THE island must not lose its competitive edge in the captive insurance arena, the chief executive of GuernseyFinance has warned.

Peter Niven (pictured) said comments coming out of both Jersey and the Isle of Man recently showed just how much the two rival jurisdictions wanted some of the business Guernsey had attracted by being number one for captive insurance in Europe.

Mr Niven was responding after Jersey Senator Alan Maclean, a member of the island’s Economic Development Department, said part of a £2.5m. funding boost to its finance industry would be spent encouraging inward investment, especially new captive insurance business.

Isle of Man treasury minister Alan Bell also made reference to how important his island’s growing captive insurance sector was to its diversification in his recent Budget speech.

Mr Niven said neither comments should be ignored by the powers that be.

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