Professional services firm PKF Malta participated in the two-day Captive Live UK conference earlier this month at London’s Northumberland Avenue.
Each jurisdiction featured its best case scenario to attract insurers by offering presentations, case studies and unique selling points expertly discussed in various panels.
Delegates were welcomed by Thomas Stepenson of Robus Gibraltar, who gave an overview of the industry and the challenges facing captive insurance managers, with the arrival of Solvency II regulation in 2016.
PKF Malta and Risk Management Service (Malta) senior partner George Mangion’s presentation, The Prudent Captive Climb, highlighted how Malta is the only EU member state to offer comprehensive legislation on both protected cell companies and incorporated cell companies.
Robus Group managing director Justin Wallen, Kane group chief operating officer Clive James and Aon Risk Solutions head John Rowson formed a jurisdiction panel to discuss the rise of cell companies, and asked ‘Are ICCs and PCCs the smarter ART vehicles’?
Other discussions focused on Solvency II, the implementation of which has been postponed again. This framework has been receiving diverse reactions from both EU and non-EU jurisdictions and attracted the attention of many high-profiled attendees.
Opportunities and challenges facing captives were discussed with taxation, risk management and regulatory issues.
Although the competition in the captive industry is vast, Malta has gradually and steadily developed into a premier financial centre hosting many financial services firms, mainly insurance companies, banks and fund administrations. This is evidenced by a number of Fortune 100 companies which have captives in Malta with numerous companies from across the world and in numerous sectors being looked after by the country’s insurance managers.
The conference served as an ideal platform to showcase Malta as an island ready to attract the next flow of applicants wishing to use its tax-efficient and well tested legislation, which as a bonus will bear the hallmark of a fully compliant Solvency 11 country.
PKF launched a Country by Country Review, which aims to inform readers about the captive insurance market from a domicile by domicile perspective.
It seeks to reflect the outlook of each country and to put forward recommendations for better functioning of the legal framework. The main feature of the publication is to offer qualitative research on the performance of each domicile backed by a constructive critical analysis of the global market.
Copies of the Country by Country Review may be obtained by sending an e-mail to a.cassingena@pkfmalta.com.