Aon to set up Micronesian captive operation

22/06/2009

Aon Global Risk Consulting (AGRC) is in the process of securing a captive management licence from the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), following a meeting between three captive management firms and the Micronesian president Emanuel Mori.

Daniel Koepfer, managing director of Aon Insurance Managers (Singapore), confirmed that AGRC has submitted a licence application, in order to be able to service the Japanese captive market.

The FSM consists of 607 islands covering an area of around 1,800 miles across the archipelago of the Caroline Islands, east of the Philippines.

The four states are the island groups of Pohnpei, Chuuk, and Yap, and the island of Kosrae. The federal capital is Palikir, on Pohnpei.

The FSM Office of the President confirmed that three companies interested in setting up captive insurance operations in the region paid a courtesy call on President Mori at the beginning of June.

Shinji Kasai, general manager of the Insurance Business Team for Marubeni Corporation (Japan), Kenichiro Hamada, president and CEO of Micronesia Insurance Management Company and AGRC’s Daniel Koepfer met with President Mori to discuss their captive plans on 8 June.

A statement from the FSM Office of the President said that AGRC would be working with the Marubeni Corporation on management of captives in the jurisdiction.

Micronesia Insurance Management has already opened an office in Pohnpei and Marubeni, described by the FSM Office of the President as “one of the top ten companies to do captive insurance from Japan” has submitted a draft application to the FSM Insurance and Banking Commissioner Wilson Waguk.

President Mori was actively involved in creating captive insurance legislation when he was a Congressman in the 14th FSM Congress. With its recent captive law and regulatory alignment with the Japanese tax system, the FSM now hopes to attract Singapore-based captives to the jurisdiction.