Insurance and Reinsurance
Our market-leading insurance group provides a full-range of advisory and transactional legal services to domestic and international insurance and reinsurance companies, captive insurance companies and insurance intermediaries active in the Irish market.
Our dedicated insurance practice is led by three market leading partners and a large team of associates with significant regulatory and transactional expertise. The team consists of highly experienced lawyers who are focused exclusively on advising insurance clients on complex regulatory matters, risk and governance, transactional and restructuring work, reinsurance matters, and on transactions of strategic importance, including distribution arrangements and outsourcing transactions.
The team also advises private equity and other capital providers on their investments in the insurance sector. The strength of our insurance practice is demonstrated by the calibre of our clients and complex and innovative, domestic and international matters we advise on.
The breadth and depth of the Group ensures a client focused approach, which is strategic, responsive and solutions-oriented with a track record that is second to none in the Irish market. The lawyers in the team liaise with the Central Bank of Ireland on a daily basis.
The knowledge and expertise of the group gained through experience advising clients on a range of issues means the lawyers have a specialist understanding of the regulatory landscape our clients operate in.
The group has extensive experience advising on all aspects of insurance law and regulation including:
- establishment and authorisation in Ireland;
- Re-organisations and acquisitions in the insurance industry;
- Private equity and other capital providers on investments in the insurance sector;
- Material changes in business plans and regulatory change of control applications;
- portfolio transfers, cross-border mergers and schemes of arrangement;
- reinsurance transactions;
- pensions buy-ins and buy-outs;
- commercial contracts (including outsourcing, agency and distribution arrangements);
- Renewal of rights transactions;
- Risk and governance arrangements;
- insurance and reinsurance contract wordings;
- compliance issues (including consumer protection requirements, IDD, Solvency II); and
- regulatory engagement with the Central Bank including investigations, thematic inspections, enforcement actions and fitness and probity matters.
Experience Highlights
Our experience includes advising:
- AXA S.A. on its EUR650m acquisition of Laya Healthcare Limited and its subsidiaries.
- ALD Group on its acquisition of Leaseplan and the subsequent merger of ALD Re DAC (a reinsurer) and Euro Insurances Ireland DAC (a non-life insurer), both leaders in the field in the automotive industry.
- Everest Group, Ltd. a global speciality reinsurance and insurance underwriter, on the Irish law aspects of, the sale of the renewal rights for its retail commercial insurance business to AIG.
- Octium Group on the crossborder merger by acquisition and simultaneous portfolio transfer of Octium Assurance AG, a private limited company based in Liechtenstein, into Octium Life DAC, an Irish successor company, regulated as a life insurance undertaking by the Central Bank of Ireland.
- Aon on the re-domiciliation of it’s EU headquarters from the UK to Ireland.
- Generali on the acquisition and restructuring of the Liberty Seguros business;
- Prysmian on a cross border merger and reinsurance portfolio transfer.
- Arthur J Gallagher on the acquisition of managing general agent Wrightway Underwriting from Zurich Insurance Group.
- Utmost Group on a significant number of portfolio transfer arrangements including the acquisition of books from Quilter, AXA Life Europe, Athora together with a number of significant internal consolidating portfolio transfers.
- Howden on a significant number of acquisitions of intermediaries in the Irish market.
- Compre group on the acquisition of Medical Insurance Company from Covéa and advised on the subsequent intra-group portfolio transfer.
- Medical Insurance Company and Bothnia International Insurance Company Limited (a Finnish authorised insurance company), both being entities within the Compre group, in relation to the corporate, regulatory and court aspects of the transfer of the entire book of MIC to Bothnia. Also advised, from a regulatory and corporate perspective in relation to the surrender of Medical Insurance Company’s Central Bank of Ireland licence and the voluntary liquidation of that entity.
- Monument Re on a number of portfolio transfers, including the transfer of Omega Life DAC (previously Cattolica Life DAC) to Monument Assurance Luxembourg SA and, the transfer of the business of Inora Life DAC to Monument Life Insurance DAC and the acquisition in 2021 by Monument Life Insurance DAC of a book of variable annuity policies from Athora Ireland plc.
- Awbury Insurance on a number of significant multi-jurisdictional reinsurance transactions.
- Marsh & McLennan Group on its internal re-organisation following the acquisition of Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group.
- Willis on its $18 billion merger of equals with Towers Watson.
- AXIS Specialty Europe SE on the cross-border merger by absorption with a Belgian authorised non-life insurance undertaking;
- Amtrust on the sale of its global surety and credit reinsurance operations to Liberty Mutual.
