Luxembourg’s insurance professionals have decades of experience developing solutions to meet the challenges faced by multinationals and highly mobile world citizens.
As with banks and investment funds, insurers rely on Luxembourg’s international talent and expertise. Sales teams speak the client’s language. They also know how to provide insurance products to clients across the EU, which are fully in line with local regulations and tax rules.
Home to over 68 insurance and 195 reinsurance companies (CAA June 2024)
A dedicated regulator
The regulatory environment and quality of supervision are two key reasons why international insurance companies continue to choose Luxembourg as their EU base.
Luxembourg-based insurers are overseen by the Commissariat aux Assurances (CAA), Luxembourg’s dedicated insurance regulator.
Enforcing strict conformity with international and EU standards, Luxembourg provides an advanced and secure framework which guarantees customers maximum security.
"A stable and agile environment is extremely important and that’s what motivated our choice to locate our business in Luxembourg.”
The highest level of investor protection
Luxembourg’s ‘triangle of security’ offers an extra degree of investor protection, unique in Europe.
The triangle has three elements:
- The regulator must approve the choice of the insurer’s custodian bank and can freeze the assets of a life insurance company in the event of a risk.
- A tripartite agreement between the insurance company, the regulator and the custodian bank specifies that the custody of assets is governed by all three parties. Furthermore, assets linked to life insurance contracts must be separated from the insurance companies’ other assets and be deposited in a separate bank account.
- The custodian bank must also separate assets linked to life insurance contracts from other assets.
In addition to the triangle of security, Luxembourg boasts the ‘Super Privilege’ guarantee. This ensures that holders of insurance contracts have a preferential claim over all other involved parties in case of default.
Life insurance: A sophisticated wealth management tool
Life insurance contracts are an important part of Luxembourg’s international wealth management offering.
Luxembourg life-assurance products offer a unique level of protection to sophisticated clients and their families. Backed by one of the most stringent investor protection regimes in the world conveyed by national law, combined with a high degree of flexibility, Luxembourg life insurance contracts offer one of the best tools available for asset management and succession planning. Success is due to the international portability of the product as well as the flexibility of investments, namely the choice of contract currency, choice of products and possibility to combine the contracts with different types of financial vehicles. Thus, the solutions are easily adaptable to the international lifestyle of its policyholders and allow to organize the most diverse portfolios spread across different geographies.
Reinsurance and non-life
Luxembourg has long been a major centre for captive reinsurance.
In recent years, leading international non-life insurers have set up their EU continental hub in Luxembourg in order to serve their European clients, including Swiss Re, AIG, FM Global, CNA Hardy, Hiscox, RSA, Liberty Mutual as well Japanese Sompo International, Tokio Marine and Aioi Nissay Dowa.
Largest captive reinsurance domicile in the EU
PwC (2024)
