Guernsey has new rules for special purpose insurers. Mark
Helyar, the lawyer and director who drafted the rules together with
the Guernsey International Insurance Association, comments on this
development and contrasts it with competition from other
domiciles.
Guernsey's new rules for special purpose insurers (SPI) were
issued by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission on January 1,
signalling Guernsey's intention to remain at the forefront of
growth in the insurance-linked securities (ILS) sector in 2017.
The first thing to note about Guernsey's ILS sector is that
it has reached a substantial size without the need for SPI rules.
Effectively the rules codify the discretions already applied by
Guernsey's regulator under existing legislation which has been
in existence since 2002.
