Argentine Superintendency (SSN) mandated last month that reinsurance in Argentina must be purchased through national or registered reinsurers.

This resolution follows the measures Argentina adopted in compliance with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF-GAFI), a global anti-money laundering organization.

Currently, there are only six national reinsurance companies authorized to operate in the local reinsurance market.  In order to continue underwriting Argentine risks, the foreign reinsurers must comply with all the requirements of the new resolution by September 1, 2011.

Reinsurers must obtain a specific waiver from the SSN to write a contract from the reinsurer's home jurisdiction, when such a contract cannot be obtained in the local market.

Even under such exceptional circumstances, foreign reinsurers must still register with the SSN after obtaining approval to write any specific risk, according to Marsh Argentina.

After September 1, 2011, reinsurers that are not registered are prohibited from accepting reinsurance operations in the territory of Argentina. 

Marsh Argentina will continue to monitor the situation and will keep clients informed of any developments.

For more information, please contact us at: contact@marsh.com.