Vermont Department of Financial Regulation

The Vermont Department of Financial Regulation (DFR) is the state agency responsible for licensing and regulating captive insurance companies domiciled in Vermont, through its dedicated Captive Insurance Division. The DFR has overseen Vermont's captive market since the state's captive statute was enacted in 1981, and works closely with the Vermont Captive Insurance Association (VCIA) to update the statute on a near-annual basis — a level of continuous, industry-informed regulatory attention that is part of why Vermont has become the largest captive domicile in the world by number of licensed captives.

The DFR reviews captive license applications directly, conducts periodic examinations of licensed captives, and administers Vermont's captive insurance premium tax. For companies evaluating Vermont as a captive domicile, the DFR's captive-specific staff — distinct from the department's broader insurance regulatory functions — is frequently cited as a differentiator, given the depth of institutional experience built up over more than four decades of captive-specific regulation.