In Bermuda Monetary Authority v Berking Re Ltd [2026] SC (Bda) 74 Civ (judgment published late July/August 2026), the Supreme Court of Bermuda granted a compulsory winding-up order against a licensed reinsurer upon the petition of the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA).
The petition was presented pursuant to Section 35 of the Insurance Act 1978 and Sections 161(e) and 161(g) of the Companies Act 1981, following months of unfulfilled capital commitments and persistent breaches of the statutory Minimum Solvency Margin (MSM).
Key Legal Aspects of the Ruling
- Rejection of Adjournment Requests: The Supreme Court refused a further adjournment requested by the displaced board of directors to explore speculative capital injections, holding that public interest and policyholder protection paramountly require decisive regulatory intervention when statutory capital thresholds are breached.
- Prudent Business Conduct Standard: The Court affirmed that an insurer failing to maintain its required solvency margin is deemed as a matter of law to be failing to conduct its business in a prudent manner under Schedule 4 of the Insurance Act 1978.
- Powers of Joint Provisional Liquidators: Joint Provisional Liquidators from Interpath Advisory were transitioned into full Liquidators with immediate powers to take control of global reinsurance assets and investigate corporate governance failures.
- Source: Download the full judgment via the Bermuda Judiciary Official Portal - BMA v Berking Re Ltd [2026] SC (Bda) 74 Civ.
Bermuda: Supreme Court Compulsory Winding Up of Licensed Reinsurer (BMA v Berking Re)