Two insurance firms put under liquidation
By BUSINESS REPORTER THE Pensions and Insurance Authority (PIA) has with immediate effect placed two insurance firms under liquidation for insolvency.
The two firms placed under compulsory liquidation are Focus Life Assurance Limited and A Plus Assurance Limited.
These insurance companies allegedly failed to meet the capital minimum requirements whose deadline was on October 31, 2017.
In 2015, Government signed Statutory Instrument (SI) no. 71 of 2015 to allow insurance com- panies increase their paid-up capital to the minimum of K20 million from K1 million , longterm and general insurers to K12 million and K10 million respectively from K1 million, while for brokers it stands at K100,000 from K50,000. According to PIA communication manager, Doreen Silungwe, the closure of the two companies followed consideration of statement of affairs of the assets and liabilities of both insurance companies, which revealed that both of them were insolvent.
Ms Silungwe explained that the compulsory liquidation was in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Insurance Act No. 27 of 1997 (as Amended by Act no. 26 of 2005).
She said this in a statement made available to the Daily Nation.
“This is according to the Act No. 27 of 1997 (as Amended by Act no. 26 of 2005) as read with Chapter VII of the Banking and Financial Services Act, CAP 387 (“the Acts”).
“And in exercise of the powers contained in Section 71 of the Insurance Act as read with Section 101 of the Banking and Financial Services Act Stakeholders in the two companies have been given 30 days in which to file in any objection to the action taken by the Authority,” Ms Silungwe said.