Bermuda was home to 711 active captive insurance companies at the end of last year.

The figure was down by 28 from 12 months earlier and down by 65 over the past two years.

Bermuda Monetary Authority said yesterday total captive premiums amounted to approximately $40 billion.

In a statement the BMA said the figures meant Bermuda remained “the premier jurisdiction for captives”.

Nineteen new captives registered in 2018, up from 17 in 2017.

Craig Swan, the BMA’s managing director, supervision (insurance) said: “The majority of the new captives originated from the US, but they also came from Europe, Canada, Latin America and Africa. The new captives covered a diverse range of company structure, including pure captives, association captives and long-term captives.

“In terms of the lines of business being written, there was no one predominant area among the new captives.

“Instead, there was a good mix of property and casualty classes, including general liability, professional liability, workers’ compensation and motor.”