LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Arch Insurance (UK) Limited, in collaboration with Marsh, the world’s leading insurance broker and risk adviser, today announced the launch of Blue Vault, a new solution to provide insurance protection for the secure storage of digital asset private keys held in traditional vault facilities. Private keys are the alphanumeric data that enable the transaction of digital assets, such as cryptocurrencies, on a blockchain. Blue Vault brings together companies dedicated to providing insurance coverage for digital asset risks. Legal and technical consulting support for Blue Vault was provided by global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright.
“The secure storage of digital assets will continue to evolve as the regulatory landscape for this new asset class becomes clearer and financial institutions increasingly expect insurance to cover digital asset exposures.”
Blue Vault is the first insurance solution of its kind to be placed in the specie insurance market. Blue Vault is backed by syndicates Arch 2012 and Canopius 4444, as well as other syndicates and underwriters at Lloyd’s of London. Available globally, Blue Vault provides limits of up to US$150 million and covers the loss of digital assets due to internal and external theft, including employee collusion, and the physical damage or destruction of private keys.
James Croome, Arch’s Vice President of Fine Art and Specie, stated: “When it comes to the critical risk around the generation and storage of digital assets, it is not just the way sensitive material is stored, but a complete and detailed understanding of the entire life cycle of the private keys. A breach at any stage could cause a financial loss for our clients, so it is the secure generation, transfer and storage of knowledge, not simply the possession of data, that is our paramount underwriting consideration. The importance of this distinction cannot be overestimated and our insurance policy wording was very deliberately constructed to manage this risk.”
With Blue Vault, custodians of digital assets can access a solution which enables them to transfer digital asset storage risks through the life cycle of private key management and storage. “This is a significant step forward in digital asset insurance,” said Ankur Kacker, Vice President and Specie expert on Marsh’s Digital Asset Risk Transfer (DART) team. “The secure storage of digital assets will continue to evolve as the regulatory landscape for this new asset class becomes clearer and financial institutions increasingly expect insurance to cover digital asset exposures.”
Marsh’s collaboration with Arch on the development of Blue Vault marks the firm’s latest client innovation in the digital space and follows the launches of the Proof of Insurance blockchain platform and Bluestream digital broker platform, and the creation of Marsh Digital Labs.
Nicholas Berry, the corporate insurance partner who led the Norton Rose Fulbright team, said: “Obtaining a copy of a private cryptographic key is usually just as valuable as owning the original. Some custodians of keys for cryptocurrency accounts hold the equivalent of hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency. There are subsequently inherent challenges for systems that create, store, back up, retrieve and destroy these keys securely. Our technology consulting team, led by Professor McBurney, played a vital role alongside our lawyers in assisting with the design of the complex policy wording for Blue Vault.”
Philip Turner, Head of Specie at Canopius, commented: “In the ever-evolving world of crypto, possession of the private key is as good as having the key to a physical vault and thus full access to all of its contents. Blue Vault offers an insurance solution for the safekeeping of the private key but only after a stringent and comprehensive underwriting process is completed. No two risks are the same, so every submission is thoroughly scrutinised before we proceed.”
About Arch Insurance (UK) Limited
Arch Insurance (UK) Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Arch Capital Group Ltd., provides specialised property and liability insurance programmes to a wide range of industrial and commercial companies and financial institutions.
The UK Regional Division of Arch Insurance (UK) Limited focuses on commercial property, casualty, motor, professional liability, personal accident and travel business through its extended office network across the UK.
Arch Syndicate 2012 is managed by Arch Underwriting at Lloyd’s Ltd, a Lloyd’s managing agent. Our stamp capacity is £200 million for the 2019 year of account.
Arch Insurance (UK) Limited is authorised and regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
About Arch Capital Group Ltd.
Arch Capital Group Ltd., a Bermuda-based company with approximately $12.49 billion in capital at June 30, 2019, provides insurance, reinsurance and mortgage insurance on a worldwide basis through its wholly owned subsidiaries.
About Marsh
Marsh is the world’s leading insurance broker and risk adviser. With over 35,000 colleagues operating in more than 130 countries, Marsh serves commercial and individual clients with data driven risk solutions and advisory services. Marsh is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE: MMC), the leading global professional services firm in the areas of risk, strategy and people. With annual revenue over US$15 billion and 75,000 colleagues worldwide, MMC helps clients navigate an increasingly dynamic and complex environment through four market-leading firms: Marsh, Guy Carpenter, Mercer, and Oliver Wyman. Follow Marsh on Twitter @MarshGlobal; LinkedIn; Facebook; and YouTube, or subscribe to BRINK.
About Canopius AG (“Canopius”)
Canopius is a global specialty (re)insurer with underwriting operations in the UK, Netherlands, Switzerland, Bermuda, US, Australia and Singapore. It underwrites through Lloyd’s Syndicate 4444 (managed by Canopius Managing Agents Limited) and a US surplus lines insurer, Canopius US Insurance, Inc. For more information, visit www.canopius.com or follow @CanopiusGroup.
About Norton Rose Fulbright
Norton Rose Fulbright is a global law firm providing the world’s preeminent corporations and financial institutions with a full business law service. The firm has more than 4,000 lawyers and other legal staff based in Europe, the United States, Canada, Latin America, Asia, Australia, Africa and the Middle East.
Recognized for its industry focus, Norton Rose Fulbright is strong across all the key industry sectors: financial institutions; energy; infrastructure, mining and commodities; transport; technology and innovation; and life sciences and healthcare. Through its global risk advisory group, the firm leverages its industry experience with its knowledge of legal, regulatory, compliance and governance issues to provide clients with practical solutions to the legal and regulatory risks facing their businesses.
Norton Rose Fulbright operates in accordance with its global business principles of quality, unity and integrity, aiming to provide the highest possible standard of legal service in each of its offices and to maintain that level of quality at every point of contact.
Norton Rose Fulbright Verein, a Swiss verein, helps coordinate the activities of Norton Rose Fulbright members but does not itself provide legal services to clients. Norton Rose Fulbright has offices in more than 50 cities worldwide, including London, Houston, New York, Toronto, Mexico City, Hong Kong, Sydney and Johannesburg. For more information, see nortonrosefulbright.com/legal-notices.
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The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a “safe harbor” for forward−looking statements. This release or any other written or oral statements made by or on behalf of Arch Capital Group Ltd. and its subsidiaries may include forward−looking statements, which reflect our current views with respect to future events and financial performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in or incorporated by reference in this release are forward−looking statements.
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Contacts
Media:
Arch Capital Services Inc.
Greg Hare
(+1) 336 333 0416
Marsh
Eileen Mercer
(+44) 07990 802 830