Interpretation

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires“auditor” means an accountant holdingCAP. 305. (a) a current practicing certificate in accordance with section 9 of the Accountancy Profession Act; and (b) a certificate under the hand of the Supervisor certifying that in his opinion such person is qualified to undertake the audit of an insurer; “captive insurance business” means insurance business where the insured is a parent or affiliated company of the registered insurer or is a person in respect of whom the registered insurer is authorised by the Supervisor to provide insurance; “category of business” means, as the case may be, long-term insurance business, general insurance business, reinsurance business or captive insurance business; “chief executive” means, in relation to a registered insurer, an employee of such insurer, who, either alone or jointly with another, is responsible under the immediate authority of the 7 directors for the conduct of the whole of the insurance business of that insurer; CAP. 250. CAP. 270. “company” means a company incorporated under the provisions of the Companies Act or incorporated or continued under the provisions of the International Business Companies Act, or a foreign company; “conditions” includes restrictions; “contract” includes policy; “contract of insurance” includes any contract the effecting of which constitutes the carrying on of insurance business; “controller”, in relation to a licensee which is a body corporate, means a director, or any person in accordance with whose decisions the directors are accustomed to act, or any person entitled to exercise not less than thirty per centum of the votes at a general meeting. In determining, for the purposes of this definition, the voting rights which a body corporate may be entitled to exercise, it shall be deemed to be entitled to exercise, in addition to any voting rights it has solely on its own account, those of any company of which it is subsidiary and those of its subsidiary company or companies. In determining, for the purposes of this definition, the voting rights which a natural person may be entitled to exercise, he shall be deemed to be entitled to exercise, in addition to any voting rights he has solely on his own account, those of any partner, parent, brother, sister, spouse, minor child or minor step-child; “Court” means the Supreme Court of Belize or a Judge thereof; “dollar” means a unit of the currency of the United States of America and the sign “$” has the same meaning; “foreign company” means a company incorporated under the laws of a jurisdiction other than Belize which has not continued into Belize as an international business company pursuant to the 8 provisions of the International Business Companies Act; CAP. 270. “general insurance business” means insurance business other than long-term insurance business; “insurance” includes assurance and reinsurance; “insurance agent” means a person appointed by an insurer and not being an employee of the insurer to solicit applications for insurance or negotiate insurance on behalf of the insurer, to effectuate and countersign insurance contracts; “insurance business” means the business of effecting and carrying out contracts, (a) protecting persons against loss or liability to loss in respect of risks to which such persons may be exposed; or (b) to pay a sum of money or other thing of value upon the happening of an event, and includes reinsurance business and running off business including the settlement of claims; “insurance manager” means a company operating in or from within Belize which provides insurance expertise to or for insurers and which has in its employment a person who– (a) is qualified by examination as a fellow or associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute of London, or who is a member of either the Society of Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriters and who is either a current member of good standing of the applicable professional body or of some other professional insurance association recognised by the Supervisor of Insurance for the purpose of this Act; or 9 (b) is a person of good standing and has been approved by the Supervisor of Insurance; ‘insurance policy” means– (a) any policy or other contract or insurance and any policy, bond, certificate, receipt or other instrument evidencing the contract with the insurer or underwriter or any person named in a policy or other contract of insurance who is liable to pay or contribute towards payment of the sum secured by the policy or contract; (b) an instrument evidencing a contract to pay an annuity; (c) any policy or other contract in relation to insurance business of any class under which there is for the time being an existing liability already accrued or under which a liability may accrue; “insurer” means a person carrying on international insurance company” means a company incorporated or continued into Belize pursuant to the International Business Companies Act; CAP. 270. “international insurance broker” means a person who acts as an independent contractor or consultant and who, for commission or other compensation, carries out any of the following activities– (a) soliciting or negotiating of insurance business, including the renewal and continuance of such business, on behalf of an insurer or prospective insured other than himself; 10 (b) bringing together, either directly or through the agency of a third party, with a view to the insurance of risks, of persons seeking insurance and insurers, and carrying out work preparatory to the conclusion of contract of insurance; or (c) provision of advice to clients of that person, concerning their insurance requirements; “international insurance business” means the carrying on or the conducting, whether from within or outside Belize, of any insurance business where each of the insured, the person to whom the policy moneys are payable and the owner of the policy or any one or more of such personsCAP. 270. (a) is not domiciled or ordinarily resident in Belize, or is not a company incorporated or registered in Belize under any legislation other than the International Business Companies CAP. 267. (b) is a company licensed to carry on offshore banking business under the Offshore Banking Act; “long-term business” means insurance business of any of the following kinds, namely– (a) effecting and carrying out contracts of insurance on human life or contracts to pay annuities on human life; (b) effecting and carrying out contracts of insurance against risks of the persons insured sustaining injury as the result of an accident or of an accident of a specified class, or dying as the result of an accident or of an accident of a specified class, or becoming incapacitated in 11 consequence of disease or disease of a specified class, being contracts that are expressed to be in effect for a period of not less than five years or without limit of time and either not expressed to be terminated by the insurer before the expiration of five years from the taking effect thereof or are expressed to be so terminable before the expiration of that period only in special circumstances therein mentioned; (c) effecting and carrying out contracts of insurance, whether effected by the issue of policies, bonds or endowment certificates or otherwise, whereby in return for one or more premiums paid to the insurer a sum or a series of sums is to become payable to the persons insured in the future, not being contracts such as to fall within either paragraph (a) or (b) of this definition; and (d) any kind of insurance business declared by regulations to be long-term business; “long-term business fund” means a fund established pursuant to section 16; “Minister” means the Minister for the time being responsible for “person” includes anybody of persons, corporate or unincorporated; “policy holder” means a person who for the time being is the legal holder of a policy for securing a contract with an insurer, including an assignee and12 (a) in relation to such long-term business as consists in the granting of annuities upon human life, includes an annuitant; and (b) in relation to insurance business of any kind, includes a person to whom, under a policy, a benefit is due or a periodic payment is payable; “principal insurance representative” means a person operating in or from within Belize, who, on his own account and not as the employee of any other person, maintains for an insurer full and proper records of the business activities of that insurer; “registered insurance manager” means a person registered under section 22; “registered international insurer” means an insurer registered under section 7 to carry on insurance business; “regulations” means regulations made under section 39 of this Act; “reinsurance business” means insurance business where the risk insured by a person is a risk that person has accepted from an “solvency margin” shall have the meaning ascribed to it by section 18(1); and “statutory fund” means a fund established pursuant to section 16(1); “Supervisor” means the Supervisor of International Insurance appointed under section 3; and “year” means a calendar year. 13