Barbados Appoints Captive Insurance Expert As International Business Representative

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

02 February 2005

The Barbados Investment and Development Corporation has hired an international captive insurance expert to help raise the profile of the jurisdiction’s exempt insurance company sector.

Kate Westover, Vice President, Alternative Risk Financing Services at US-based Innovative Captive Strategies Inc, has been appointed as a business representative for the BIDC as part of the island’s strategy to bring its regulatory policies more into line with international standards.

According to the Barbados' Business Authority, commenting on Ms Westover’s role, BIDC chief executive Anthony Sobers observed that: “She has been able to help us a lot in terms of developing the local infrastructure to support those persons who may want to come in."

He went on to explain that: "She has some of the knowledge we need in the market place so that when we speak with potential investors we can speak their language and she can show them that Barbados can be a solution to the problem that they have.”

Under the Barbados exempt insurance company (EIC) regime, firms benefit from a range of tax concessions, including: 0% income tax on profits and gains for the first 15 years; no withholding tax on dividends and interest; exemption from exchange control; and a guarantee of tax benefits for thirty years.

Ms Westover has over fifteen years experience in the captive insurance industry having previously served as Chief Operating Officer of Strategic Risk Solutions Vermont. Prior to that, she served as President of American Risk Management (now part of AON), a leading Vermont captive management company.

Sobers added that the BIDC is planning to repeat the strategy across the range of financial services in the new financial year “by using a person who is in the market place and who has the technical skills and who can speak the language of the investor”.

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