Insurance regulator blacklists 41 firms

What you need to know:

  • De-registered. The 41 companies, which include insurers and brokers, according to Insurance Regulatory Authority, will be de-registered after the 30-day grace period.

Kampala.

Forty one insurance, brokerage and consultancy firms have been blacklisted over lack of licenses and failure to meet minimum share capital.
The companies, which have been given a grace period of upto 30 days within which they have to acquire necessary requirements, are also accused of being unregistered companies.
In a notice issued by the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) and Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB), the companies were warned that they would be de-registered if they continue to operate outside the law.
“Take notice that [you] have not been compliant with the legal requirement of filing pertinent company forms with the URSB as provided by [the law],” the notices reads in part.
The companies, the notice also indicated, that they do not meet the minimum paid up share capital requirements as required by the regulator (IRA).

What the law requires
Under the law, insurance firms must have a minimum capital requirement of Shs10b while reinsurance companies must have Shs4b.
Non-life insurance companies must have Shs3b while insurance or reinsurance brokers are required to have capital requirement of Shs75m.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Mr Ibrahim Lubega Kaddunabbi, the IRA chief executive officer, said some of the listed companies had ceased operating after they were found to be below minimum capital requirement.
“What we are doing now is, we are cleaning up. Those that want to come back must [fulfill the requirements and those that fail will be] scrapped [out of the system],” he said.
Yesterday Mr Vincent Katuusi, the URSB director of business registration, told Daily Monitor that the status of the listed companies was unclear to the regulator (IRA) as some had not complied with the request to increase their nominal share capital.
This, he said, had also made it difficult for URSB to classify them as insurers, brokers or reinsurance firms.
“Failure for them to comply they risk deregistration because right now their status is misleading,” Mr Katuusi said.
The warning comes at a time when IRA is trying to tighten measures through which it can protect clients from risks.
IRA, according to the notice is seeking to implement the Risk Based Supervision (RSB) scheme through which it will require insurers to increase the minimum capital requirement based on the risk exposure of the company.
This will mean that the higher the risk of a company, the higher the minimum share capital required.
The scheme, according to IRA, will guarantee capacity of insurers to efficiently serve clients and mitigate delays in payment of claims.

Blacklisted insurance firm
Advanta Assurance Services
Afro Asia (EA) Insurance
Alfa Insurance Consultants
Anchor Africa Insurance $ Risk Services
Astra Insurance Brokers
Atlas Insurance Consultants
Blue Insurance Services
British American Limited
Canon Insurance Consultants
Capital Insurance Consultants
Chase Insurance Services
Corporate Investment Brokers
Crane Insurance
Creative Insurance Services
Davie and Joshie Insurance Brokers
Delta Insurance Brokers Limited
East African General Insurance
Empire Insurance Group
Equator Insurance Service
Equity Brokers
Global Insurance Company limited
Golden Gate Insurance Company Limited
H &S Insurance Brokers Limited
Incafex Insurance Company Limited
Kampala Insurance Consultants Limited
Liberty Insurance Brokers Limited
HQ Insurance Company Limited
Medigen Limited
Micro Insurance Agency Uganda Limited
Multi-Sec Insurance Limited
Oriental Insurance Brokers Limited
Prime Insurance Consultants Limited
Royal Consultants Pty
Sanyu Insurance Company Limited
Southern Union Insurance Brokers Limited
Target Savings and Pensions Limited
Trans-State Insurance Company Limited
TransWorld Insurance Services
Uganda Cooperative Insurance Limited
USA-RE O Limited
Paramount Insurance Company Limited