Source: Malta Today
by Donna Greaves Bonello
Article published on 8th February 2012

PKF has been promoting Malta as a centre for captives over the past five years.

This year one of the partners Ms Greaves Bonello attended a two day presentation in London organized by Pageant Media. Ms Greaves Bonello tries to keep abreast of what’ competitors domiciles are offering to expanding international captive industry¸ and actively participated in the 3rd Captive Live UK conference which took place on Tuesday 31 January – Wednesday 1 February 2012 at an esteemed venue in London’s called The Brewery. It is welcoming to note that this activity was partly sponsored by Finance Malta. The event attracted over 600 delegates¸ including 150 captive owners and prospective owners from different countries.

This prestigious event introduced the new focus on global risk management which gave an opportunity to attendees to update their knowledge and debate the big issues affecting not only the UK captive insurance market but also on a global scale¸ focusing on global legislation and tax issues¸ trends and best practice.

It was a perfect networking opportunity to meet executives¸ investors¸ suppliers¸ professionals¸ affiliates¸ and regulators leading suppliers and superb networking forums. It is highly recommended that more practitioners attend such events and promote the island particularly in a time when the euro crisis has exacerbated the need for captives to relocate in countries where they could reap a competitive advantage and lower their costs.

This year the conference was split into two themes whereby the first day focused on Captive Programmes¸ complete with panel debates and case studies led by captive owners and experts.

There were 6 sessions in Day 1¸ up to 4 different areas in each session.  While¸ there were 4 sessions in Day 2¸ examining the Global Programmes¸ covering all the key regulations and emerging trends. At the end of each session¸ one could opt to move to another session under four different streams.

The event was opened by Mr. David Lewis¸ Director of Sales¸ Willis Global Captive Practice who gave an introduction to the basics of captives and Solvency II for anyone new to the industry.

Among the speakers¸ Alan Fleming¸ Vice President¸ AIRMIC delivered a speech focusing on developing your captive as a profit centre. There are various potential advantages to form a captive insurance company. Captive insurance companies are formed for both economic and risk management purposes.

He highlighted the advantages of forming a c