Commissioner of Insurance for the National Insurance Commission (NIC), Dr Justice Ofori.
Commissioner of Insurance for the National Insurance Commission (NIC), Justice Ofori, has stated that insurance companies have been given up to May 2022 to finalize their recapitalization processes or risk closure.
This comes after insurance companies were given the December 2021 deadline to meet the recapitalization requirement after it was extended, due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking in a Citi Business News interview, he said, “By the end of the process which could probably be around the fourth or fifth month, then we would actually know those who have been able to recapitalize and those who will be absorbed, which processes are ongoing, we don’t want to create any tsunami in our market, so we have a clear picture, those who are merging, those who are being absorbed and then those who have been able to recapitalize. It’s a corporate decision the companies will have to take.”
“They need this minimum capital, if you don’t have the money what do you do. Are you going to sell your company to somebody, are you going to merge, are you going to be absorbed?”, he quizzed.
He continued saying, “It’s up to the company to make a decision. We have actually been able to categorize the companies, those who meet, those who are midway and those who have challenges. They know themselves. We the regulators cannot actually go ahead and just merge the companies, it’s a corporate decision they will have to take, but we will give them the necessary assistance”.
The minimum capital requirement for life and non-life companies was raised in 2019 from GH¢15m to GH¢50m, while that of reinsurance companies was raised from GH¢40m to GH¢125m.
Insurance brokers also had their minimum capital increased from GH¢300,000 to GH¢500,000 while that of reinsurance brokers remained at GH¢1m.
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
