BMA details Joakim Samuelsson ban, citing improper trading and contempt of court
The Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) has outlined the reasons behind its indefinite prohibition of Joakim Samuelsson, former director of the now-defunct Custodian Life, citing serious and sustained failures in integrity and competence, including improper trading practices and non-compliance with court orders that contributed directly to the insurer’s collapse and liquidation.
The latest disclosures from the regulator, published in a Decision Notice following the prohibition order published in March, paint a picture of “serious and sustained failures” of integrity and competence. The BMA confirmed that Samuelsson’s conduct was a “direct cause” of the insurer’s collapse and subsequent liquidation.
While the initial ban focused on a lack of cooperation and failures in financial reporting, the BMA’s detailed findings now include allegations of high-risk operational misconduct. The findings against Samuelsson include:
“The operation of improper trading practices, including undisclosed shorting of policyholder-directed investments, which exposed policyholders to Custodian’s own trading risks.
“The use of an imprudent segregation model that failed to provide meaningful protection to policyholder assets.
“Inaccurate and misleading statutory and public disclosures concerning the funding and ring-fencing of segregated accounts.
“Failures to cooperate with an investigator appointed under Section 30 of the Act.
“Serious outsourcing and records-control failures that impeded the BMA’s regulatory oversight and the work of joint provisional liquidators, which were appointed by the Supreme Court of Bermuda (Court).
“Failures to cooperate with the joint provisional liquidators.
“Failure to comply with orders of the Court, resulting in contempt of court findings.”
The BMA confirmed that Custodian Life is no longer in a restructuring phase. Following the provisional liquidation that began in November 2023, the Supreme Court ordered the company to be wound up on October 3, 2025, citing extensive and long-standing breaches of the Insurance Act.
The regulator noted that Samuelsson had the right to appeal the prohibition order to an Appeal Tribunal but chose not to do so.
In a move intended to bolster confidence in Bermuda’s regulatory environment, the BMA stated that publishing these granular details was in the “public interest.”
The Authority concluded that Samuelsson’s failures to cooperate with both independent investigators and the joint provisional liquidators (JPLs) from Deloitte made him fundamentally unfit to hold any senior position within the island’s insurance sector.
The Bermuda Monetary Authority and Deloitte were contacted for comment, but did not respond by the time of publishing. Intelligent Insurer welcomes a response from any party referenced in this article.
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