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Financial Services

Structuring and Licensing Captive Insurance Vehicles

We structure, license, and manage captive insurance companies that let a group retain and manage its own risk, rather than transfer it to a commercial insurer.

Overview

A Regulated Vehicle for Retaining Your Own Risk

Captive Insurance & Risk Structuring covers the licensing and ongoing management of a captive, an insurance company a group establishes to insure the risks of its own parent and affiliates, rather than paying premiums to an external insurer. Mauritius's current captive framework covers pure captive business — insuring the risks of a group's own parent and affiliates. Rules for third-party captive business are still being finalised by the FSC.

We handle the FSC licensing under the Captive Insurance Act 2015 and the FSC's Captive Insurance (Pure Captive Insurance Business) Rules 2016, including the feasibility and actuarial work behind it, and support the captive's ongoing governance, reinsurance, and reporting once it's operational.

Captive Insurance Act
2015
The regulatory basis for captive insurance licensing in Mauritius, together with the FSC's Captive Insurance (Pure Captive Insurance Business) Rules 2016.
Direct Market Access
Reinsurance Market Access
Captives licensed in Mauritius can access reinsurance markets on commercial terms.
Retained Risk
Reserves Held Within the Group
Premiums build reserves within the group's own structure, not a third-party insurer.

What We Provide

Key Features

Risk Retention Structuring
Structuring the captive to retain the group's insurable risks in place of annual commercial premiums.
Premium & Reserve Modelling
Working with actuaries to model premium levels, loss reserves, and capital adequacy.
Bespoke Coverage Design
Designing coverage for risks that are difficult or costly to place in the commercial insurance market.
FSC Licensing
Preparing and submitting the FSC licence application, including the business plan and actuarial report.
Reinsurance Arrangement
Arranging the reinsurance protection the captive needs, including catastrophe and stop-loss cover, where applicable.
Ongoing Governance & Reporting
Supporting annual premium reviews, claims management, financial reporting, and FSC compliance.

Process

How It Works

01
Feasibility Study
Reviewing the group's risk profile, loss history, premium expenditure, and risk appetite.
02
Actuarial Assessment
Analysing the risks to be retained, estimating loss frequency and severity, and setting reserve levels.
03
FSC Licence Application
Preparing and submitting the complete application, including business plan, actuarial report, and governance framework.
04
Reinsurance Placement
Arranging the required reinsurance protection, including catastrophe reinsurance and stop-loss arrangements.
05
Captive Operations Launch
Coordinating operational readiness, policy documentation, billing, claims handling, and service provider appointments.
06
Ongoing Management
Supporting annual premium reviews, claims management, financial reporting, and FSC compliance on an ongoing basis.

Requirements

Requirements & Eligibility

When This Service Applies

  • A group wants to retain rather than transfer its insurable risk
  • A group has risks that are difficult or costly to place in the commercial insurance market
  • A group wants a regulated vehicle for group-wide risk management and reserve accumulation
  • A shipowner or commercial vessel operator wants to retain Hull & Machinery or Protection & Indemnity (P&I) risk within its own structure, rather than relying solely on commercial marine cover or a P&I club

Licensing Considerations

  • Minimum capital requirements scale to the risk scope and insurance class, as prescribed by the FSC
  • A qualified actuary and at least one resident director with insurance experience are required
  • Reinsurance arrangements need to be in place before the captive can begin operations

Common Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

It's an insurance company established and wholly owned by a non-insurance group to insure the risks of that group's parent and affiliates. The group pays premiums to its own captive, which retains risk, builds reserves, and pays claims, operating as a licensed, regulated insurance company in its domicile jurisdiction, with capital, governance, and reporting obligations calibrated under Mauritius's dedicated captive framework to its status as a captive, distinct from those applying to insurers writing business in the open commercial market.
Most commercial risks, property damage, business interruption, general liability, product liability, professional indemnity, directors' and officers' liability, workers' compensation, and credit risk, including risks that are difficult or expensive to place in commercial markets.
The FSC prescribes minimum capital under the Captive Insurance Act 2015 and its accompanying Rules, with the specific level depending on the risk scope and insurance class, alongside solvency margin requirements that must be maintained at all times. The actuary's capital adequacy assessment confirms the proposed capitalisation is adequate.
Commercial insurance transfers risk, with premiums built to include the insurer's profit margin and overhead. A captive retains risk instead, the group keeps the benefit of favourable loss experience in its own reserves. It requires upfront capital and governance costs, but typically delivers net savings for groups with predictable loss experience.
Annual premium reviews and actuarial reserving, claims management and loss data reporting, financial accounting and audited annual accounts, FSC annual return preparation, board governance (typically two board meetings a year), and reinsurance renewal.
Feasibility and actuarial study typically takes 4–8 weeks, application preparation a further 4–8 weeks, FSC review 4–6 weeks from submission, and operational launch 4–8 weeks post-licence.

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