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Statutory Financial Data
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2013
Statutory Capital And Surplus Disclosure Text Block [Abstract]  
Statutory financial data
Statutory Financial Data
The Company’s ability to pay dividends or return capital from shareholders’ equity is limited by applicable laws and regulations of the various jurisdictions in which the Company’s principal operating subsidiaries operate, certain additional required regulatory approvals and financial covenants contained in the Company’s letters of credit and revolving credit facilities. The payment of dividends to XL-Ireland and XL-Cayman, the Company’s holding companies, by the Company’s principal operating subsidiaries is regulated under the laws of various jurisdictions including Bermuda, the U.K., Ireland and Switzerland and certain insurance statutes of various states in the United States in which the principal operating subsidiaries are licensed to transact business and the other jurisdictions where the Company has regulated subsidiaries. Statutory capital and surplus for the principal operating subsidiaries of the Company for the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012 are summarized below:
(U.S. dollars in thousands)
Bermuda (1)
 
U.S. (2)
 
U.K., Europe and Other
2013
 
2012
 
2013
 
2012
 
2013
 
2012
Required statutory capital and surplus
$
6,382,118

 
$
6,497,192

 
$
657,865

 
$
649,166

 
$
1,970,909

 
$
1,679,309

Actual statutory capital and surplus (3)
$
10,193,615

 
$
10,328,816

 
$
2,244,505

 
$
2,237,834

 
$
2,686,909

 
$
2,483,484

____________
(1)
Required statutory capital and surplus at December 31, 2013 represents 100% Bermuda Solvency Capital Requirement (“BSCR”) level for the top Bermuda operating subsidiary, XL Insurance (Bermuda) Ltd, calculated on a consolidated basis (and therefore includes a BSCR requirement for all regions).
(2)
Required statutory capital and surplus represents 100% RBC level for principal U.S. operating subsidiaries.
(3)
Statutory assets in Bermuda include investments in other U.S. and international subsidiaries reported separately herein.
Statutory net income (loss) for the principal operating subsidiaries of the Company for the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011 is summarized below:
(U.S. dollars in thousands)
2013
 
2012
 
2011
Bermuda
$
1,257,791

 
$
857,832

 
$
614,313

U.S.
$
124,310

 
$
106,510

 
$
23,350

U.K., Europe and Other
$
(162,085
)
 
$
144,829

 
$
107,255


The difference between statutory financial statements and statements prepared in accordance with GAAP varies by jurisdiction, however, the primary difference is that statutory financial statements do not reflect deferred policy acquisition costs, deferred income tax net assets, intangible assets, unrealized appreciation on investments but they do reflect any unauthorized/authorized reinsurance charges.
Certain restrictions on the payment of dividends from retained earnings by the Company’s principal operating subsidiaries are further detailed below.
Management has evaluated the principal operating subsidiaries’ ability to maintain adequate levels of statutory capital, liquidity and rating agency capital and believes they will be able to do so. In performing this analysis, management has considered the most recent statutory capital position of each of the principal operating subsidiaries as well as the ability of the holding companies to allocate capital and liquidity around the group as and when needed.
Bermuda Operations
In early July 2008, the Insurance Amendment Act of 2008 was passed, which introduced a number of changes to the Bermuda Insurance Act 1978, such as allowing the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) to prescribe standards for an enhanced capital requirement and a capital and solvency return that insurers and reinsurers must comply with. The Bermuda Solvency Capital Requirement (BSCR) employs a standard mathematical model that can relate more accurately the risks taken on by (re)insurers to the capital that is dedicated to their business. Insurers and reinsurers may adopt the BSCR model or, where an insurer or reinsurer believes that its own internal model better reflects the inherent risk of its business, an in-house model approved by the BMA. Class 4 (re)insurers, such as the Company, were required to implement the new capital requirements under the BSCR model beginning with fiscal years ending on or after December 31, 2009. The Company’s capital requirements for its Bermuda principal operating subsidiaries, XL Re Ltd and XL Insurance (Bermuda) Ltd, under the BSCR are highlighted in the table above. In addition to the BSCR based requirements, the BMA also prescribes minimum liquidity standards which must be met.
Under the Insurance Act 1978, amendments thereto and related regulations of Bermuda, Class 4 (re)insurers are prohibited from declaring or paying dividends of more than 25% of each of their prior year’s statutory capital and surplus unless they file with the BMA an affidavit stating that the dividend has not caused the Class 4 (re)insurer to fail to meet its relevant margins. At December 31, 2013 and 2012, the maximum dividend that our Bermuda Class 4 (re)insurers could pay, without a signed affidavit, having met minimum levels of statutory capital and surplus and liquidity requirements, was approximately $1.4 billion and $1.4 billion, respectively. No Class 4 (re)insurer may reduce its total statutory capital by 15% or more unless it has received the prior approval of the BMA, and it must also submit an affidavit stating that the proposed reduction will not cause it to fail to meet its minimum solvency margin or minimum liquidity ratio.
U.S. Operations
Unless permitted by the New York Superintendent of Insurance, the Company’s lead property and casualty subsidiary in the United States (“XLRA”) may not pay dividends to shareholders in an aggregate amount in any twelve month period that exceeds the lesser of 10 percent of XLRA’s statutory policyholders’ surplus or 100 percent of its “adjusted net investment income,” as defined. The New York State insurance law also provides that any distribution that is a dividend may only be paid out of statutory earned surplus. At December 31, 2013 and 2012, XLRA had statutory earned surplus of $180.5 million and $152.9 million, respectively. At December 31, 2013, XLRA’s statutory policyholders’ surplus was $2.2 billion, and accordingly, the maximum amount of dividends XLRA can declare and pay in 2014, without prior regulatory approval, is $180.5 million. At December 31, 2013 and 2012, none of the seven property and casualty subsidiaries of XLRA had a statutory earned deficit.
International Operations
The Company’s international principal operating subsidiaries prepare statutory financial statements based on local laws and regulations. Some jurisdictions impose enhanced regulatory requirements on insurance companies while other jurisdictions impose fewer requirements. In some countries, such subsidiaries must obtain licenses issued by governmental authorities to conduct local insurance business. These licenses may be subject to minimum reserves and minimum capital and solvency tests. Jurisdictions may impose fines, censure, and/or impose criminal sanctions for violation of regulatory requirements. The majority of the actual statutory capital outside of the U.S. and Bermuda is held in Ireland ($0.9 billion at December 31, 2013) and the U.K. ($1.2 billion at December 31, 2013). The Company’s Irish operating subsidiary, XL Re Europe SE, is required to seek prior approval from the Irish regulator to reduce its share capital or to pay dividends.
Other Restrictions
XL-Ireland and XL-Cayman have no operations of their own and their assets consist primarily of investments in subsidiaries. Accordingly, XL-Ireland’s and XL-Cayman’s future cash flows largely depend on the availability of dividends or other permissible payments from subsidiaries as noted above.
XL-Ireland is subject to certain legal constraints that affect its ability to pay dividends on or redeem or buyback its ordinary shares. While XL-Ireland’s articles of association authorize its board of directors to declare and pay dividends as justified from the profits, under Irish law, XL-Ireland may only pay dividends or buyback or redeem shares using distributable reserves. In addition, no dividend or distribution may be made unless the net assets of XL-Ireland are not less than the aggregate of its share capital plus undistributable reserves and the distribution does not reduce XL-Ireland’s net assets below such aggregate. As of December 31, 2013, XL-Ireland had $3.3 billion in distributable reserves.
In addition, XL-Cayman is subject to certain constraints that affect its ability to pay dividends on its preferred shares. Under Cayman Islands law, XL-Cayman may not declare or pay a dividend if there are reasonable grounds for believing that XL-Cayman is, or would after the payment be, unable to pay its liabilities as they become due in the ordinary course of business. Also, the terms of XL-Cayman’s preferred shares prohibit declaring or paying dividends on the ordinary shares unless full dividends have been declared and paid on the outstanding preferred shares. Full dividends have been declared and paid on the outstanding preferred shares at December 31, 2013.
At December 31, 2013, XL-Ireland and XL-Cayman held cash and investments, net of liabilities associated with cash sweeping arrangements, of $12.7 million and $1.6 billion, respectively, compared to $11.0 million and $1.4 billion, respectively, at December 31, 2012.
The ability to declare and pay dividends may also be restricted by financial covenants in the Company’s letters of credit and revolving credit facilities. The Company was in compliance with all covenants by significant margins at December 31, 2013, and the Company currently remains in compliance.