The EU-driven debate over substance in business activities could
strengthen the captive insurance market, experts said at the Guernsey Insurance Forum in London.
The Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) debate has seen
jurisdictions take different approaches to how they view business
substance. And although captives, particularly offshore captives,
are seen by some to be controversial in this space, BEPS could
actually be seen to help the sector, said Paul Owens, Managing
Director of the Global Captive Practice of Willis Towers
Watson.
"BEPS is driving what we should be doing," he said.
"Insurance companies should not be a brass plaque on the door
with nothing behind it.
"Whether we call them captives, offshore insurance
companies, they are real insurance companies and in most cases are
set up not for tax purposes but for transfer pricing. There is a
very good model out there, experts come together and provide those
services."
