Bank of the Year—Highly Commended Letters of Credit & Trusts Firm of the Year—Highly Commended

Comerica

“I would like to see the captive insurance associations and domiciles continue to work together to promote the industry.”

Martin Ellis

Senior vice president, International Finance Department

“I would like to see the captive insurance associations and domiciles continue to work together to promote the industry.”

Martin Ellis

Senior vice president, International Finance Department

What is your unique selling point for clients?

We strive to exceed customer expectations with our dedicated captive insurance banking team. Our captive banking specialists are very knowledgeable and stay up to date on the latest industry developments.

They work closely with our product partners to provide a full range of banking services for captives. We have been fortunate to win other awards in the past, so this award is another confirmation of the excellent customer service our colleagues at Comerica Bank have been providing to captive insurance companies for many years.

What additional changes would you like to see industry adopt?

I would like to see the captive insurance associations and domiciles continue to work together to promote the industry and address concerns such as making sure microcaptives are set up properly.

As industry has evolved, what changes have you needed to implement to comply with regulatory matters?

We continue to monitor regulatory changes and collect the required information from our clients. We are helping our clients understand and comply with the new beneficial ownership regulations and the new Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act forms that are now required.

For offshore accounts, we are now required to collect additional due diligence information such as certified identity for directors, and registers of members and directors.

How have you changed and adapted to the ‘new normal’ of working?

Most of us have been working from home since March. We have attended several virtual captive insurance conferences and are trying to reach out virtually to our customers more. We are accepting scanned copies of documents and allowing customers to use alternative signature methods such as DocuSign.

What are some of the most important products and services you offer for captives?

We provide a full range of banking services for captives including letters of credit, reinsurance trusts, custody, asset and treasury management services. Letters of credit are still in demand given their flexibility and lack of investment restrictions. Letters of credit are also very popular with group captives.


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Image: Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash.

US AWARDS 2020