Insurance Companies

There are a num­ber of off­shore havens which are keen to encour­age the estab­lish­ment of insur­ance com­pa­nies which like bank­ing com­pa­nies bring employ­ment and invest­ment to the coun­try of incor­po­ra­tion and gen­er­al­ly enhance its rep­u­ta­tion and its range of finan­cial ser­vices. In a num­ber of off­shore havens it is pos­si­ble to incor­po­rate insur­ance com­pa­nies which pay no tax in respect of their pre­mi­um or invest­ment income.

Captive Insurance

Captive insur­ance com­pa­nies have been cre­at­ed by many multi­na­tion­al com­pa­nies to insure and re-insure the risks of sub­sidiaries and affil­i­at­ed com­pa­nies. Captive insur­ance com­pa­nies are par­tic­u­lar­ly suit­able for the ship­ping and petro­le­um indus­tries and for the insur­ance of risks which might be insur­able only at pro­hib­i­tive pre­mi­ums. Bermuda and Guernsey have long been favored as domi­ciles for the incor­po­ra­tion of cap­tive insur­ance com­pa­nies with coun­tries such as the Isle of Man and the Turks & Caicos Islands com­pet­ing for a share of this grow­ing market.