The Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) has announced the establishment of a team of senior advisers to provide international strategic input and technical assistance as the organisation prepares its insurance framework for Solvency II equivalence assessments.

The team will support the Authority's growing organisational infrastructure, and the technical teams that will implement the expanded supervisory regimes resulting from its regulatory change programme.

BMA CEO Jeremy Cox said: "As a leading risk-based regulator, our goal at the Authority is to ensure that we are operating at the highest level. Building on our resources has been a strategic priority for some time as we set our sights on developing a leading insurance regulatory framework for the Bermuda market.

"The senior advisers joining the Authority are individuals with extensive industry and regulatory experience, both here in Bermuda and in major markets overseas, who will complement the existing expertise within the organisation and assist us in raising our game as supervisors. We will be building this team of highly specialised strategic and technical advisers with additional appointments over the next two months."

Mark Bridges, a 26-year veteran of the Bermuda insurance market, is the first senior adviser to join the Authority. His experience includes 10 years as a partner and head of reinsurance at KPMG, and both chief financial officer and CEO-level positions within the industry.

"As the island's financial services regulator, the Authority has an important role in maintaining Bermuda's reputation as a first-class domicile," he said.

"I am delighted to be joining the Authority in this new capacity, particularly at this time when the organisation is set to meet the critical objective of obtaining equivalency with Solvency II. I look forward to working with Jeremy and his team as we prepare Bermuda for this important assessment."

The senior advisers, who will report to the CEO, will primarily support the Authority's resourcing effort for Solvency II equivalency. They will also be involved in broader supervisory strategy and development and act as technical advisors to the BMA's various supervisory units including, in addition to the insurance team, the banking, trust and investment, and policy, research and risk assessment departments.