NextPlay Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXTP), a digital business ecosystem for digital advertisers, consumers, video gamers and travellers, announced that its NextFin Division has received conditional approval of its general insurance and re-insurance license application from the Labuan Financial Services Authority (Labuan FSA), a growing jurisdiction of choice by insurers and insurance intermediaries around the world.
The licensing enables NextPlay’s fintech division to establish primary insurance operations, NextShield LTD, that looks to initially offer products in the form of block-chained parametric comprehensive travel insurance and bank deposit insurance. These products can be offered directly to businesses globally, as well as further enhance the offerings of NextPlay’s other operating units, such as NextBank International, where it could help attract more sizeable deposits due to the licensed insurance coverage.
The re-insurance license enables the company to establish reinsurance operations, NextShield Re, which can offer to investors tokenized fully compliant insurance-linked securities (ILS). The company is expected to begin selling insurance policies in 2022.
Todd Bonner, head of NextPlay’s fintech division, will be leading the new insurance initiatives. He brings to the program significant experience in the insurance industry, including co-founding Pacific Century Insurance with Richard Li in Hong Kong which eventually exited in a $888 million transaction.
“We are grateful to the Labuan FSA for working through the application process with us in a constructive manner and giving NextPlay the opportunity to push the boundaries of insurance and re-insurance innovation with a product portfolio that will be unique to the industry. We believe our initial products will offer clients a much-needed continuum of protection that has yet been unavailable to them under one policy. Of equal importance, we will offer easy and efficient onboarding. We are crypto-friendly, and NextBank and NextShield welcome partners globally,” Bonner says.
