Insurance Companies To Make Audited Financial Statements Public

The National Insurance Commission (NIC) has hinted of plans to reform the industry with insurance companies being required to publish their audited financial statements in the dailies.

Speaking at a public lecture in Accra, the Deputy Commissioner of NIC, Mr Kofi Andoh indicated that the practice which currently applies to the banks is not new in the system— a standard that is also being practiced by insurance companies in other jurisdictions.

“We have started putting the information on capital returns of insurance companies on the website and soon to come, we shall ask every insurance company to publish the audited financial statement in the print media,” he stated.

According to him, although shareholders may have significant sums of money in some insurance companies it is only fair that public also know how insurance firms are performing in the market.

He also hinted that companies that intend to lower their risk rates would be asked to increase their risk capital as the commission intends to embark on a yearly risk rating exercise for companies in the insurance industry as far as the solvency framework is concerned.

On the commission’s decision to announce the new capital requirement for insurance companies, he stressed that the commission is working closely with stakeholders to attain a workable figure.