Editorial Briefing
The PRA published Consultation Paper CP11/26 alongside a companion FCA paper, CP26/29, on 14 July 2026, setting out a tailored, standalone regulatory regime for captive insurers in the UK, separate from Solvency UK. The proposals aim to make the UK the location of choice for captive business, including onshoring captives currently domiciled offshore, with streamlined authorisation targeting a four-to-six-week turnaround, and exclusion from Solvency UK and Consumer Duty requirements. The consultation closes 14 October 2026, with the regime expected to launch mid-2027.

Why It Matters
Captives have long used the legacy market as their exit route when a self-insurance structure is wound down or restructured. A lighter-touch, purpose-built UK regime could both draw new captive formations onshore and, over time, feed fresh deal flow into the legacy and run-off market as those captives mature or close out.

JDCC View
Early stage — a consultation, not a rulebook — but one worth tracking closely given its direct read-through to future legacy supply. This also progresses the reform programme first flagged in our 29 June edition (UID 6086), now moving from proposal to formal consultation.

Editorial Briefing
DARAG Deutschland completed the portfolio transfer agreement for Protector’s Danish Workers’ Compensation book, written between 2012 and 2025, with reserves of approximately €120 million, allowing Protector to fully exit the line. Originally agreed in April 2025 at around €130 million in net liabilities, the deal closed at year-end following Norwegian and German regulatory approval. Separately, DARAG completed a loss portfolio transfer exceeding €120 million with another major, unnamed EU carrier just before year-end 2025, with a follow-on portfolio transfer agreed. CEO Tom Booth called the Protector deal DARAG’s 70th transaction across 22 jurisdictions in its 15th year of trading.

Why It Matters
It’s a strong marker of DARAG’s European momentum following its 2024 North American divestiture — two structurally different deals (a full exit PTA and an LPT-plus-follow-on-PTA) closing in the same window shows both breadth of counterparties and repeatable dealmaking capacity, rather than a one-off.

JDCC View
Two linked storylines worth keeping distinct in the record: a completed, named exit (Protector) and a second, unnamed-carrier structure still partially in motion (the follow-on PTA). Worth a follow-up once that second carrier and the follow-on transfer are confirmed publicly.

Editorial Briefing
Steiner has been appointed to oversee capital management and legacy/run-off activity across Allianz Re’s P&C and Life & Health reinsurance business, reporting to the Group Chief Underwriting Officer. He brings 15 years of experience within Allianz to the newly combined role.

Why It Matters
Pairing capital management with legacy solutions under one leader signals that Allianz Re is treating run-off and capital optimisation as a single strategic function rather than separate workstreams — consistent with the wider market trend of insurers using legacy transactions explicitly for capital relief, not just liability clean-up.

JDCC View
A personnel appointment rather than a transaction, but a useful signal of organisational intent — worth watching for whether it’s followed by Allianz Re bringing new legacy deals to market under Steiner’s remit over the coming editions.