At its core, the bill raises the floor on how much capital captive insurers need to keep on hand. Pure captive insurance companies, previously required to maintain $100,000 in unimpaired paid-in capital and surplus, must now maintain $250,000 – or an alternative amount the commissioner sets with actuarial backing. Protected cell captive insurance companies face the same increase, from $100,000 to $250,000, with the same commissioner discretion. The most dramatic jump belongs to reinsurance captive insurance companies, whose minimum shoots from $10,000 to $1,000,000, with no room for the commissioner to set a lower alternative. Risk retention groups, previously bundled with association captives at $500,000, are now carved out into their own category at $1,000,000, or another amount the commissioner sets with actuarial backing. Capital thresholds for agency captives, association captives, industrial insured captives, and branch captives remain where they were.
