The holding company of Caribbean financial services giant Sagicor has completed its move to Bermuda.

The firm has discontinued as a Barbados company, where it has been based for 170 years, and redomiciled to Bermuda.

David Cooke, of legal firm Conyers Dill & Pearman, who advised Sagicor on the move, said: “Sagicor’s choice of Bermuda has reaffirmed Bermuda’s position as an attractive jurisdiction and domicile of choice in the international financial services industry.”

Sagicor made the move after it was hit by a downgrading of Barbados’ sovereign credit rating to B from BB+ last year by ratings agency Standard & Poor’s.

The downgrade meant that Sagicor Life’s rating also dropped from BB+ to BB-, while Sagicor Finance’s $150 million ten-year senior unsecured notes were rated B as ratings on life insurers are capped at two notches above the sovereign rating of the country of domicile.

Sagicor would have earned a sovereign credit rating of BB+ based on its own performance.

The company said Bermuda had a “stronger and more stable” credit rating, which would mean an upgrade for the firm to BB+ and a reduced cost of capital and increased attraction for potential investors.

But Sagicor, which operates in 22 countries, including the Caribbean, the US and Latin America, said it would maintain its headquarters in Barbados and continue to be taxed there, although it will have an address and resident representative in Bermuda.

Sagicor looked at several countries, including Britain, Ireland, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Canada, Trinidad & Tobago and Holland before deciding on Bermuda.

Sophia Greaves, also part of the CDP team that advised on the redomicile, said: “It was a pleasure to advise Sagicor on this important transaction. We look forward to a long relationship with the group.”