AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of Commercial Re Overseas Limited
- July 10, 2026 02:44 PM (EDT)
//BestWire// - AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) of “a” (Excellent) of Commercial Re Overseas Limited (CRe) (Road Town, British Virgin Islands). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.
The ratings reflect CRe’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strongest, as well as its strong operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM).
CRe is the captive reinsurer of Banco General, S.A. (BG), one of the largest banks in Panama. CRe’s market scope is limited to business from General de Seguros, S.A. (GS), its sister company. GS has a Long-Term ICR of “a” (Excellent) with a stable outlook and is an insurance subsidiary of BG. CRe and BG are ultimately owned by Grupo Financiero BG, S.A. (Panama), a publicly listed company with over USD 4 billion in equity as of December 2025.
CRe’s business profile is considered neutral to the ratings due to the company being fully integrated into the group’s operations. This interconnection allows CRe to leverage the group’s resources, expertise and technological advances, enhancing operational efficiency. Concerns regarding concentration risk are mitigated by the fact that the company has served for over 30 years as a captive of BG, and by the importance of BG to Panama’s financial system.
AM Best assesses CRe’s balance sheet strength at the strongest level due to its ample capital base with a clearly defined risk appetite. Somewhat limiting this assessment is the quality of capital concentrated in retained earnings rather than paid capital; nevertheless, dividend distribution historically has been prudent.
As of December 2025, the company reported sound underwriting ratios, due to a double screening on the underwriting side (by BG and GS) and to the operational efficiencies related to common processes with BG. The company has demonstrated good profitability and quality of underwriting during the past years, supporting the strong operating performance assessment.
AM Best assesses CRe’s ERM as appropriate, as the company has a clear risk management structure backed by the group’s knowledge and aims to comply with its defined risk appetite according to its tolerances.
The stable outlooks reflect AM Best’s expectation that CRe will continue to develop its strategy in a profitable way, while maintaining its strongest level of risk-adjusted capitalization, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), and prudent capital management practices.
Factors that might lead to negative rating actions include any major changes in CRe's capital base, such as significant dividends or capital outflows, which diminish AM Best’s view of the company’s balance sheet strength. Negative rating actions could also take place if there are significant disruptions in business generation tied to its parent company that could impact either revenue or profitability. Although unlikely, positive rating actions could take place as a result of a change in AM Best’s perception regarding the strategic importance of CRe to the group.
The methodology used in determining these ratings is Best’s Credit Rating Methodology (Version Aug. 29, 2024), which provides a comprehensive explanation of AM Best’s rating process and contains the different rating criteria employed in the rating process. Best’s Credit Rating Methodology can be found at www.ambest.com/ratings/methodology .
Key insurance criteria reports utilized:
· Evaluating Country Risk (Version June 6, 2024)
· Understanding Global BCAR (Version Sept. 18, 2025)
· Available Capital and Insurance Holding Company Analysis (Version Sept. 18, 2025)
· Scoring and Assessing Innovation (Version Feb. 20, 2025)
View a general description of the policies and procedures used to determine credit ratings. For information on the meaning of ratings, structure, voting and the committee process for determining the ratings and monitoring activities, relevant sources of information and the frequency for updating ratings, please refer to Guide to Best’s Credit Ratings.
· Previous Rating Date: July 24, 2025
· Initial Rating Date: July 24, 2025
· Date Range of Financial Data Used: Dec. 31, 2020-Dec. 31, 2025
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