New reinsurance laws in Puerto Rico open the jurisdiction to the international (re)insurance market

Historically, jurisdictional insurance laws in the United States governing credit for reinsurance have required non-US reinsurers to post 100% collateral in the US for risks reinsured from US ceding insurers. Many international reinsurers complained about these collateral requirements which were deemed barriers for international trade and business.

In response, the United States Congress issued, on 21 July 2010, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank). This provided a pathway for relief by authorizing the US Secretary of Treasury and the US Trade Representative (USTR) to negotiate covered agreements with one or more foreign governments on the recognition of practical measures with respect to the business of insurance and reinsurance, with authority to prevent US jurisdictional insurance measures that are inconsistent with a covered agreement and result in less-favorable treatment of a non-US Insurer under the covered agreement.

The United States and its territories were required to adopt these prudential measures recognized in the “Covered Agreement” before 1 September 2022 so that state insurance laws are not displaced by the Dodd-Frank Act.

More recently, Puerto Rico adopted the provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act by way of a new law 37-2022 which amends Chapter 46 of the Puerto Rico Insurance Code called “Reinsurance Credit” to incorporate a new mode in which foreign reinsurers can be authorized to transact reinsurance business in Puerto Rico and for domestic insurers to obtain reinsurance credit.

According to the Motives Explanation Section of the new law 37-2022, the European Union, the United States and the United Kingdom signed collaboration agreements known as “Covered Agreements” in order to adopt practical measures to supervise the reinsurance business known as “Covered Agreements” included in the Dodd-Frank Act. Such collaboration agreements promote cooperative relations on the supervision of reinsurance operations within a prudent regulation that allows a substantially equivalent financial solvency regulation base between the participating countries.

This new framework will allow reinsurers domiciled in “Reciprocal Jurisdictions” to be regulated under the same conditions as domestic reinsurers, including the elimination of collateral or guarantee requirements as a condition to sign a reinsurance contract and allow the ceding insurer to recognize a credit for reinsurance obtained from such reinsurer. This would be in the benefit of the insurance market of the island since it represents the expansion of reinsurance purchase options for domestic insurers who can now obtain reinsurance capacity also from reciprocal reinsurers.

We at Kennedys have relevant experience with these types of proceedings in Puerto Rico and are in close contact with the regulator regarding the implementation of this registration.

Authors: Alex Guillamont, Partner for Latin America and the Caribbean; and Lorena Avila, Senior Associate. Miami Latin America and Caribbean hub at Kennedys.

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Save the Date for the Miami Latin American Claims (Re)Insurance Forum 2023!

Kennedys and QLDG are pleased to announce the dates of the 2023 Miami Latin American Claims (Re)Insurance Forum, the event of choice for the insurance industry in the region where key industry experts gather and analyze relevant underwriting and claims issues, trends, and developments in Latin America & the Caribbean.

Mark your calendar: June 6th – 9th 2023

Thank you all our sponsors through the years and all who have attended. Very happy to share the 2022 edition feedback:  the networking opportunities and the event overall were considered Excellent by 80% of attendees and the event organization was rated as Excellent by 92%.

As every year, topics and case studies are carefully chosen based on current affairs and the feedback received from the market. For the 2023 upcoming edition, in addition to the highly rated Market Leaders panels of the first day, returning attendees have voted in favor of :

  • Cyber
  • BI
  • Environmental
  • Financial Lines
  • Surety / Construction

As usual, the Forum will be in person only, voted Excellent networking opportunity  with top industry professionals. In the past edition, we had 220 participants and over than 30 (re)insurance carriers from Europe, Latin America, and the US.

This is an exclusive event and attendance is by invitation only.

More information and registration details to come. For sponsorship opportunities please contact us.

Contacts:
Juan E. Lopez-Santini: jlopez@qldg.com
Alex Guillamont: alex.guillamont@kennedyslaw.com
Hilda Welcker: hilda.welcker@kennedyslaw.com 

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Spotlight on LatAm: construction sector embraces opportunities for technology, innovation and surety post-pandemic

old colorful construction helmets

It will come as no surprise that the global construction industry was substantially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Site closures by government mandate in some jurisdictions, transportation issues, border closures, supply chain issues, inability to move materials and labourers, a generalized shut down and stoppage resulting in delays and disruption, you name it. That, coupled with rising inflation and increasing costs, increasing 20-30% on some projects and now a war in Russia and Ukraine. Not a pretty picture from anyone’s perspective.

The obstacles encountered by the pandemic were magnified in Latin America because of the complex economic and political environment, especially a sector which was still seeking to recover from the Lava Jato scandal. Consequently, in order to protect and promote investment in infrastructure on this side of the globe, sureties have come to the fore front.

Focus turned to force majeure clauses utilized instead of triggers on bonds and guarantees. In fact, in some countries, like Peru, we saw a government ban on the trigger of bonds which provided some respite to guarantors who would otherwise have been crippled by calls on bonds. It remains important that sureties continue to support large infrastructure projects and provide the necessary backing to this sector, especially with so much in the pipeline in Latin America; major roadway concessions in Colombia, the Reconstruction with Changes project in Peru, funding across the region from the UK prosperity fund, to name a few.

The net result was more contractual negotiation at the ground level which has seen us through this difficult time. Believe it or not, we are now seeing a rise in construction across the globe for the first time in a while. This is a welcome step in many respects as in LATAM, in particular, performance bonds are often triggered prematurely and without justification. With some on-demand jurisdictions, the stakes are high and a trigger can set hares running. It is good to see some level of policy intervention as contractual issues should first be addressed at contract level, and with the direct insurances before a bond is even triggered.

The result of this is a more competitive surety market with international support for projects in countries which previously lacked investment. The rise of government-to-government projects, like the RCN in Peru, should also help us see more stability in the sector. The next step will be for all these different products to come together via a universal language, used back-to-back with the underlying contract. In this way, there will be less doubt going forwards as to who will respond when needed.

Whilst the pandemic is not yet over and we all wonder if it will ever be, there is some light at the end of the tunnel and some positive outcomes which are here to stay. The pandemic brought new opportunities for technology and innovation and a heightened awareness of ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) to the construction sector. The legal and insurance landscapes are consequently also changing.

Design professionals need to be trained and up to speed with the use of 5D Building Information Modelling (BIM) and digital twin. Both technologies allow designs to be produced with greater accuracy and collaboration between remote teams. Designers will feed into the collaborative design process at an earlier stage with more sophisticated digitally visible output. At a time when site meetings and in person discussions are rare, technology like 5DBIM and digital twin has become our friend. The goal being less room for error when the ground is broken, removing some design risk from the Construction All Risks policies (CAR) and LEG clauses and shifting it to the professional liability policies where off site design is focused.

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The line between the various insurances on construction projects is often blurry. Pushing such technologies to the forefront forces the need for greater clarity and understanding of what various insurance policies are needed on any one project. It will also ensure sufficient professional indemnity insurance (PI) at the outset. So much emphasis will be placed on the pre-design stage now that BIM is becoming more common. Understanding the cobweb of designers on various projects will also be key for any design and build contractor who will assume that risk and ensure that sufficient professional indemnity insurance is in place. CAR insurers will also want to see that PI is properly in place for these more complex projects so they can direct claims to the right policy. Further, underwriters can take comfort that there is sufficient design cover elsewhere. This will be especially important given the precarious standing of the sector after such a tough period.

One thing is for sure, whilst physical borders may have closed, we have become a smaller world with the use of technology and innovation. We can now connect more readily and this should have a positive on the construction sector as it does on others. It also points the finger at other policies not typically associated with construction like the need for cyber insurance. But that’s another story!

Author: Anna Weiss, Regional Managing Partner for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Kennedys Miami LAC hub office.

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