fully understanding how it will strike a balance between the need to regulate DOFIs and the need for local insureds to be able to access international insurance.
Briefly, the Financial Sector Legislation Amendment (Discretionary Mutual Funds and Direct Offshore Foreign Insurers) Bill 2007 expands the definition of "insurance business" to prevent DOFIs from advertising or marketing their products in Australia, but importantly it doesn't prevent local insureds from going offshore to seek cover for business in Australia.
