Leading Partners

Next Generation Partners

Leading Associates

Insurance/reinsurance in Cayman Islands

Campbells

The 'responsive and knowledgeable' insurance and reinsurance department at Campbells is a key part of its wider corporate law support to clients and the firm acts for several of the largest insurance carriers in the Caribbean, as well as being counsel of choice for a number of Cayman government agencies. Well versed in the formation, licensing and ongoing operation of insurance managers on the island, the practice is also a robust choice for contentious matters in the insurance space. Alan Craig advises reinsurers established in, or re-domesticating to, the Cayman Islands, as well as foreign insurers that are active in the domestic market. He co-leads the practice group with Mark Goodman, who is focused on litigation, insolvency and restructuring; and Paul Kennedy, also an expert in contentious insurance work.

Practice head(s):

Alan Craig; Mark Goodman; Paul Kennedy


Testimonials

‘One of the strengths of the firm is their insurance knowledge for life and reinsurance licensees. We depend on them to assist us in all of our life insurance matters.’

‘Alan Craig has extensive knowledge in Cayman insurance laws and is the go-to person for insurance related matters.’

‘The Campbells team are responsive and knowledgeable, and have a depth of experience across many industries.’

‘The team are great to deal with and always willing to discuss client challenges.’

Key clients

AEsir Insurance


Gerald


Redpoint


Deliver Re


Tango Re


S.I.P.P. Insurance


Westgrove Insurance


Touchstone Insurance


USC Preferred Insurance


Equity International


ASIC


Royal Star


Epic Re


Sunrise Professional Indemnity SPC


Alembic


Allied Indemnity


Aegis Insurance


Roosevelt Insurance


Next Era Energy / Palms Insurance


Eastern Re


Innova Re


Marsh


Athene


Willis Towers Watson


Cooper Gay / Ed Broking


Island Heritage


ICWI (Insurance Company of the West Indies)


Guardian Life


Global Captive Management


Artex Risk Solutions


Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility


Guardian General


Strategic Risk Solutions


Beecher Carlson


Crum & Forster


Cottingham & Butler


UnitedHealth Group


Innovative Captive Strategies


Caribbean Alliance


Pan-American Life Insurance Group


Investors Trust Assurance


DiffRins Insurance Company


Work highlights


  • Acting for Palms Insurance, the insurance subsidiary of NextEra Energy, on its Cayman operations.
  • Representation of CCRIF SPC (The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility), the regional insurer of catastrophe risks to Caribbean and Latin American governments.
  • Advising a US life insurer in relation to funding arrangements totalling $5bn in aggregate.

Conyers

Conyers houses a fully dedicated insurance and reinsurance law practice that acts for a sizeable percentage of all new insurance licensees, as well as counting the vast majority of commercial reinsurers that are active in the Cayman market. The team’s workload includes the gamut of issues in the practice area, covering captives, agents, brokers, reinsurance, alternative risk transfer, insurance financing, catastrophe bonds and other insurance-linked securities. Derek Stenson leads the team and is counsel of choice to a wealth of international financial and insurance institutions. Philippa Gilkes is a further key name with a dedicated insurance offering, while Sarah Howie and Frank Farrell add further support.

Practice head(s):

Derek Stenson


Other key lawyers:

Philippa Gilkes; Sarah Howie; Frank Farrell


Testimonials

‘Insurance dedicated expertise.’

‘Responsive, knowledgeable and experienced. Safe pair of hands. In particular Derek Stenson and Philippa Gilkes.’

‘Derek Stenson and his team have a commercial approach to the market that is simply unmatched by their peers. Derek is first and foremost a businessman and a lawyer secondly and this sets him and his team apart. Like any good leader he has surrounded himself with a solid team of performers.’

‘Derek Stenson has always had a commercial approach to matters legal and allied to his energy, affability built upon his technical know how he is as rounded a lawyer you can ask for. He knows his strengths and hires accordingly and in Philippa Gilkes has brought on an organised, technical and solid partner to his practise. Sarah Howie brings a seasoned compliance and contractual view of the world and Frank Farrell is busy building out his experience across a full range of the Conyers service platform.’

‘As a general counsel new to Cayman Islands’ regulatory regime, Conyers has provided invaluable resources and guidance above and beyond what I expected.’

‘Derek Stenson heads-up an extremely talented reinsurance and insurance team. They are an extremely collegiate team who work seamlessly together – without doubling-up on charges. Their service delivery is exceptional. They really take time to fully understand their client’s business operations and not only deliver great service for a specific service request they generally (almost always) make some additional beneficial recommendations.’

‘Derek Stenson, Partner is a strong and personable leader with a well-deserved enviable reputation for his insurance, reinsurance, financial services, regulatory and compliance expertise. Philippa Gilkes, Counsel is highly competent very thorough lawyer who always offers sound, sensible and pragmatic advices promptly Wayne Flanagan Sarah Howie (Farquhar), Senior Associate is highly competent with an inherent talent for building a strong trustworthy rapport with clients right from the start. She gets stuck into the details and diligently delivers commercial, practical, concise solutions extremely promptly and effectively. Kiah Estwick – Senior Associate: Kiah is a strong lawyer and a safe pair of hands and a definite rising-star in her profession. Wayne Flanagan – Associate: Diligent, knowledgeable and highly responsive. A next generation rising star.’

‘The Conyers Team has exceptional subject-matter expertise in the insurance/reinsurance sector and deployed that expertise to help us successfully establish, license, and operationalize multiple Cayman-based entities in a short period of time. We are greatly appreciative of our relationship with the Conyers Team and look forward to continuing to work together on our many Cayman initiatives.’

Key clients

ACAP


Agam Capital Management


AIG


Arbel Re SPC


Arch Capital


Ascension Health


Aspida Holdings


Artex


Athene Holding Ltd.


Aran Re


Augusta Health


Axar Re


Axonic Capital LLC


Baptist Health


Barents Re


Berkshire Hathaway


Blackstone


Blue Ocean Reinsurance Solutions


BOLT Reinsurance SPC


Canada Life


Cayman Islands National Insurance Company


CIBC Reinsurance


CIGNA


CIRCA (Cayman International Reinsurance Companies Association)


Coinbase Insurance


Comerica Bank


Converge Re


Crestline Re


Davidson Kempner


F&G Re


Front Street Re


FWD Re


Global Atlantic Financial Group


Greenlight Re


Harbour Partners Ltd.


H & W Indemnity (SPC), Ltd.


Ibexis Life & Annuity


Indigo Insurance


Island Heritage Insurance Company, Ltd.


Jackson National


KKR


Knighthead Annuity


Ledger Investing, Inc. / Ledger Re SPC


Lexasure Financial Group


Liberty Mutual


Lilypad Insurance Co.


Longtail Re


MetLife


Orange Capital LLC


Prudential plc


Nascent Group


Nirvana Tech, Inc,


Northern Reinsurance SPC


Randall & Quilter Investment Holdings Ltd.


Reinsurance Group of America


Root Inc.


Royal Bank of Canada Insurance Company Limited


Safety National SPC


Scotiabank


Sompo


Talcott Life & Annuity Re, Ltd.


Third Point LLC


Tokio Marine


Topsail Re


United HealthGroup


United Insurance Company


Wilmington Holdings Corporation


Work highlights


  • Advised the Aspida Group on the establishment of two Cayman Islands life and annuity reinsurers.
  • Assisted alternative asset manager Third Point with launching and licensing Malibu Life Re, a new life and annuity reinsurer in the Cayman Islands.
  • Acting for Augusta Health Care in its defence of an application by co-shareholder Valley Health System to the UK Privy Council for special leave to appeal an earlier judgment of the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal which overturned a winding up order of the Grand Court.

Walkers

Walkers‘ ‘wonderfully knowledgeable‘ insurance and reinsurance practice is active across the market, including the thriving and increasingly complex life and annuity reinsurance work, and the cross-border insolvency of Premier Assurance Group. The firm continues to have a strong offering in the traditional captive market, while also reflecting the wider market trend of more diverse clients entering the Cayman insurance space. Leadership of the department is shared between specialist financial regulatory and risk management lawyer Lucy Frew, and Philip Paschalides, whose structured finance background and experience is now deployed on insurance matters, developing innovative structures compliant with CIMA. Juliana Tang draws on professional experience at an insurance and reinsurance broker to assist with regulatory matters and cross-border transactions.

Testimonials

‘The firm is knowledgeable and responsive to client needs.’

‘The Walkers Team are wonderfully knowledgeable, experienced, efficient, and responsive. They do not put on airs. Their multi-jurisdictional reach stands out.’

‘Juliana Tang is both practical and creative.’

‘The Walkers insurance team has a great breadth of expertise and works hard to build strong client relationships.’

‘ Shamar Ennis is very knowledgeable with a wealth of international experience who provides well reasoned advice.’

‘Juliana Tang has a strong combination of deep specialist knowledge broad commercial and legal perspectives.’

‘Sarah Dombowsky is an extremely knowledgeable, professional, proactive lawyer who is genuinely passionate about successful delivery in every instance. She brings her expertise to bear in a very practical and client focused manner, consistently and promptly going the extra mile and is always a pleasure to deal with.’

‘Philip Paschalides, Shamar Ennis, and Juliana Tang work together effectively as a team combining structured finance and insurance regulatory expertise that allows them to optimize structure and strategy for their clients, which include private equity and hedge funds seeking to enter the offshore reinsurance market.’

Work highlights


Appleby

As part of its offering across offshore markets globally, the Cayman Islands office at Appleby assists insurance and reinsurance clients with corporate, financing and regulatory matters. Simon Raftopoulos and Jacob MacAdam, whose practice encompasses advising on insurance transactions and regulatory matters particularly in the reinsurance, banking and fiduciary space. Menelik Miller is sought out by insurers, reinsurers, investment companies and fintech clients for her expertise in regulatory issues including license applications, registrations, authorisations, notifications and regulatory filings, areas in which Miriam Smyth is also notably active.

Practice head(s):

Simon Raftopoulos; Jacob MacAdam


Other key lawyers:

Menelik Miller; Miriam Smyth


Testimonials

‘I find the Appleby team to be incredibly helpful when faced with contentious matters. I have obtained advice from them ranging from general day to day corporate matters through to more complicated and controversial matters and in all circumstances the team has come through with thorough and clear advice to see their clients through to a solution. The team is very collaborative, helpful, and most important practical in understanding the end goal of their clients and helping them find the best path forward.’

‘Jacob MacAdam is a pleasure to work with. Of course he is extremely knowledgeable and responsive but beyond that he exhibits a level of professionalism that makes him stand out against his competitors. I value his advice as a legal professional and industry colleague and I do not hesitate to recommend him to anyone in the insurance industry seeking legal advice as I have full confidence in his advice.’

‘The team stands out for delivering expert and reliable guidance firmly rooted in regulatory requirements through a deep understanding of governmental principles ensuring that clients receive insightful advice fully compliant with relevant authorities.’

‘A key strength is the practice’s ability to balance urgency with prudence. Responsive to time-sensitive matters, driving projects forward efficiently without compromising on thoroughness or pushing beyond appropriate boundaries. This approach resonates with clients who value both timeliness and diligence.’

‘The team is knowledgeable, trustworthy, and delivers timely service for clients navigating intricate regulatory landscapes.’

‘They answer questions with revenant and informed replies. No hesitation to give a straight forward response that is actionable. If they need more time to research the question, that’s said and the reply is timely. Competent, knowledgeable, and direct. Without hesitation and with praise I recommend the individuals that I work with at the firm.’

‘Jacob McAdam carries himself as a seasoned campaigner with quite some polish. He backs it up with a technical know how but also frankly and affability and decency both commercially and personally which ensures i will want to work more with him in the future. He has taken a nascent industry practise group in Cayman and owned it and led it and is now seen as a legitimate alternative to his peer firms and I would have little hesitation in recommending him.’

‘Jacob is fair minded, level headed, measured, technical, decent , dependable and solid.’

Key clients

Greenlight Reinsurance


TxEx Energy Investments, LLC –


Brookfield Asset Management


Blue Ocean Reinsurance Group


Work highlights


  • Advising Greenlight Reinsurance on ongoing regulatory compliance with Cayman regulatory laws, regulations, rules and guidance issued by CIMA.
  • Advised a health care provider on obtaining a Class A insurance issued by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority.
  • Assisted Blue Ocean Solutions with developing a suite of bespoke regulatory policies and procedures both for its own offering and its clients.

Maples Group

Maples Group acts in a variety of transactional and regulatory matters for its insurance and reinsurance clients, including establishing entities in the Cayman Islands, and advice on financing and M&A. John Dykstra is the key contact in terms of focus on the insurance sector in particular, jointly co-ordinating the practice with finance experts Jonathon Meloy and Tina Meigh. Joe Jackson and Hailee Robinson are support contacts to note.

Work highlights