Regulators in Delaware are working to generate new revenue from the insurance industry by actively recruiting new companies into the state and through the creation of a bureau of captive and financial insurance products.

Karen Weldin Stewart

Delaware Insurance Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart said the mission of the bureau “will be to accelerate the formation of all types of new captive insurance companies in Delaware while developing, implementing and growing several other potential revenue streams.”

Owned by the entities they insure, captive insurance companies are formed to insure the risks of its parent company. A recent A.M. Best report indicated that captive formations are continuing “amid a softening commercial insurance market, but new captive domiciles are finding it challenging to establish a presence.”

Weldin Stewart said that it will be the policy of her administration “to insure that our captive program implements procedures that guarantee certainty and consistency in receiving and examining captive applications.”

“Further, we will welcome new captive entities with the pledge that we will discharge our regulatory responsibilities in a manner that is at once both adaptable and conscientious, synthesizing the entrepreneurial spirit with a responsive and responsible regulatory process,” the commissioner said in a statement.

Other insurance-related revenue growing strategies highlighted by Weldin Stewart in the announcement of the new bureau include bringing new carriers to the state, planning and realizing the creation of an insurance exchange and exploring the proposal of Delaware becoming a domicile for demutualized companies.

Currently, Delaware is the domicile of nearly two-thirds of the Fortune 500 companies, according to the insurance department. In setting up the new bureau, the goal, it said, is to make the regulatory benefits enjoyed by corporate entities available to captive and other insurance entities.

Serving as the new bureau’s director is Steve Kinion, senior advisor to the commissioner and former deputy commissioner for the Oklahoma Insurance Department.