Enstar Group Limited has announced the close of what it says is the first ever insurance business transfer (IBT) to occur in the United States.
The transaction occurred between two of Enstar’s subsidiaries, Providence Washington Insurance Company (PWIC) and Yosemite Insurance Company (Yosemite).
An IBT is a direct transfer of liabilities between insurers that is common in many parts of the world, but has not previously been seen in the US.
Enstar’s IBT received judicial approval from the Oklahoma County District Court under the Oklahoma Insurance Business Transfer Act (IBT Act), which went into effect back in November 2018.
The Oklahoma IBT Act includes similar principles as the Part VII of the Financial Services and Markets Act of 2000 in the United Kingdom.
Notably, the legislative framework is designed with implied individual policyholder consent after a regulatory and judicial review process in which all affected stakeholders may participate.
