The Bahamas

The Bahamas licenses captives as restricted external insurers under the External Insurance Act, 2009 (Chapter 348), supervised by the Insurance Commission of The Bahamas. A restricted external insurer may cover its members, subsidiaries and affiliates, reinsureds who acknowledge in writing that it is restricted, and other persons the Commission approves. Unrestricted external insurers may write broader business from The Bahamas. Cell programmes use segregated accounts companies under the Segregated Accounts Companies Act (Chapter 369C). The Commission does not publish a current captive or external-insurer census; the statistics page covers domestic general and long-term business, and the latest files there run through 2022. Capital for a restricted insurer is the amount the Commission approves. The prescribed floors for unrestricted insurers are B$100,000 for general business, B$200,000 for long-term business and B$300,000 for both. The annual licence fee is B$2,500 for a restricted insurer and B$3,500 for an unrestricted insurer. Section 52 of the Act gives a licensed external insurer a 20-year exemption, running from the date of its first licence, from Bahamian taxes, fees, duties and imposts other than provisions of that kind already in force when the Act commenced and other than licence charges under the Act. Audited financial statements are due within four months of the financial year-end. The Commission has posted a Draft External Insurance Act, 2025; this profile follows the 2009 Act and the 2010 regulations.