According to Isle of Man Finance, which promotes the jurisdiction's finance industry, the pragmatic regulatory regime in the Isle of Man was a key factor in the recent establishment on the Island of a captive vehicle by Keller Group Plc, a FTSE 250 company, to replace its existing EU captive.

Derek Patience, Chairman of the Manx Insurance Managers Association (MIMA), commented: “The Isle of Man’s success in attracting such a prestigious company such as Keller to the Island is a fine example of the healthy co-operation that exists between the Island’s industry, Isle of Man Finance and the regulator."

He added that: "In 2007, MIMA lobbied the IPA to review the existing regulations; the Regulator took the appropriate steps to amend the regulations and has created an improved environment for the captive industry.”

Commenting on the company's decision to establish a captive in the Isle of Man, Jackie Holman, Keller’s Company Secretary observed that: “The increasing level of regulation in Dublin was a concern for Keller. The Isle of Man provides us with a level of flexibility which we didn’t have before”.

John Spellman, Director of Isle of Man Finance, noted that: “We are delighted that Keller have decided to form an Isle of Man captive to replace their Dublin captive. It is powerful for the Isle of Man to reap such a quick reward of the recent regulation change concerning inter-company loans, and we certainly believe that other captive owners will follow suit as they observe the pragmatic innovations we are implementing.”

The new regulation allows the Isle of Man IPA the flexibility, if certain criteria are met, to accept 100% of the value of an inter-company loan as an admitted asset for the purposes of calculating an insurer’s solvency margin. In addition, the regulation allows certain financial liabilities of an insurer to be added back to shareholder funds for the purposes of calculating the insurer's margin of solvency (only with the written approval of the Insurance Supervisor), to the effect that such liabilities would be treated as if they were equity capital of the insurer for regulatory purposes.