GUERNSEY’S insurance industry is holding up well despite the economic downturn, according to latest figures.

Up to May the Guernsey Financial Services Commission received 14 licence applications, six of which have been pure captives.

More are also expected over the summer months.

‘Looking across the insurance sector as a whole, although 2009 began a little quiet, applications for insurance licences have shown a marked increase since late April,’ said a GFSC spokesman.

‘The number of licence applications received during the first five months of 2009 is significantly up on the same period last year, with 14 having been received up to the end of May this year compared with nine for the first five months of 2008. Expressions of interest about applications to be made in the next few months appear to indicate that the recent improvement is set to continue.’

The spokesman added that this year’s figures were comparable with those for the same period in 2006 and 2007.