An initial assessment by the Insurance Commission (IC) shows the bulk of the country’s insurers as compliant with the mandatory buildup in net worth to P550 million.
According to the IC’s unaudited quarterly statistics, 26 life-insurance companies and 47 nonlife companies have complied with the P550-million threshold required of the industry by the IC. Another seven mutual-benefit associations (MBAs) reported fund balances of at least
P550 million.
“Twenty-six life-insurance companies and 47 non life insurance companies reported a net worth of P550 million and above, while seven MBAs reported a fund balance of at least P550 million,” Insurance Commissioner Dennis B. Funa said.
But the final roster of companies fully compliant with the networth buildup would be announced on April 30 this year, after the companies have submitted their 2016 annual financial statements.
“Note that the verification of compliance by the life and nonlife sectors with the P550-million requirement will be determined based on 2016 annual statements of insurance companies, which are due for submission to this office on April 30, 2017,” he said.
In earlier reports, the IC confirmed that four pairs of nonlife companies have expressed the intention to merge, while four more colleagues have expressed the intention to close down. One other life-insurance company signified the intention to bring in a new investor.
According to Funa, of the four nonlife companies expressing the intention to close, three have yet to submit a formal request while Manila Surety and Fidelity Co. Inc. were certain to close shop.
“As I said, four have signified that they will close, three are still in the process of finalizing, so it will not be proper for me to mention that at this stage. But, at least one, and this is the Manila Surety and Fidelity Co., is 100-percent sure and has signified that it will no longer continue its nonlife-insurance business. So on the three we will just have to await for the right time, we will be announcing them,” Funa said.
The number of nonlife-insurance players in the country, 63 such companies as of end-2016, will shrink to only 55 companies should the closures and mergers push through, according to the IC.
“So we have 63 nonlife companies as of end of 2016. I foresee that it will go down to 55 because, four will close down [and] eight will be merging as pairs,” he said.