N.Y. Boosts Captive Pursuit
With hopes of retaining commerce in the state, New York is ramping up efforts to attract alternative market business.
Growing the domicile has been "a priority for the governors administration," New York Insurance Superintendent Gregory V. Serio told National Underwriter. He recently announced the hiring of David Ahl as director of captive development.
The first captive in the domicile after the passage of enabling legislation in 1997 was formed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The benefits, said Mr. Serio, were evident in terms of dollars saved by the MTA over the last five years and its increased attention to risk management.
"As we went through disruptions in the marketplace, whether it was 9/11 and the hard market that followed, or the loss of Reliance and Kemper, the MTA has been able to maintain a steady course of coverage as well as claims management because they held so much of the control within their own captive," he added.
Mr. Serio said the domicile has aggressively pursued new captivesthere were four when 2003 began, but the year ended with 18 licensed entities and two applications pending.
He also announced the formation of CAPCO Holdings, a captive to offer a mechanism for 14 financial institutions to provide excess insurance for investors in case they sustain losses as a result of a bankrupt or otherwise financially troubled investment firm, for liability beyond Securities Investor Protection Corp. coverage, a market that Mr. Serio said "essentially dried up among the traditional carriers."
Senior Deputy Superintendent Peter Molinaro also told NU that formation of a captive association is in the works.
Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, January 23, 2004. Copyright 2004 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.
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