In a bold attempt to establish the Commonwealth of Dominica as a leading offshore financial centre its government has undertaken a number of important measures to this end. One such measure is the enactment of the Exempt Insurance Act, No. 14 of 1997.

The Exempt Insurance Act is a comprehensive piece of legislation guaranteed to meet private sector needs and interests and drawn up after the conducting of comparative study and review of the relevant legislation, regulations and operations of other jurisdictions.

This Act by no small measure strengthens the Commonwealth of Dominica as an offshore jurisdiction of first choice by providing the strict confidentiality rules favored by offshore insurance and reinsurance companies and offering an attractive environment for a wide range of insurance services, including all types of captives, most types of re-insurance and protected life insurance policies and annuities that are free of attachment.

Why Establish Insurance Operations in the Commonwealth of Dominica?

The main reasons include:

• Privacy -- provision of a blanket of confidentiality with appropriate gateways for justifiable disclosures of information to assist regulatory and law enforcement authorities in the investigation of criminal activities
• Exemptions -- provision of exemptions offers an attractive environment for high quality insurance undertakings, such as mutual insurance companies, offshore captive insurance companies and major international insurance groups.
• Licensing Strategy geared to attract reputable insurance institutions and to build and maintain a reputable jurisdiction
• Simplicity -- simple, swift procedures for the establishment and management of operations
• Tax Freedom there are no income tax, capital gains tax, direct or import tax, withholding tax and exchange control ordinances do not apply
• Cost Competitiveness

Guiding Principles

The Act applies to insurance companies whose risks and premiums originate outside the Commonwealth of Dominica and on whose liquidation monies payable to shareholders are payable to or for the benefit of persons resident outside the Commonwealth of Dominica. The granting of a license is within the discretion of the Minister of Finance. who may attach conditions to the issue of the licence relating to the real property investments and holdings of a licensee

Main Legislative Provisions

The main provisions of the Act include:

• Resident Representative: all captive/offshore insurers must maintain a resident Representative
• Capital: minimum fully paid up capital is US$100,000 for general business; US$125,000 for an approved mutual insurance company, minimum contributed reserves of US$125,000
• Confidentiality: all information relating to any application of a prospective licensee or to the affairs of a licensee other than such information as forms part of the public record held by the Registrar of Companies is privileged and confidential.
• Solvency: the minimum margins of solvency are in line with generally accepted standards in the insurance industry, based on a 1:5 ratio or 20% up to a premium of $5,000,000 in respect of general business and in respect of long-term business where the value of the licensee’s assets does not exceed its liabilities.

Corporate and Trust Services (Caribbean) Limited shall attend to all your application and licensing needs and will provide where necessary management, agency and brokerage services. Registered Agent services are also guaranteed