CCRIF SPC

CCRIF was developed under the technical leadership of the World Bank and with a grant from the Government of Japan. It was capitalised through contributions to a multi-donor Trust Fund by the Government of Canada, the European Union, the World Bank, the governments of the UK and France, the Caribbean Development Bank and the governments of Ireland and Bermuda, as well as through membership fees paid by participating governments.

CCRIF was created out of the recognition that natural catastrophes impose a significant burden on the financial ability of states to function after a disaster due to an unavailability of liquidity. The Facility was launched in 2007 and structured as an insurance instrument to provide coverage similar to business interruption insurance in the event of losses from tropical cyclones or earthquakes.

Similar to a mutual insurance company, CCRIF is operated on behalf of sixteen current participating states in the Caribbean, each of which pays a premium directly related to the amount of risk each transfers to CCRIF and purchases coverage up to a limit of approximately US$100 million for each insured hazard (tropical cyclones or earthquakes) within a given year. By pooling their risks into a single diversified portfolio, capital needs for paying claims are significantly lowered. This in turn leads to a pricing reduction of about half of what it would cost if countries were to purchase identical coverage individually compared with buying the coverage from CCRIF.

Sixteen governments are currently members of the Facility: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago and Turks & Caicos Islands.

The Facility is governed by a Board of Directors which is responsible for the approval and oversight of all policies related to the administration and operations of the Facility. The Board comprises no more than five members, including one representative for donors to the Multi-Donor Trust Fund who are not participants in the Facility’s insurance program, and is nominated by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB); one representative for participants that is nominated by CARICOM; two independent directors, appointed jointly by CDB and CARICOM for their insurance and financial expertise; and a Chairperson, selected by the other four directors. A Chief Executive Officer (CEO) has overall management and administrative responsibility for the operation of CCRIF and for the performance of the Facility and its service providers.