Premier Paula Cox Welcomes Fitch’s Comments
Today [Sept 11] Premier and Minister of Finance Paula Cox responded to recent comments made by Fitch Ratings senior director of insurance, Brian Schneider.
Mr. Schneider told The Royal Gazette: “On a net basis, I think Bermuda stands to gain from having greater regulation…
“As a company, you don’t want to be viewed as being in a regulatory environment that’s poorly managed. I think Bermuda’s done a good job of balancing it to keep up with the latest regulation.
“Testament to that is the three hedge-fund backed reinsurers who all set up in Bermuda. There’s still the perception that the Bermuda market has got a lot of positive factors.
“That may help it to attract new business, though the form of it may be a bit different from what we’ve seen in the past. The Class of 2005 looked very different from the hedge fund-backed reinsurers, but the commonality is that they all went to Bermuda.”
In response, Premier Cox noted, “The naysayers often point to other jurisdictions and undermine Bermuda at every turn, but, when independent experts like Fitch praise Bermuda’s strong regulatory environment, you know that we’re doing something right.
“Don’t take our word for it – Fitch is the one that says that Bermuda has “a lot of positive factors” working for us. They note the business that’s been attracted to Bermuda during the tenure of a PLP government that has strengthened our regulatory environment.
“These remain difficult times around the world, but, when Fitch gives such high praise to your regulatory environment just days before a new reinsurer chooses to locate in Bermuda, it’s clear that sure and steady progress is being made.”
The Premier is quite right in confirming the regulatory enhancements promulgated under the PLP’s tenure in Government have attracted the praise of regulators and her acknowledgement of this makes sense.
However, if the PLP are going to publicy seek credit for their accomplishments it’s only fair for them to share blame for their social and economic policy failures which have now saddled us with an historic debt burden, record unemployment and an increasingly hostile political landscape.
Can we therefore reasonably expect the DCI to issue her statment ackowledging the PLP’s integral role in underwriting our internally crafted current woes as quickly as the one taking credit for our external successes?
I wait patiently but won’t be holding my breath.
Bang On ! But ya gotta love these reports , as they allow The Pemier to hold on tight to her BABY ( Borrow Another Billion Yuppp ).
Bermuda ranks high for regulatory sophistication with respect to global reinsurers/expect to see continued growth of Bermuda captives and hedge fund owned reinsurers. Andrew Barile MBA CPCU