BWCI’s newest actuary

BWCI Group

We are delighted to announce that Amber Buckingham has just completed all of the exams required to qualify as a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.

New Guernsey Practice Notes

Debra Smith

Following collaboration with BWCI, the States of Guernsey Revenue Service have made available updated versions of the Practice Notes for approved pension arrangements. These Practice Notes summarise the tax approval requirements of Occupational Pension Schemes approved under section 150 of the Guernsey Income Tax Law and Retirement Annuity Trust Schemes (“RATS”) approved under section 157A of the Guernsey Income Tax Law. There are several key changes from the previous edition of the Practice Notes.

COVID 19 – Pension considerations

Mark Colton

Market crash: the same, but different - Financial markets have been predictably volatile over the last few months following the gradual realisation that there was the potential for the COVID 19 pandemic to be devastating, not only from a health perspective, but also due to the economic consequences.

What can COVID-19 teach us about Insurance Risk Management?

Michael Jones

COVID-19 has dominated the news since late February 2020. We are all aware of the effect it has had on our lives already: I write this piece from my home a few weeks into Guernsey’s lock down. In such a rapidly developing situation it would be irresponsible of us to attempt to draw conclusions regarding COVID-19’s impact on the insurance industry specifically. Nevertheless, while insurers prepare for the oncoming claims, it may be useful to consider what the pandemic can teach us about risk management in the context of Solvency II, how insurers could plan for similar outbreaks in the future, and whether any lessons we learn could be expanded to help insurers plan for other extreme events.

Updated Guernsey Pensions Regulations

Erin Bisson

The Guernsey Financial Services Commission (“GFSC”) have released the third version of the pension regulation rules; their official title is the Pension Scheme and Gratuity Scheme Rules and Guidance, 2020 (“the 2020 Rules”). When they come into force on 31 December 2020 they will supersede The Pension Licensees (Conduct of Business) & Domestic and International Pension Scheme and Gratuity Scheme Rules (No. 2) 2017 (“the No. 2 Rules”).

Guidance notes have also been added, providing examples of how licensed fiduciaries could demonstrate compliance with the rules. These guidance notes do not form part of the rules and appear in shaded boxes to distinguish the guidance from the rules.