Log In

Reset Password

BDA welcomes new segregated accounts regime

Positive for island: Roland Andy Burrows, CEO of the BDA, has welcomed Bermuda’s Incorporated Segregated Accounts Companies Act, which came into effect last week (File photograph)

Bermuda’s Incorporated Segregated Accounts Companies Act 2019 (ISAC Act) came into effect on January 15.

It provides multiple industries with another compelling reason for choosing to domicile their business on island, according to the Bermuda Business Development Agency.

The Act, a stand-alone piece of legislation and a companion statute to the Segregated Accounts Companies Act 2000.

The BDA said the Act “enhances Bermuda’s legislative framework by introducing a new and innovative company structure to cater to the needs of existing and prospective businesses”.

In addition, the agency said: “ISACs enable the creation of corporate group structures to operate multiple businesses or ‘accounts’, each ring-fenced with its own separate legal identity, under one umbrella. As such, each account has the capacity, rights, powers and privileges of a natural person, including the right to enter into contracts with other accounts under the ISAC and with the ISAC itself.

The BDA said there are no limits on the number of accounts an ISAC may establish.

“This structure not only offers greater flexibilities and efficiencies, including the pooling of professional support, but also results in more robust asset and liability protections. For this reason, such structures are attractive to potential investors and have applications in numerous sectors including (re)insurance, investment funds, multinational enterprises, family offices, asset management and securitisation,” the BDA said in a statement.

Roland Andy Burrows, chief executive officer of the BDA, said: “Bermuda has long been an exceptional place in which to do business thanks to its pro-business culture and gold standard legal and regulatory framework.

“The ISAC legislation, which came into effect this month, is very welcomed by the market and ensures that Bermuda remains at the forefront of commercial developments and is able to take advantage of future growth opportunities. We thank the Bermuda Government and the private sector for their collaborative efforts in advancing this legislation.”

The Bermuda ISAC regime will be supervised by the Registrar of Companies and the Bermuda Monetary Authority.

The Act can be viewed at www.bermudalaws.bm