BERMUDA MEANS BUSINESS

Small Bermuda is a global giant when it comes to business and financial services.

At only 21 square miles, Bermuda is an international hub of business development opportunities. In fact, global business is being done daily to the tune of billions of dollars amid the pastel buildings, balconies, and palm-lined sidewalks of Hamilton, the capital city.

It almost defies belief that such a tiny Atlantic jurisdiction could rank amongst the globe’s top insurance and reinsurance hubs or support half a million jobs worldwide. Yet the island’s diminutive physical scale belies its substantial economic impact — one that is only increasing amid an evolving regulatory landscape and rapid globalisation.

WHY BERMUDA?

Offering robust yet pragmatic regulation, capital efficiency, world-class talent, and leading markets for (re)insurance, trusts, wealth management, financial technology

 BERMUDA’S SAFE AND

ISLAND LIFESTYLE IS PERFECT FOR FAMILIES AS WELL AS CORPORATE RELOCATIONS.

(fintech) or digital asset businesses, and private-client structures, Bermuda appeals to companies and entrepreneurs looking to relocate to a jurisdiction whose quality of life matches its business opportunities.

Innovation and collaboration are key to Bermuda’s corporate success, and agile teamwork between Bermuda’s industry, government, and regulators underscores Bermuda’s status as a top-tier international financial centre.

Advanced Infrastructure

This oldest of British Overseas Territories has long leveraged a combination of unique elements that make it easier for businesses to operate.

English, for example, is the lingua fran- ca, as it is amongst business hubs around the world. The Bermuda dollar is on par with the U.S. dollar. And Bermuda’s location 650 miles off the U.S. East Coast positions the island conveniently between North American and European markets, with direct daily flights to key cities. Thus, Bermuda punches well above its weight in international commerce.

As a blue-chip financial services jurisdiction, Bermuda remains committed to cooperation and compliance with global tax standards whilst remaining competitive and retaining our value proposition.

But that’s not the primary reason for Bermuda’s attraction to most global companies; rather, the island’s worldrespected regulation, its compliance and global leadership with anti–money laundering and anti-terrorism financing standards, its mature cluster of expertise, one-stop-shop appeal, and its speed to market are the key drivers.

Bermuda’s infrastructure is advanced, including excellent telecommunications and a fully electronic stock exchange. A full member of the World Federation of Exchanges and affiliate member of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), the Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) is recognised for commercially sensible listing requirements. It represents a leading market for the listing of investment funds, debt- and insurance-related securities, and those of small to medium enterprise firms.

Bermuda Is Connected

Because of the island’s strategic midAtlantic location and reputation for security and growth, Bermuda enjoys key trade relationships with the United States,

Canada, the United Kingdom, continental Europe, and Asia.

In addition, Bermuda is well trusted by the global financial community. In 2016, Bermuda became one of just two non–European Union jurisdictions to win full equivalency under Europe’s Solvency II Directive regulating commercial reinsurers. The decision by the European Parliament highlighted its faith in Bermuda’s ability to regulate to the highest standards.

Bermuda is also ranked as a “reciprocal jurisdiction,” a new designation introduced in 2019, in addition to being a “qualified jurisdiction,” on the other side of the Atlantic by the U.S. National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).

BERMUDA IS BLUE-CHIP RELIABLE

Bermuda is home to a wealth of worldclass talent. Within the two-square-mile City of Hamilton are leading accounting firms, along with auditors, financial advisers, lawyers, IT specialists, actuaries, reinsurance underwriters, brokers, fund administrators, corporate secretaries, and a full gamut of support services. These quality financial intermediaries have a decades-long history of collaboration, which differentiates Bermuda from other business destinations.

Established in 1969, the worldrespected Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) is celebrating 54 years of service and underpins Bermuda’s success as a top financial services centre. Responsible for overseeing all financial enterprises, as well as issuing the island’s currency, the BMA works closely with industry, government, and international regulatory bodies to keep its approach responsive and contemporary.

ITS PRO-BUSINESS CULTURE AND GOLDSTANDARD REGULATORY REGIME OFFER GLOBAL BUSINESSES A WORLD-LEADING PLATFORM FOR COMMERCIAL GROWTH AND INNOVATION.

The BMA’s sophistication as a commercial insurance regulator speeds capital to market and take on global insurance risk. Responsive legislative updates also keep Bermuda at the forefront of corporate governance.

Bermuda’s international business sector counts an estimated 4,411 international business employees who contribute directly to all economic sectors. According to Bermuda’s latest National Economic Report, international business contributed the greatest amount to Bermuda’s economy, providing $1.90 billion in total output, or 27.5 percent of total GDP. More than 60 percent of Bermuda’s vital foreign revenues can be attributed to this activity. Bermuda’s economic model also supports hundreds of thousands of jobs globally, including in the United States (our closest and largest trading partner), Canada, and the United Kingdom through trade, foreign direct investment, and portfolio investment capacity.

The biggest engine for Bermuda’s own economy is the insurance industry, which traces its roots back to the 1960s, when the world’s first captive (self-insurance) companies were established. Today, Bermuda is the captive market’s global leader, with over 600 companies generating about $40 billion in annual gross written premiums.

Ensuring the risks of mostly Fortune 500 companies, captives help corpora- tions rein in costs and mitigate risk; they are also becoming increasingly popular tools for wealth preservation and succession planning for high-net-worth individuals and family offices.

The mid-1980s saw the establishment of global commercial insurers and reinsurers, followed in the 1990s and early 2000s by consecutive capital-rich waves of “big cats” — or property-catastrophe specialist firms. These followed highseverity events like Florida’s Hurricane Andrew and 9/11, providing critical capacity to the insurance marketplace and transforming Bermuda as a result.

Ranked alongside New York and London as a (re)insurance centre of excellence, Bermuda has the most important

Property and Casualty (P&C) market and is the largest supplier of that type of reinsurance to the United States. Since 1997, Bermuda’s commercial (re)insurers have paid out over half a trillion dollars to policyholders and cedants in the U.S., European Union, and U.K. In addition to being the self-styled world’s risk capital, Bermuda is also fast becoming the world’s climate risk finance capital. In the last three years, Bermuda’s insurers and reinsurers have paid out $19 billion for losses caused by wildfires in California and Australia and typhoons in Japan. Today, Bermuda represents over 35 percent of the global property and casualty reinsurance market. The island is a pivotal player in mitigating climate risk and building resilience for people, communities, and businesses all over the world, including in disasterprone developing countries that often lack insurance coverage, helping to close the global protection gap.

But insurance is not the only industry powering Bermuda’s economy. The domicile was one of the first international trust jurisdictions and today is a premier centre for trusts, wealth management, and private-client structures. It is also a major asset-management centre, with numerous funds, fund managers, and fund administration companies represented, especially Insurance Linked Securities (ILS).

NOT SURE WHERE TO START?

THE INDISPENSABLE MAPS OF BERMUDA GUIDE IS AVAILABLE DIGITALLY AT WWW.VISITBERMUDANOW.COM.

Shipowners and ship-management companies also form a key sector, along with a full range of maritime services; and Bermuda’s registry for superyachts, tankers, cruise ships, and vessels of all types is renowned as a Class 1 member of the prestigious British Red Ensign Group. The island’s aircraft registry is similarly known since its establishment in 1931 for high safety standards and regulatory oversight.

Numerous new industries are also choosing Bermuda as a home jurisdiction, diversifying the island’s economy. Technology start-ups, including digital asset businesses, are attracted by the same advantages that have helped the more traditional industries of insurance and financial services flourish here for decades.

Helping attract new industry and support established sectors is the Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA), a public-private unit established in 2013. The agency serves to safeguard and enhance Bermuda’s world-leading platform for doing business and acts as a business concierge, supporting existing companies and proactively targeting investment and connecting new prospects with industry, government, and regulatory bodies to make setting up in Bermuda a smooth process.