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Thursday, 16 July 2026

Compiled with AI from public news sources. Folio is editorial commentary for commercial-awareness practice, not legal advice. Verify any detail against the linked sources before relying on it professionally.

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Top Story/Regulation

PRA and FCA propose a new UK captive insurance regulatory framework, aiming to establish London as a competitive onshore domicile by summer 2027

The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have jointly published consultation proposals for a dedicated captive insurance regime in the UK. Captive insurance refers to a wholly owned insurance subsidiary that a company or public institution sets up to cover its own risks, rather than buying cover from a third-party insurer. The proposals include: a streamlined PRA and FCA authorisation process with a target timeline of four to six weeks; exclusion of captives from Solvency UK (the UK's post-Brexit adaptation of EU solvency capital rules for insurers) and Consumer Duty requirements; lower capital and reporting requirements; a flexible capital resources framework; dedicated PRA supervisory resource; and specifically tailored FCA conduct requirements with proportionate supervision and reporting. The consultation closes on 14 October 2026, with a new captive regime expected to launch in summer 2027. Sarah Pritchard, deputy chief executive at the FCA, described the approach as pragmatic and proportionate with appropriate safeguards. Marsh Risk UK chief executive James Addington Smith welcomed the progress, noting that the regime, if delivered competitively, would position the UK as a high-quality domicile for captive risk financing. Insurers have lobbied for these changes for years, arguing that London needed a more attractive regime to compete with offshore centres such as Bermuda and Guernsey.

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Energy & Tech

Good Energy signs its largest ever power purchase agreement with Orsted, covering 400 GWh of offshore wind electricity over two years

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Bigger Picture

Sector Watch

UK Regulatory Competitiveness Push

This week's captive insurance consultation from the PRA and FCA is the latest in a sequence of UK regulatory liberalisation moves designed to strengthen London's position as a global financial centre post-Brexit. The proposals sit alongside recent reforms to Solvency UK, insurance special purpose vehicle rules, and the broader FCA competitiveness mandate embedded in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023. The captive regime, targeting a summer 2027 launch, could attract significant corporate risk financing onshore from Bermuda and Guernsey. Broker Marsh has already signalled active engagement with the consultation, and firms with insurance regulatory practices should be preparing client briefings now ahead of the 14 October 2026 consultation deadline.

One to Follow

The CMA's early-stage review of Danone's proposed acquisition of UK meal replacement brand Huel, opened this week

If the CMA escalates to a Phase 1 or Phase 2 investigation, the deal will generate significant competition clearance work touching consumer markets, product market definition, and remedies negotiations. Huel's rapid growth in the UK functional nutrition market makes this a test case for how the CMA defines competitive constraints in the emerging health food sector, directly relevant to competition and M&A practices at City firms.

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