Statutory Requirements
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Dec. 31, 2014
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Statutory Requirements | STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS The Company’s insurance operations are subject to insurance laws and regulations in the jurisdictions in which they operate, the most significant of which currently include Bermuda and the U.K. These regulations include certain restrictions on the amount of dividends or other distributions, such as loans or cash advances, available to shareholders without prior approval of the respective regulatory authorities. The actual statutory capital and surplus, required statutory capital and surplus and restricted net assets of the Company’s regulated insurance operations in its most significant regulatory jurisdictions are detailed below:
Statutory net income (loss) of the Company’s regulated insurance operations in its most significant regulatory jurisdictions are detailed below:
The difference between statutory financial statements and statements prepared in accordance with GAAP vary by jurisdiction; however, the primary difference is that for the Company’s regulated entities the statutory financial statements do not reflect deferred acquisition costs. The Company does not currently have any U.S. based insurance subsidiaries that would be subject to statutory accounting practices as defined by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. In addition, none of the Company’s insurance subsidiaries used permitted practices that prevented the trigger of a regulatory event during the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013. Bermuda-Based Insurance Entities Under the Insurance Act 1978, amendments thereto and related regulations of Bermuda (collectively, the “Insurance Act”), certain subsidiaries of RenaissanceRe are required to prepare statutory financial statements and to file in Bermuda a statutory financial return. The Insurance Act also requires these Bermuda insurance subsidiaries of RenaissanceRe to maintain certain measures of solvency and liquidity. Class 3B and Class 4 Insurers Under the Insurance Act, RenaissanceRe Specialty Risks and RenaissanceRe Specialty U.S. are defined as Class 3B insurers, and Renaissance Reinsurance and DaVinci are classified as Class 4 insurers, and therefore must maintain capital at a level equal to its enhanced capital requirement (“ECR”) which is established by reference to the Bermuda Solvency Capital Requirement (the “BSCR”) model. The BSCR is a mathematical model designed to give the Bermuda Monetary Authority (“BMA”) robust methods for determining an insurer’s capital adequacy. Underlying the BSCR is the belief that all insurers should operate on an ongoing basis with a view to maintaining their capital at a prudent level in excess of the minimum solvency margin otherwise prescribed under the Insurance Act. Alternatively, under the Insurance Act, insurers may, subject to the terms of the Insurance Act and to the BMA’s oversight, elect to utilize an approved internal capital model to determine regulatory capital. In either case, ECR shall at all times equal or exceed the respective Class 3B and Class 4 insurer’s minimum solvency margin and may be adjusted in circumstances where the BMA concludes that the insurer’s risk profile deviates significantly from the assumptions underlying its ECR or the insurer’s assessment of its risk management policies and practices used to calculate ECR applicable to it. While not specifically referred to in the Insurance Act, the BMA has also established a target capital level (“TCL”) for each Class 3B and Class 4 insurer equal to 120% of its respective ECR. While a Class 3B and Class 4 insurer is not currently required to maintain its statutory capital and surplus at this level, the TCL serves as an early warning tool for the BMA and failure to maintain statutory capital at least equal to the TCL will likely result in increased BMA regulatory oversight. Class 3B and Class 4 insurers are prohibited from declaring or paying any dividends if in breach of the required minimum solvency margin or minimum liquidity ratio (the “Relevant Margins”) or if the declaration or payment of such dividend would cause the insurer to fail to meet the Relevant Margins. Where an insurer fails to meet its Relevant Margins on the last day of any financial year, it is prohibited from declaring or paying any dividends during the next financial year without the prior approval of the BMA. Further, Class 3B and Class 4 insurers are prohibited from declaring or paying in any financial year dividends of more than 25% of its total statutory capital and surplus (as shown on its previous financial year’s statutory balance sheet) unless it files (at least seven days before payment of such dividends) with the BMA an affidavit stating that it will continue to meet its Relevant Margins. Class 3B and Class 4 insurers must obtain the BMA’s prior approval for a reduction by 15% or more of the total statutory capital as set forth in its previous year’s financial statements. These restrictions on declaring or paying dividends and distributions under the Insurance Act are in addition to the solvency requirements under the Bermuda Companies Act 1981 which apply to all Bermuda companies. The Company is currently completing its 2014 Bermuda-based statutory filings for Renaissance Reinsurance, DaVinci, RenaissanceRe Specialty Risks and RenaissanceRe Specialty U.S., which must be filed with the BMA on or before April 30, 2015, and at this time, the Company believes each of Renaissance Reinsurance, DaVinci, RenaissanceRe Specialty Risks and RenaissanceRe Specialty U.S. will exceed the target level of required statutory capital. For the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013, Renaissance Reinsurance submitted applications to the BMA, and received approval, to exempt it from recording and recognizing certain third party guarantees as statutory liabilities and corresponding reductions of statutory capital and surplus for purposes of filing its statutory financial statements. The maximum monetary impact of including the third party guarantees in Renaissance Reinsurance’s statutory financial statements at December 31, 2014 would be an increase to statutory liabilities of $468.6 million (2013 - $168.0 million), and a corresponding decrease to statutory capital and surplus. If these amounts were to be included in Renaissance Reinsurance’s statutory financial statements, Renaissance Reinsurance would still exceed the required measures of solvency and liquidity, and the target level of required statutory capital, as discussed above. In addition, RenaissanceRe Specialty Risks is also eligible as an excess and surplus lines insurer in a number of states in the U.S. and under the various capital and surplus requirements in these states is required to maintain a minimum amount of capital and surplus. In this regard, the declaration of dividends from retained earnings and distributions from additional paid-in capital may be limited to the extent that the applicable above requirements are not met. The Company does not consider these requirements to be material. SPIs Under the Insurance Act, Upsilon RFO is considered an SPI. See “Note 11. Variable Interest Entities” for additional information related to Upsilon RFO. Unlike other (re)insurers, such as the Class 3B and Class 4 insurers discussed above, SPIs are fully funded to meet their (re)insurance obligations and are not exposed to insolvency, therefore the application and supervision processes are streamlined to facilitate the transparent structure. Further, SPIs are currently not required to file annual loss reserve specialist opinions and the BMA has the discretion to modify such insurer’s reporting requirements under the Insurance Act. Like other (re)insurers, the principal representative of an SPI has a duty to inform the BMA in relation to solvency matters, where applicable. In December 2013, the BMA issued a notice in which it proposed to amend the reporting requirements for SPIs. Under this notice, the BMA could require SPI’s to submit additional schedules together with the existing statutory financial return. These enhanced filing requirements have not yet been finalized by the BMA. The Company currently expects to receive directions from the BMA that would exempt Upsilon RFO from the proposed enhanced filing requirements. U.K.-Based Syndicate 1458 RenaissanceRe CCL and Syndicate 1458 are subject to oversight by the Council of Lloyd’s. RSML is authorized by the U.K.’s Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Underwriting capacity of a member of Lloyd’s must be supported by providing a deposit in the form of cash, securities or letters of credit, which are referred to as FAL. This amount is determined by Lloyd’s and is based on Syndicate 1458’s solvency and capital requirement as calculated through its internal model. In addition, if the FAL are not sufficient to cover all losses, the Lloyd’s Central Fund provides an additional level of security for policyholders. Singapore-Based Entities Branches of Renaissance Reinsurance and DaVinci based in the Republic of Singapore (the “Singapore Branches”) have each received a license to carry on insurance business as a general reinsurer. The activities of the Singapore Branches are primarily regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore pursuant to Singapore’s Insurance Act. Additionally, the Singapore Branches are regulated by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority as a foreign company pursuant to Singapore’s Companies Act. Prior to the establishment of the Singapore Branches, Renaissance Reinsurance and DaVinci had maintained representative offices in Singapore since April 2012. The activities and regulatory requirements of the Singapore Branches are not considered to be material to the Company. Dividend Restrictions of RenaissanceRe As a Bermuda-domiciled holding company, RenaissanceRe has limited operations of its own and its assets consist primarily of investments in subsidiaries, and to a degree, cash and securities. Accordingly, RenaissanceRe’s future cash flows largely depend on the availability of dividends or other statutorily permissible payments from subsidiaries. The ability to pay such dividends is limited by the applicable laws and regulations of the various countries and states in which these subsidiaries operate, including, among others, Bermuda, the U.S., the U.K. and Ireland. RenaissanceRe’s ability to pay dividends and distribute capital to shareholders is limited by the Bermuda Companies Act 1981, insofar as after the payment, RenaissanceRe must still be able to pay its liabilities as they come due and the realizable value of its assets must be greater than its liabilities. At December 31, 2014, $2.4 billion of RenaissanceRe’s retained earnings would be unrestricted and available for payment of dividends or distribution to shareholders of RenaissanceRe (2013 - $2.6 billion). Multi-Beneficiary Reinsurance Trusts Effective March 15, 2011, each of Renaissance Reinsurance and DaVinci was approved as a Trusteed Reinsurer in the state of New York and established a multi-beneficiary reinsurance trust (“MBRT”) to collateralize its (re)insurance liabilities associated with U.S. domiciled cedants. The MBRTs are subject to the rules and regulations of the state of New York and the respective deed of trust, including but not limited to certain minimum capital funding requirements, investment guidelines, capital distribution restrictions and regulatory reporting requirements. Assets held under trust at December 31, 2014 with respect to the MBRTs totaled $508.6 million and $173.7 million for Renaissance Reinsurance and DaVinci, respectively (2013 – $505.1 million and $173.9 million, respectively), compared to the minimum amount required under U.S. state regulations of $409.9 million and $105.7 million, respectively (2013 – $441.7 million and $135.2 million, respectively). Multi-Beneficiary Reduced Collateral Reinsurance Trusts Effective December 31, 2012, each of Renaissance Reinsurance and DaVinci has been approved as an “eligible reinsurer” in the state of Florida. Therefore they are each authorized to provide reduced collateral equal to 20% of their net outstanding insurance liabilities to Florida-domiciled insurers. Each of Renaissance Reinsurance and DaVinci has established a multi-beneficiary reduced collateral reinsurance trust (“RCT”) to collateralize its (re)insurance liabilities associated with Florida-domiciled cedants. Because the RTCs were established in New York, they are subject to the rules and regulations of the state of New York including but not limited to certain minimum capital funding requirements, investment guidelines, capital distribution restrictions and regulatory reporting requirements. Assets held under trust at December 31, 2014 with respect to the RCTs totaled $43.2 million and $18.8 million for Renaissance Reinsurance and DaVinci, respectively (2013 - $21.1 million and $18.6 million, respectively), compared to the minimum amount required under U.S. state regulations of $17.5 million and $10.3 million, respectively (2013 - $16.3 million and $10.2 million, respectively). |