The BMA expects, for Bahraini insurance licensees, for Bahrain to be the principal place of business and for Bahrain to be the centre of its governance and management. In the case of a captive insurance firm, this must include:
(a) the majority of its Board meetings taking place in Bahrain;
(b) appointing a locally-resident General Manager; and
(c) premises and records being located in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
In order to satisfy the second and third of these requirements, it is expected that most captive insurance companies will outsource their day to day operations to a firm licensed by the BMA to manage captives (insurance manager) although captives may use their own staff and premises. The appointment of an insurance manager must be approved by the BMA and should be in accordance with the outsourcing requirements of the Rulebook (refer to the Risk Management section of this guide).
