Prudential Authority to oppose 3Sixty Life appeal bid

The Prudential Authority (PA), the financial regulator that falls under the auspices of the Reserve Bank, says it plans to oppose underwriter 3Sixty Life’s application to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) to overturn its final curatorship.

The embattled underwriter, which is ultimately owned by the investment arm of the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa), approached the SCA on November 8 after its application for leave to appeal against its final curatorship was dismissed by the high court the previous day. The appeal application at the high court was opposed by the PA.

THE EMBATTLED UNDERWRITER APPROACHED THE SCA ON NOVEMBER 8

“The PA also intends to oppose this application for leave to appeal,” the regulator said of 3Sixty Life’s SCA bid in an emailed statement on Friday.

On September 30 judge Fiona Dippenaar ordered that 3Sixty Life be placed under final curatorship after an almost year-long battle against the PA, which had the insurer placed under provisional curatorship in December 2021. Dippenaar named Tinashe Frank Mashoko of BDO SA as 3Sixty Life’s new curator after cancelling the appointment of Yashoda Ram, the former head of actuarial services at the same firm.

However, 3Sixty Life’s decision to take its appeal all the way to the SCA effectively suspends Dippenaar’s September 30 ruling by default. The PA said it remains of the view that 3Sixty Life’s curatorship is in the best interests of its policyholders.