Effective January 1, 2011, New York’s Tenth Amendment to 11 NYCRR 125 (Regulation 20) effected a ratings-based framework allowing ceding insurers to take full statutory financial statement credit for reinsurance ceded to certain unauthorized reinsurers without the reinsurers posting full collateral. (See our previous Special Focus article on the amended Regulation 20) New York maintains a list of “Certified Reinsurers” that have met the regulation’s requirements for reduced collateral. The published list (available at http://www.ins.state.ny.us/insurers/certified-reinsurer.pdf) included nine Certified Reinsurers as of August 1, 2011. Recent press accounts, however, have reported that three companies, Tokio Millennium Re Ltd., Alterra Capital Holdings Ltd. and Lloyd’s, were added in July, bringing the number of New York Certified Reinsurers to at least 12. Of these 12, three achieved a Secure-2 rating, meaning they would be required to post collateral at a 10% level to allow the ceding company to take full reserve credit. The other twelve Certified Reinsurers achieved a Secure-3 rating, which puts the collateral requirement at 20%. The collateral requirements prescribe the minimum levels allowed; parties to a transaction are free to negotiate for higher collateral requirements in their contracts.
This post written by Anthony Cicchetti.