Insurance and Reinsurance

Expertise

Our market-leading insurance group provides a full-range of advisory and transactional legal services to domestic and international insurance and reinsurance companies, captive insurance companies and insurance intermediaries active in the Irish market.

Our dedicated insurance practice is led by three market leading partners and a number of associates with significant regulatory expertise.  The team consists of highly experienced lawyers who are focused exclusively on advising insurance clients on complex governance and regulatory compliance matters, corporate transactional and restructuring work, reinsurance transactional work and on transactions of strategic importance such as distribution arrangements and outsourcing transactions. The breadth and depth of the Group ensures a client focused approach, which is strategic, responsive and solution-oriented.

The strength of our insurance practice is demonstrated by the calibre of our clients and complex and innovative, domestic and international matters we advise on. Members of the group have worked at very senior levels in financial institutions and the knowledge and commercial awareness gained through this experience enables Matheson to add real commercial value in the service it provides. The lawyers are commercially focused and implement corporate transactions to the very highest international standard with a track record that is second to none in the Irish market.

The lawyers in the team liaise with the Central Bank of Ireland on a daily basis. The knowledge and expertise of the group gained through experience advising clients on a range of issues, including Solvency II, IDD and the implications of Brexit and Covid-19 means the lawyers have a specialist understanding of the regulatory landscape our clients operate in.

 The group has extensive experience advising on all aspects of insurance law and regulation including:

• establishment and authorisation in Ireland;
• regulatory approval of re-organisations and acquisitions;
• portfolio transfers, cross-border mergers and schemes of arrangement;
• Brexit planning;
• reinsurance transactions;
• agency and distribution arrangements;
• product oversight and governance requirements;
• insurance and reinsurance contract wordings;
• compliance issues including consumer protection laws, solvency requirements and corporate governance matters; and
• regulatory engagement with the Central Bank including investigations, thematic inspections, enforcement actions and fitness and probity matters.

 We also work closely with our corporate, dispute resolution, tax, competition and pension colleagues to ensure the delivery of a seamless and comprehensive service for our insurance clients.

Our Team