Jack Roberts

The newly installed Bermuda premier vowed in an interview with Risk & Insurance just hours after he took office that his government was committed to the growth and viability of the insurance marketplace in Bermuda.

Premier William Alexander Scott took office in July after the former premier, Jennifer Smith, resigned even though her party, the Progressive Labor Party, had won re-election.

The new premier vowed he didn't want "to lose a single insurance company. We want to keep our business. We don't want them to leave."

Scott acknowledged that the long-term health of the Bermuda insurance market had become an issue to the large local international insurance community because of the law which limited foreign nationals to working and residing in Bermuda for no more than nine years. The legal provisions which restricted the granting of ongoing work permits in Bermuda, however, contain specific exemptions for what's called "key persons."

Rozy Azhar, chief immigration officer, said the government was currently meeting with a group of representatives from the insurance community to work out these immigration and work permit issues.

Specifically, Premier Scott said that the government would consider actuaries, accountants and underwriters "key persons" under the law. That would allow foreign nationals to hold those positions and stay in Bermuda beyond the legal time requirements. Scott acknowledges that for a number of jobs there is a severe shortage of qualified professionals who are citizens of Bermuda who could hold those positions. It also seems that the government will consider foreign nationals who hold top executive positions with international insurance companies as "key persons" also.

Because of these new immigration laws, there was discussion about whether major insurance companies in Bermuda might choose to move their operations to other domiciles that might not impose such restrictions. Premier Scott sought to assuage any fears by key insurance executives that Bermuda would not continue to give the industry its support.

"We don't want to lose any (insurance) business to Dublin," Scott said. He also explained that the government is working with the international business community to resolve any issues with the implementation of the immigration laws.

"Anyone who thinks they should be packing their bags to leave Bermuda, should put those plans on hold," Scott said emphatically.

Bermuda is now the largest insurance marketplace in the world.

The new premier has spent 27 years in politics and government and was most recently the minister of works and engineering.

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