Eighth Working Meeting in Gibraltar

The Offshore Group of Insurance Supervisors ("the Group") has held its Eighth Working Meeting at the Caleta Hotel in Gibraltar, from June 6th to June 8th, 2001. Twenty six delegates, representing eighteen jurisdictions, were in attendance. For the first time, the meeting was held at the same time as the meeting of the Offshore Group of Banking Supervisors.

At its Working Meeting in Labuan in 2000, the Group had agreed to develop closer co-operation with the Offshore Group of Banking Supervisors and the Offshore Group of Collective Investment Schemes Supervisors. Having resolved to explore ways of facilitating a more formal liaison with these Groups, a joint session was held during this year's meeting to discuss common issues. Among the issues discussed during this joint session were 1) the ability to exchange information across the Groups, 2) membership criteria, 3) core principles and 4) assessments of the Offshore Financial Centres by the various international bodies.

The Group approved full membership for three observer jurisdictions: Macau, Mauritius and Samoa.

Having decided at its last Annual General Meeting to adopt the standards of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors, the Group has issued guidelines concerning compliance with core principles. Regulatory subjects discussed at the meeting included anti-money laundering guidelines, insurance on the internet, on-site inspections, regulatory responses to captives changing domiciles and rent-a-captives / protected cell companies.

Representatives from the International Monetary Fund participated in a very useful discussion with the Group on that organisation's on-going assessment of Offshore Financial Centres.

Following a successful Caribbean regional training seminar held in Belize in 2000, the second regional training seminar will be held in Vanuatu from August 20th to August 22nd of this year, with the assistance of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors and the International Insurance Foundation. This exemplifies the Group's commitment to providing training for its members, observers and other regulatory organisations.

The Annual General Meeting of the Group will be held in Bonn, Germany in September 2001.

Note to Editors

The Offshore Group of Insurance Supervisors ("the Group") was formed just ahead of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors ("IAIS") and quickly moved to develop a number of regulatory Standards and Guidelines. Subsequently, all of the Members and most of the Observers of the Group have become members of the IAIS, which has in turn developed Standards and Guidelines of its own, although not covering all the areas already dealt with by the Group.

The Group has strict criteria, which must be met before admission to full membership. Observers have committed themselves to meeting these criteria within a reasonable time frame.

Current Members of the Group are Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Labuan, Macau, Mauritius, Netherlands Antilles, Samoa and the Turks & Caicos Islands. Current Observers to the Group are Anguilla, Aruba, Bahrain, Belize, and Vanuatu.

June 8, 2001 - Gibraltar

Whilst every attempt has been made to ensure that the information contained on this web-site is correct, no assurances can be given as to its accuracy at the time of viewing these pages.  Additionally, no responsibility is undertaken for the content of any links appearing on this web-site.
If you notice any incorrect information, please notify webmaster@fsc.gi.