Corporate Governance
The Swedish Club, also known and registered as Sveriges Ångfartygs Assurans Förening, is an independent, self-managed and mutual insurance association. The Club was established in 1872 and is domiciled in Sweden with a head office in Gothenburg and branch offices in Oslo, London, Hong Kong, and Singapore. There is also a representative office in Piraeus.
The Club is supervised by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen) and has a license to carry out direct and indirect insurance and reinsurance of Ships (Class 6), Ship liability (Class 12) and Legal expenses (Class 17).
The Line of Authority
The highest authority in the Club is the Annual General Meeting (AGM), consisting of all the Club’s members.
The AGM is held once a year in June, and it elects the Board of Directors, approves the annual accounts and appoints external auditors.
The next authority level is the Board of Directors, which has the ultimate responsibility for the Club’s operation and appoints and instructs the Managing Director. Pursuant to Article 5 of the Articles of Association, the Board of Directors shall consist of not less than 10 and no more than 25 members. The Board of Directors normally meets five times a year.
The third level of authority is the Managing Director, who is responsible for the day-to-day management and organisation of the Club.
The Committees
The work of two Committees assists the Board of Directors; the Finance and Audit Committee and the Election Committee.
The Finance & Audit Committee is a subgroup of the Board of Directors. It consists of six board members and the Director of Finance and serves as a link between the Board of Directors and the auditors. It also supervises the performance of the investment operations.
The Election Committee is elected by the AGM and makes recommendations to the AGM for the election of members to the Board. It also makes recommendations as to remuneration to the members of the Board.
Internal Control
Internal control is an essential part of the Club’s governance. This is secured through three levels:
- The first level is carried out by the operational functions that can be viewed in the organisation chart below.
- The second level consists of the risk management, actuarial and compliance functions.
- The third level is the internal auditor, appointed by the Board of Directors.
The second and third levels are independent of the operational functions.
More useful information
- The Club is compliant with the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), and the W-8BEN-E form can be downloaded ((download from the list below).
- The Club is exempted from US Federal Excise tax as a direct insurer.
- The Club has established an Employers’ Liability Register (ELR) in accordance with the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority Handbook (ICOBS 8 Annex 1), which you can find here».
- The Club’s organisational number is 557206-5265
- The certificate issued by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (download from the list below)
- The Club’s external auditor is PwC.
- The Club is rated BBB+ (stable outlook) by S&P and A- Excellent (stable outlook) by AM Best
For further information about the Club’s governance, please contact:
