Ohio creates captive insurance office

The Ohio Department of Insurance has created a new Office of Captive Insurance to regulate and support the state's recently authorized captive insurance companies.

The Office of Captive Insurance will be headed by Tracy Snow, who was most recently assistant chief financial analyst at the Ohio Department of Insurance, a spokesman for the department told Business Insurance.

Ohio enacted House Bill 117 allowing the creation of captives, which provide insurance solely for parent and affiliate companies, on June 17. The bill, which goes into effect Dec. 21, gives the department regulatory powers over captives, the department said Thursday in a statement.

No companies are currently licensed, according to the spokesman.

The legislation also “sets forth certain capital and financial reserve, organizational, general application, and fee requirements, and gives the department authority to monitor” the parent company and its captive “instead of relying exclusively on another state's regulator,” the department said.

As chief of captive insurance, Mr. Snow is in charge of licensing, administration and regulation of Ohio's captives. Before joining the department in 2002, he was a lead auditor for Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co, according to the department.