The Tax Court of New Jersey recently rendered an interesting decision regarding direct placement taxes. Eversheds Sutherland discusses Johnson & Johnson v. Director, Division of Taxation and Commissioner, Department of Banking and Insurance.

The Bermuda Business Development Agency has provided a summary of the latest A.M. BestTV episodes coming out of this month's 14th annual Bermuda Captive Conference at the Fairmont Southampton.

On June 18, 2018, the US Tax Court issued its opinion in Reserve Mechanical Corp. v. Commissioner, holding for the IRS. Eversheds Sutherland says that the facts of the case appear substantially similar to LTR 201609008, issued by the IRS in 2016.

The US Department of Labor (DOL) issued its final rule on association health plans (AHPs) in "Definition of 'Employer' under Section 3(5) of ERISA—Association Health Plans." According to the DOL, AHPs permit small employers and self-employed individuals to join together in purchasing health insurance.

Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) recently released a new macro-market commentary titled "Eurozone Investment: Quality over Quantity." The report discusses Europe's relatively disappointing aggregated investment flow data since the global financial crisis.

According to Bruce Wright of Eversheds Sutherland, risk pools in captives allow organizations to spread risk and provide for a tax benefit. Risk pools provide unrelated risk to a captive insurer so the parent corporation can take a deduction for premium paid to the captive using insurance accounting.

In a new opinion, the US Tax Court found that Reserve Mechanical Corp., a captive insurer incorporated in Anguilla and owned by Peak Casualty Holdings, LLC, failed to qualify as an insurance company for federal income tax purposes under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(15).

Todd Burgener will join JLT Re to serve as executive vice president in Chicago, working closely with healthcare captive clients and prospects. Mr. Burgener is tasked with developing tailored risk transfer solutions that respond to the changing healthcare landscape.

According to the latest sigma study from Swiss Re, global engineering insurance underwriting performance has deteriorated recently, with premium rates declining and claims rising in some construction sectors. Urbanization, the replacement of aging infrastructure, and the development of renewable energy sources should all promote construction spending and engineering insurance demand.

Director turnover is accelerating in the captive insurance industry. What are the key steps you can take to onboard new directors? We'll explore these ideas in detail and provide our own commentary.