Guardrisk Mauritius

Guardrisk has 4 licenses in Mauritius namely:

• Guardrisk International Ltd PCC (GIL) – A professional reinsurer specialising in composite cell captive reinsurance.
• Guardrisk Life International Ltd (GLIL) – An external insurer specialising in long-term cell captive insurance.
• Guardrisk Insurance Company Mauritius Ltd PCC (GICM) – An external insurer specialising in short-term cell captive insurance.
• Guardrisk Insurance Management Ltd (GIM) – An insurance manager.

History

Guardrisk Group (GIL, GIM and GLIL) was established and domiciled in Mauritius in 1998 as a global business company. The company is licensed to write business internationally.

In 2016 the Guardrisk Group (Mauritius) added GICM, a short-term (non-life) insurer that is allowed to write insurance business internationally, to its license offerings.

The Guardrisk companies in Mauritius are 100% owned by Guardrisk Insurance Company Limited South Africa, part of Momentum Group Limited (which is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange).

Captive Insurance Business in Mauritius

The Financial Services Act 2007 and the Insurance Act 2005 lay out the framework to facilitate the establishment of captive insurance business in Mauritius and the Financial Services Commission (FSC), amongst its objectives, ensures that the industry is in line with regulations.

The Fiscal Regulatory measures provide many advantages:

• Cell owners have the opportunity to hold funds in any hard currency and reduce/eliminate currency risk;
• No withholding tax on dividends;
• No exchange control;
• Mauritius has double tax treaties with various countries including African countries;
• Mauritians are bilingual (speak English and French).

Other advantages:

• Mauritius is only 4 hours away from South Africa;
• Mauritius offers protected cell structures under the Protected Cell Companies Act 1999, which GIL and GICM have adopted to legally ring fence cell captives as opposed to contractual ring fencing;
• Mauritius corporate governance rules follows the King III principles which are applicable in South Africa;
• Mauritius has recognised anti-money laundering laws.

Why Mauritius?

Mauritius is an offshore jurisdiction of substance.

The FSC licenses, under the Insurance Act 2005 (‘IA’), insurance/reinsurance companies as well as insurance service providers (insurance broker, insurance agent (company/individual), insurance manager, insurance salespersons and claims professionals) to conduct insurance business activities.

The IA is aligned with the International Association of Insurance Supervisors’ (IAIS) standards and principles and focuses on specific regulatory issues relating to capital adequacy, solvency, corporate governance, early warning systems and the protection of policyholders.

In light of demographic factors, favourable fiscal policies, a sound Regulatory, Compliance and Corporate Governance Framework and strong anti-money laundering regulations, Mauritius offers a unique platform for cell captive insurance business.

License conditions and regulatory restrictions

Guardrisk companies in Mauritius are allowed to write all allowable classes of insurance/reinsurance business in Mauritius within their respective licenses and are all governed by the Insurance Act 2005 and the Financial Services Act 2007. Additionally, GIL and GICM are also governed by the Protected Cell Act 1999.

GIL, GICM and GLIL write 1st and 3rd party cell captive business as well as contingency policy business.

Incepting a cell

A cell owner will purchase a unique class of non-voting shares in the licence to incept a cell. Capitalisation of cells depends on the risk profile and risk appetite of the client. All cells are required to be approved by the FSC. The Shareholders Agreement provides the cell owner with dividend rights pertaining to its unique class of shares (i.e. based on the distributable reserves in the cell).

Costs and fee structure (applicable to non-Life)

Regulatory:

• FSC fee for processing of the cell application.
• Annual FSC fee

Guardrisk Mauritius has a two-tier fee structure:

• Percentage based management fee based on gross premium (subject to a minimum fee per annum);
  Investment fee of 10% of investment income.

Guardrisk Mauritius Privacy Principles:

Your privacy is important to us, and we want to handle our clients’ personal data in a way which has their consent, and which is in line with the laws on data protection.
Guardrisk International Limited PCC is registered as a Controller with the Data Protection Office in Mauritius on behalf of GICM and GLIL and must from time to time engage with third parties. These third parties will be deemed as Processors in terms of the Data Protection Act 2017. Guardrisk will in all circumstances act within the ambit of the law.
Should you require more information on how we use your personal data, please do not hesitate to contact the Data Protection Officer at ngcheongsangs@guardrisk.co.za or on (230)4540030 to request a copy of our Data Privacy Notice.

Guardrisk Mauritius Complaint Policy:

Guardrisk Mauritius is generally an outsourced re/insurance company who partners with other financial service providers and insurance experts to provide our customers with re/insurance products and risk solutions to suit their specific needs.

If you are dissatisfied with the feedback received from your Intermediary / Administrator or your complaint remains unresolved, kindly refer to our Complaint Policy below.