Strong Bermuda, strong Lloyd’s: Roxburgh highlights shared future
Speaking at the ABIR Risk Forum 2026, which took place in Bermuda this week, Sir Charles Roxburgh KCB, chair, Lloyd’s, used his first visit to the island to underline what he described as the deeply interdependent relationship between Lloyd’s and Bermuda.
The session, “Lloyd’s & Bermuda: Our Foundation & Our Future”, followed an introduction by Stephen Catlin, founder & life president, Convex, and took the form of a conversation between Fiona Luck, senior independent deputy chair, Lloyd’s, and Roxburgh.
For Roxburgh, the starting point was straightforward: “a strong Bermuda is good for Lloyd’s, and a strong Lloyd’s is good for Bermuda”. It was a formulation he said he had used before, and one he repeated in Bermuda because, in his view, it captures the reality of how the two markets function today.
Luck framed the discussion through the long history of both centres, noting the parallel development of Bermuda’s modern market and Lloyd’s centuries-old role as a specialist insurance marketplace. But while the histories differ, Roxburgh’s emphasis was on the present-day commercial logic of the relationship. He described it as “wholly symbiotic”, shaped by competition in some lines but strengthened by collaboration at multiple levels.
That interconnection is visible across ownership, capital and reinsurance support. Some of Lloyd’s most successful syndicates are owned by Bermuda companies, while some groups that grew up in Lloyd’s now operate substantial Bermudian subsidiaries. Bermuda reinsurers also play an important role in supporting Lloyd’s own capital structure, including the central fund reinsurance. In Roxburgh’s telling, this is not a side relationship or a matter of historical convenience, but an active and mutually reinforcing one that benefits both markets and, by extension, the wider global economy.
He offered a concrete example from his time at the UK Treasury to show how Bermuda has directly influenced Lloyd’s strategic development. There was a sense in the industry that the UK was missing out on the growth of the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market because the UK lacked the legal, tax and regulatory frameworks to compete. The response, Roxburgh said, was the creation of the UK’s risk transformation regulations in 2017.
Those regulations, he made clear, were not developed in a vacuum. They were a direct response to Bermuda’s success in ILS. Bermuda had already shown how an effective framework could attract capital and support innovation. Lloyd’s then adapted that lesson through the launch of London Bridge and, later, London Bridge 2. Both have become important parts of Lloyd’s capital toolkit, and both have involved Bermuda companies as well.
Roxburgh made a similar point on regulation, where Bermuda’s influence has also been significant. He said the Bermuda Monetary Authority, alongside the Monetary Authority of Singapore, is widely viewed as one of the leading examples of a regulator that combines prudential credibility with a willingness to welcome business and enable innovation. That balance, he suggested, has mattered in the UK.
The BMA’s “protect and promote” approach has, in effect, demonstrated that a jurisdiction does not need to choose between high standards and commercial attractiveness. Roxburgh said that example helped shape thinking within the UK government and regulatory system, particularly around the introduction of a secondary growth and competitiveness objective for the PRA and FCA.
Luck reinforced that point from her own experience. She noted that when she was involved in the process that led to Roxburgh’s appointment, both the PRA and the FCA were highly focused on the concept of “promote and protect”, and were keen to understand how it worked in Bermuda. For her, that reflected the extent to which Bermuda’s regulatory philosophy had already entered the thinking of UK authorities.
Roxburgh was careful to say that Lloyd’s is not looking for weaker capital rules or looser conduct expectations. On the contrary, he said the market wants “unquestioned financial strength” and “unquestioned high standards of conduct”. But it does want faster, simpler and more effective processes. That too echoes themes that have been prominent in Bermuda: that good regulation can be rigorous while still being commercially enabling.
If there was a message running through the conversation, it was that the two centres are no longer best understood through a “them and us” lens. Luck herself acknowledged that this had once been a more common way of thinking, but said that under successive Lloyd’s leadership teams the mindset had changed materially. Roxburgh appeared to confirm that shift. Bermuda, in his view, is not a threat to Lloyd’s but an important counterpart that pushes Lloyd’s to improve.
The speakers suggested that this makes the relationship both competitive and constructive. Bermuda’s strength forces Lloyd’s to raise its game, whether on capital innovation, regulatory responsiveness or market efficiency. At the same time, Lloyd’s believes its own success adds depth and resilience to the broader international re/insurance system in which Bermuda also plays a central role.
For Roxburgh, that is why the relationship matters so much. It is not simply about shared history or overlapping participants. It is about two globally significant markets learning from each other, competing where appropriate, and strengthening the international risk system together.
The Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers (ABIR) represents Bermuda’s major property and casualty insurers and reinsurers. The event was supported by ABIR member companies and event partners KBRA, Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA), and Deloitte, along with education partner The Institutes Knowledge Group.
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