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Cox relishes chance to lead BMA

Jeremy Cox said he felt "great" at the prospect of becoming Bermuda's top financial regulator and relished the opportunity of leading the Bermuda Monetary Authority.

Mr. Cox, the brother of Finance Minister Paula Cox, told The Royal Gazette that he aimed to ensure that Bermuda played a leading role in international financial services regulation.

And he hopes to continue the regulator's build-up of resources, with an emphasis on adding expertise.

For Mr. Cox, who has served as the BMA's deputy CEO for the past two years, the appointment marks the pinnacle of a career of climbing the ranks in Government service.

"We've set a goal to be a leading risk-based supervisor — not just following standards, but helping to drive standards," Mr. Cox said.

The BMA had been achieving that aim during the past two or three years, he added, particularly through its involvement in the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS).

Mr. Cox is the chairman of the IAIS Reinsurance Transparency Group, a subcommittee of the IAIS Technical Committee, whose remit is to improve transparency in the insurance sector through the production of annual global reinsurance market statistics and reports.

He is also vice-chairman of the IAIS Corporate Governance Task Force and represents the BMA and Bermuda on a number of other IAIS committees and subcommittees including, the Solvency and Actuarial Sub Committee and the Mutual Recognition Sub Group.

Mr. Cox aims to keep the BMA on the road to regulatory enhancement — a road he said the Authority started on some seven years ago, following an International Monetary Fund review.

Solvency II — the new European Union rules for the insurance industry, due to be introduced in 2012 — will require Bermuda to achieve "regulatory equivalence" in order for the Island's companies doing business in the EU not to be competitively disadvantaged. That is another key challenge for the BMA, he said.

He added that Bermuda was withstanding the downturn well in comparison to many larger economies.

"We made moves to shore up the banking side and also on the insurance side, we moved quickly to get a sense of the impact of sub-prime on the industry," he said.

Over the past few years, staff numbers have soared at the BMA, as the Island has striven to have a regulator commensurate with its burgeoning international business sector.

"We've gone from 75 or 80 employees to nearly 150 in the space of two or three years," Mr. Cox.

"The BMA is no different from supervisors around the world, in that we're not just trying to build resources in terms of numbers, but also in terms of skills. We have the support of Government and industry in building those resources.

"Industry is well aware of the importance of having a sound regulatory framework in place, which lends credibility to the jurisdiction. That's why, when we seek supervisory fee increases, we don't get a whole lot of pushback."

The Authority had developed in sophistication and had dedicated actuarial, risk analytics, anti-money laundering and legal teams, among others, he added.

Mr. Cox earned his Certified Public Accountant designation in 1995 and is an alumnus of Northeastern University, where he graduated in 1989 with a BSc degree in Finance and Insurance.

He began his career at Arthur Andersen & Co. Bermuda as a senior and staff Auditor. He subsequently joined the Registrar of Companies Department within the Bermuda Government, where he served as a technical officer in the Insurance Division from 1993 to 1995, and was promoted to the position of Inspector of Companies, a post he held until 1999.

He was then appointed Registrar of Companies, and in 2002 he was appointed as executive director and supervisor of insurance at the BMA, where he had responsibility for the overall supervision of Bermuda's insurance market, until his promotion to deputy CEO.