2021 Innovative Insurer-General Business Handbook

Summary

This is the Bermuda Monetary Authority's 2021 Instruction Handbook for completing the Innovative Insurer-General Business (IIGB) capital and solvency return. It is a technical guidance and forms document explaining line by line how to fill in the BSCR model, statutory statements and supporting schedules that Class IIGB insurers must file annually. It does not itself set new rules but instructs preparers on applying requirements already set out in the Insurance Act 1978 and related prudential standard rules.

• Who must file: Every IIGB (Innovative Insurer-General Business) insurer must submit a completed capital and solvency return to the BMA on or before its filing date.
• What the return covers: Forms 1SFS, 2SFS and 8SFS, the Insurer Information Sheet, BSCR schedules (fixed income, equity, currency, concentration, catastrophe, digital assets, etc.) and the Commercial Insurer Risk Assessment (CIRA).
• Submission method: Electronic filing via the embedded submit macro in the BSCR model is accepted from 2019 year-end onward; otherwise both electronic and printed versions must be sent by the filing date.
• Declaration and sign-off: The capital and solvency return declaration must be signed and dated by two directors and the insurer's principal representative and attached to the submission.
• Record retention: Work papers and supporting documents used to prepare the BSCR submission must be retained and made available to the BMA on request.
• Capital adequacy monitoring: The handbook explains calculation of ECR, MSM, TCL and BSCR/ECR ratios used by the BMA to monitor capital adequacy; falling below the TCL triggers additional reporting, enhanced monitoring and a required remediation plan.

The handbook is administrative and instructional in nature, mirroring statutory prudential standards rather than creating them, but it operationalizes recurring filing, disclosure, sign-off and record-keeping obligations for insurers within the IIGB class.

Key obligations

• Every IIGB insurer must submit a completed capital and solvency return (including BSCR model, statutory statements and schedules) to the BMA on or before its specified filing date.
• Insurers must not alter or modify the capital and solvency return or any part of it.
• If both electronic and printed versions are required, the insurer must forward both to the BMA by the filing date; from 2019 year-end onward, insurers may instead file electronically using the embedded submit macro.
• The capital and solvency return declaration must be signed and dated by two directors and the insurer's principal representative and included as an attachment to the return.
• Insurers must retain work papers and supporting documents used to prepare the BSCR submission and make them available to the BMA upon request.
• Insurers falling below the Target Capital Level must submit a remediation plan to the BMA to restore capital above the TCL and are subject to additional reporting and enhanced monitoring.
• Insurers answering negatively regarding MSM compliance, MLR compliance, or certificate of registration condition compliance must state the reason and describe any corrective action taken in an attached statement.

Applies to

Innovative Insurer-General Business (IIGB) insurers, Class IIGB insurers

Deadlines

• on or before its filing date: Each IIGB insurer must submit its completed capital and solvency return to the BMA on or before its specified (annual) filing date.