2021 was a record-breaking year for both catastrophe bonds and insurance-linked securities (ILS), setting a new annual record at $20.3 billion – a 15% increase from the past record in 2020. We expect that 2022 will be another active year for the global market. Ireland remains firmly recognised as the long-standing European jurisdiction of choice for alternative risk transfer (including locating special purpose Solvency II vehicles for catastrophe bond transactions). Our team has advised on all Solvency II cat bonds structured through Ireland to date. Indeed, over the past year, we have advised on the first two multiarrangement catastrophe bond programmes approved by the Central Bank of Ireland, and we expect sponsors will continue to establish Irish Solvency II compliant ILS transactions (whether standalone or multi-arrangement SPVs) over the year ahead.
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