Thu May 22, 2014 8:10am EDT
May 22 (Reuters) – Susep, Brazil’s insurance industry regulator, on Thursday issued a license allowing Berkshire Hathaway Inc to operate in the country as “eventual reinsurer.”
The license permits reinsurers domiciled in a foreign country to operate in Brazil without a representative office in the country. According to the government’s official gazette, Berkshire’s U.K.-based unit, Berkshire Hathaway International Insurance Ltd, will be granted the license. Berkshire is controlled by U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett.
In Brazil, there are three classes of reinsurers – local, admitted and eventual. According to current industry rules, eventual reinsurers must have minimum global net assets of $150 million, be rated a notch above the minimum investment-grade ranking by a major credit rating company and have its headquarters based outisde a tax-haven country.