Insurance and Reinsurance companies are required to have Own Funds as follows:
– Insurers: €2.3m – €3.5m (depending on the class of business).
– Reinsurers: €3.2m.
– Captive Reinsurers: €1.1m.
The Own Funds are to be composed of eligible assets and at least 50% of which must be in the form of paid up share capital.
Companies are required to maintain a Solvency Margin at all times. The precise solvency margin required is calculated in accordance with regulations modeled on the European Union Directives.
Protected Cell Company (PCC) structures offer an alternative to the set up of standalone insurers, reinsurers or captives and can result in significant cost and capital savings for smaller entities. A promoter may write insurance through a cell using the non-cellular core capital of the PCC to satisfy the minimum EU capital requirements. Whilst minimum capital requirements apply to the PCC as a whole, cells are usually required to remain solvent in their own right.
