Enforcement

Pursuant to section 25 of the FSCA, between February and December 2025, the Commission consulted with the Minister responsible for Finance regarding the enforcement action being undertaken.

The Commission formally issued the following notices to Equity regarding the intended enforcement action on July 14, 2025:

1. LSED/DIR/1/2025 Directive: Prohibiting the Movement of Assets and Destruction or Tampering with Records.  
2. LSED 2025/01 Notice: Intention to Seize Management and Control of Equity Insurance Company Ltd.  and Appointment of Manager pursuant to section 8(1)(d) of the Financial Services Commission Act, 2010-21.
3. LSED 2025/02 Notice: Intention to Revoke Licence pursuant to section 25 of the Financial Services Commission Act, 2010-21. 

Equity was afforded at least 21 days to make representation in writing demonstrating why the Commission should not take the intended enforcement action(s). Equity submitted a Letter of Objection dated August 4, 2025. 

Having carefully considered the written representation made, the Commission issued a formal decision on August 13, 2025, confirming its intention to proceed to seize management and control of Equity and appoint Craig Waterman of PriceWaterhouseCoopers SRL (“PwC”) as Manager with effect from Monday, August 18, 2025, until further notice.

The formal decision notified Equity that, subject to the Manager’s reports, the Commission will make its final determination as to whether to revoke Equity’s licence within ninety (90) days of said appointment. 

The Commission wrote to and met with Equity on November 18, 2025 to advise of:  

1. the extension of the appointment of Mr. Craig Waterman as Manager; and   
2. the Commission’s determination that further enforcement action was necessary.  

In response, Equity initiated legal proceedings (Claim No. CIV1497/2025).  

The Commission issued Notice of Revocation effective December 31, 2025, the implications of which are as follows:  

• Equity is prohibited from issuing any new insurance policies;
• Equity is no longer permitted to renew any existing policies; and.
• All policies issued or renewed prior to December 31, 2025, will remain in force and legitimate claims emanating from same will be honoured during a one year runoff period.

According to section 25(4) of the FSCA, a financial institution that is aggrieved by the revocation of its licence, may within 30 days of the receipt of the notification under subsection (3), appeal to the Tribunal.  

Equity gave notice of its intention to appeal on January 30, 2026.

Under section 25 of the FSCA,  where the Commission revokes the licence of a financial institution and there is no appeal or the appeal is disallowed, notice of the revocation shall be published in the Official Gazette and in a daily newspaper published and circulating in Barbados.

According to section 29 of the FSCA, any party to an appeal determined by the Tribunal who is dissatisfied with the determination on a point of law may, within 14 days after the decision is given, appeal to the Court of Appeal in accordance with rules of court. 

The Court of Appeal may make any order or give any decision which might have been made or given by the Tribunal, and may, if it thinks fit, remit the case to the Tribunal with directions as to its determination by the Tribunal.

This enforcement action follows supervisory intervention including recent examinations which identified areas where Equity’s internal systems, controls, and governance require significant strengthening. While the Commission has issued previous directives aimed at remediation, further measures are now necessary to protect policyholders and ensure continued confidence of the non-bank financial sector.

The Commission’s findings indicate that regulatory intervention is necessary in order to protect the interests of policyholders and other stakeholders. As a responsible and prudent regulatory authority, the Commission has therefore resolved that pursuant to sections 8 and 25 of the FSCA, management and control of Equity should be seized.  

Subsequently, the Manager’s Report confirmed the Commission’s opinion that Equity is not maintaining high standards of financial probity, or following sound business practices and has committed serious breaches of the FSCA, the regulations, the guidelines and the Insurance Act, Cap. 310. Therefore, having duly consulted with the Minister responsible for Finance, the Commission has determined that Equity’s Class 2 Licence should be revoked.    

The Commission is of the opinion that Equity has not maintained a high standard of financial probity or followed sound business practices. In particular, Equity has failed to comply with several provisions of the  Insurance Act, Cap. 310, the Financial Services Commission Act, 2010-21 (the “FSCA”),  the Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (Prevention and Control) Act, 2011-23 and Commission-issued Guidelines. 

Yes, all policies issued or renewed prior to December 31, 2025, will remain in force and legitimate claims emanating from same will be honoured during a one-year run-off period.  

Claims should continue to be notified and submitted in accordance with the claims provisions set out in your policy documentation, using the usual contact channels on your schedule and policy wording. 

Yes, your policy will remain in effect, and you should continue to make your premium payments to ensure you remain covered.

No. As a result of the revocation effective December 31, 2025, Equity is prohibited from issuing new insurance policies.

No. Following revocation, Equity is no longer permitted to renew existing policies.

Your current policy remains in force until its stated expiry date, subject to its terms and conditions.  

Please contact your insurance broker or adviser as soon as possible to discuss suitable alternatives and to ensure continuous cover beyond your current policy expiry. If you do not use a broker, you may wish to seek independent advice or approach alternative insurers directly to obtain replacement cover ahead of expiration.

Yes, you may still engage with the company through its usual communication channels. 

Please do not contact the Financial Services Commission regarding your policy. The Commission is the regulator and is not in a position to provide assistance to policyholders, arrange cover, or handle customer service or claims enquiries, and therefore will be unable to assist with renewal or other policy-related matters.

The decision to apply to the High Court for leave to present a petition for the winding-up of Equity Insurance Company Ltd. (“Equity”) follows further developments in Equity’s circumstances which substantially increase the risk profile of the financial institution. Developments include additional significant risks in Equity’s financial position, and a disruption to the company’s reinsurance arrangements, compounding a history of statutory non-compliance.

Winding up, also known as liquidation, is the legal process of closing a company by ceasing its operations, selling its assets, settling its liabilities, and distributing any remaining proceeds to shareholders.

The Financial Service Commission Act (the “FSCA”) and Insurance Act, CAP 310 (the “Insurance Act”) require that a petition to the Court be filed seeking permission to make a formal application to begin winding-up Equity. This preliminary step of the petition for leave serves as a kind of screening process, which prevents frivolous applications from wasting the Court’s time. 

In light of the several opportunities already afforded to Equity to remediate its deficiencies, the Commission has carefully considered the available options for an orderly resolution of this general insurance company that would be consistent with our mandate of protecting the interests of policyholders and ensuring stability of the financial market.  Given the current circumstances surrounding Equity a Court-supervised liquidation provides the best option.

This can vary from case to case, but it is anticipated that the Court’s decision on the petition for leave will be made within a month of filing. Whereas a substantive hearing is likely to take place within three (3) months of the application, depending on the Court’s schedule and potential opposition from Equity’s shareholders. The insolvency of an insurance company is a complicated matter, which may take several months to resolve under the supervision of the Court.

In respect of certain regulatory matters, particularly enforcement actions, the Commission’s communication and engagement is guided by the statutory framework and the Commission’s policies.

Over the past six to nine months, the Commission has made a number of public disclosures regarding Equity’s challenges, including updates noted on our website to the effect that Equity would be permitted to carry on business under the management of Mr Craig Waterman of PwC, who we appointed when we seized management and control in August 2025. We also outlined the procedural steps for our enforcement action, which remains accessible: Financial Services Commission | Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Equity Insurance Company Ltd.

The Appointed Manager’s findings confirmed the Commission’s determination that it was necessary to revoke Equity’s licence in order to protect policyholders and creditors, and the Commission subsequently revoked Equity’s licence effective December 31, 2025, the implications of which are that Equity is prohibited from issuing any new insurance policies; and is no longer permitted to renew any existing policies. 

Our initial intention was to facilitate a one-year run off period in relation to policies issued prior to the date of revocation. However, these most recent developments now require a different and more urgent approach to ensure the equitable distribution of available assets in accordance with statutory priorities.

Equity’s financial position now poses significant risk to the company’s ability to confidently meet all present and arising financial obligations including claims, and this is why it is has now become prudent that we move to apply to the Court for leave to present the petition to wind-up.

Immediately following the revocation of Equity’s license effective December 31, 2025, the Appointed Manager wrote to brokers and policyholders with policies expiring in the very near future to advise them that they needed to seek coverage elsewhere as Equity was no longer authorised to renew existing policies. Letters were not immediately dispatched to policyholders with later policy expiration dates. However, in the context of its phased approach to outreach, the company is in the process of writing to all remaining policyholders.  

At this time, policies remain in effect until their date of expiration or further notice. However, in the interim, policyholders should be aware that where claims arise, resolution will be guided by the orders of the Court. Therefore, Equity has suspended the payment of claims until further notice.

Policies which have not yet expired remain in force, and therefore premiums are still owed while the Court’s determines the Commission’s petition. However, policyholders should consider the real and present possibility that the company may not have enough funds available to meet their claims in full. 

You may proceed to submit your claim.  However, please note that while Equity will continue to process and adjudicate claims, no payments will be made until the Court has made a determination on how payments should be distributed. There is also the real possibility that your claim, once processed and adjudicated, may not be settled in full. 

The orderly winding up of Equity under the supervision of the Court will ensure that all claims – whether existing, contingent, prospective, or unreported are identified, valued and adjudicated in a structured and transparent manner.

In these circumstances where an insurance company may be insolvent, the supervision of the Court is required to guard against the substantial risk that payments are made with an unlawful preference which may disadvantage one group as compared to another. The purpose of the Court supervision is to ensure creditors are all treated fairly.

Policyholders’ claims will first be settled out of the company’s statutory reserve. However, Equity’s statutory reserve is in deficit and there may not be sufficient to settle policyholders’ claims in full. Once the statutory reserve is exhausted, policyholders are placed in the pool of unsecured creditors for the purposes of the winding-up process. This means that they rank behind secured creditors and preferential creditors in the order of priority, but before shareholders. 

While existing policies with Equity remain in force until the Court determines the Commission’s petition, policyholders and creditors should consider the real and present possibility that the assets of the company may be insufficient to meet their claims in full.

Where policies are terminated prior to their contractual expiry, and the policyholder may ordinarily be entitled to a refund of part of their premium paid, it should be noted that such a refund would need to be authorised by the Court and therefore remains subject to a Court application process and as a consequence the timeline will likely be protracted. 

While the winding up application is pending, Equity must guard against the substantial risk that payments are made with an unlawful preference which may disadvantage one group over another.  In the circumstances, therefore, no further cheques will be issued, except as necessary to maintain the core operations of the company or in dire life-threatening medical situations, as determined by the Appointed Manager.  

Policyholders are strongly encouraged to consult their insurance broker or directly seek out alternative insurance arrangements to avoid any potential gap in coverage. Additionally, the Commission has engaged with the domestic insurance sector, including associations such as General Insurance Association of Barbados (GIAB), with a view to developing bespoke arrangements to accommodate displaced policyholders.  

The company remains under the management and control of the FSC’s appointed manager, Mr Craig Waterman. In his capacity as caretaker while the Court considers the Commission’s application, his focus will remain on asset preservation and equitable creditor treatment. His contact details are as follows:

Email: claims@equity.com.bb and telephone: 429-2920

To the extent that any domestic insurers have co-insurance and facultative reinsurance arrangements with Equity, the Commission has directed the Appointed Manager to engage those companies directly.

Similarly, other interested parties and the wider public may engage Equity directly through the usual communications channels.

The Commission remains committed to transparency and will continue to share information on the next steps as this ongoing resolution process unfolds, where appropriate. These updates and related FAQs will be made available on our website at http://www.fsc.gov.bb/ and across our social platforms.

However, policyholders and other affected parties may contact the Appointed Manager, Mr Craig Waterman for further clarification and guidance on their individual interests at 429-2920 or via email at claims@equity.com.bb.