A Miami lawyer says Florida's new offshore insurance law will help the state's existing offshore banking and securities operations.[@@]
Earlier this month, the new state law let international insurers sell life insurance and annuities to customers outside the United States without meeting the many requirements that usually apply to domestic Florida life insurers.
Back in 1978, Florida enacted a similar law that let international banks use offices in Florida to sell banking services to customers outside the United States without complying with the laws governing Florida banks. Later, new state and federal laws let securities firms use Florida offices to sell securities to customers outside the United States without meeting the standards that apply to Florida securities firms.
The new offshore insurance law will help Florida's offshore banking and securities offices by giving those offices the ability to package products such as mutual funds in life insurance and annuity wrappers, according to Bowman Brown, a partner at Shutts & Bowen L.L.P., Miami, who helped lobby for passage of the new law.
