Regulation and Oversight
Congress Appears Unlikely To Pass RRG Expansion this Session
While time is running out during the current congressional session for federal lawmakers to act on legislation that would allow certain risk retention groups (RRGs) to expand coverages they can offer to policyholders, observers are optimistic, amid hardening market conditions, that consideration will resume next year. Learn More
IRS Offers New, Stricter Settlement Offer to Micro-Captive Owners
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced a new limited-time settlement offer to certain taxpayers that the agency alleges participated in abusive micro-captive insurance transactions. The IRS said that in the coming days it will begin sending settlement offers with stricter terms than its first limited-time settlement initiative that began last year. Learn More
Medical Professional Liability Remains Dominant RRG Coverage Line
While risk retention groups (RRGs) can write a wide range of coverages, one line of coverage is dominant: medical professional liability. Of the roughly $3.5 billion in direct RRGs premiums in 2019, well over 50 percent—nearly $1.96 billion—was for professional liability coverage for RRGs' policyholder-owners. Read More
2 Years after Implementation, GDPR Brings Data Privacy Stability
Two years after the implementation of the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), data privacy has become a standard concern of corporate leaders, particularly as they also rank cyber threats among their top risk concerns. The GDPR created a single source of data protection rules applying across Europe. Read More
Reserve Tax Case Brief Argues Transactions Did Constitute Insurance
A reply brief filed in the US Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of Reserve Mechanical Corp. in Reserve’s tax case with the Internal Revenue Service argues that its captive insurance arrangements did meet the requirements to constitute insurance for federal tax purposes. Read More
IRS Indicates It's Stepping Up Enforcement of Abusive Micro-Captives
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has indicated that it's expanding its enforcement focus on abusive micro-captive schemes, encouraging taxpayers participating in micro-captive arrangements to consult an independent tax adviser ahead of the October 15 filing deadline. The IRS encouraged participants in such arrangements to consider exiting them. Read More
New Federal Report Examines Possible Micro-Captive Role in Tax Abuse
So-called "micro-captives" have been in the crosshairs of the Internal Revenue Service for several years. Now, a newly released report from the US Government Accountability Office warns that offshore micro-captives may be used for abusive tax schemes. Read More