On 25 September the French regulator told Wakam SA to stop writing new business and stop renewing. Thirty-one days later the group had a new owner.
AmTrust International announced on 26 October that it had bought Wakam, including Wakam SA and Wakam UK, and that the business was now fully capitalised and able to write and renew across all jurisdictions, as Insurance Times reported.
The numbers behind the rescue are plain. According to Insurance Business, Wakam’s solvency coverage stood at 66% at the end of 2025 against a regulatory floor of 100%, after a balance sheet remediation wrote down legacy assets. Shareholders had already put in at least €119m, €85m during 2025 and €34m in March 2026, and the ACPR still intervened.
The UK arm told a different story. Wakam UK, separately authorised by the PRA, had a solvency capital requirement coverage ratio of 216% and made an underwriting profit in its first full year, chief executive Mark Christer told Insurance Times on 1 October. The ban never touched it.
Here is my problem. Partners writing through the London entity were protected by a separate balance sheet and a separate supervisor. Partners of the French entity were not, and Insurance Business says the ban left managing general agents and distribution partners without access to new capacity across that platform.
Delegated authority has grown on the idea that the carrier is a utility behind the brand, as dependable as the mains. This month showed the carrier is a balance sheet, with a ratio, and a supervisor who reads it.
AmTrust’s money has closed the gap this time. For any MGA or broker placing UK business, the capacity question is not only who offers the best terms, but which legal entity, in which country, actually carries the risk, and what its last solvency report said.
Sources: Insurance Times; Insurance Business.