Special Correspondent :
Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) has asked the 27 non-listed insurance companies to get listed with the stock market by December this year.
IDRA, the country’s insurance regulator, sent letters to the insurance companies on Monday in this regard, asking them to comply with its directive within the stipulated time frame.
“Companies will face regulatory actions if they fail to comply with the order,” according to the IDRA letter singed by its member Gokul Chandra Das.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Sunday categorically said that the licenses of the insurance companies not yet enlisted with the stock market would be cancelled if they do not do so within the next three months.
“We have directed the unlisted insurance companies to be listed in the stock market within the next three-month. Otherwise, we will primarily cancel their licenses,” he told reporters after a meeting with chief executives of insurance companies.
“Insurance companies have been asked to be listed with the stock markets as per the finance minister’s directive. They have been instructed to do so by next December,” IDRA Chairman Shafiqur Rahman Patwari told The New Nation yesterday.
He said IDRA has sent separate letters to the chairman and CEO of respective insurance companies asking them to follow its directive.
Currently, a total of 78 insurance companies, including two state-owned Jibon Bima and Sadharan Bima Corporations have been operating in the country.
Of them, 32 are life insurance companies, 46 are general insurance companies.
Life insurance constitutes a 73.5 per cent share of its insurance market and general insurance a 26.5 per cent share.
In 2017, general insurers earned a gross premium income of Tk 2,908.1 crore and life insurers Tk 8, 203.1 crore.
Among the insurance companies, 47 have already got enlisted with the capital market and 27 are yet to be enrolled.
The non-listed companies (life insurance) are Baira Life, Golden Life, Homeland Life, Sunflower Life, Best Life, Chartered Life, NRB Global Life, Protective Islamic Life, Sonali Life, Zenith Islamic Life, Alpha Islamic Life, Diamond Life, Jamuna Life, Mercantile Islamic Life, Swadesh Life, Trust Islamic Life and LIC Bangladesh.
On the other hand, non-listed general insurance companies are Crystal Insurance, Meghna Insurance, South Asia Insurance, Islamic Commercial Insurance, Union Insurance, Desh General Insurance, Express Insurance, Sena Kalyan Insurance and Sikder Insurance Company Limited.
According to the Insurance Act, the insurance companies have an obligation to get enlisted with the capital market within three years of their registration.
For violation of this rule, there is a provision to impose a fine of Tk 5,000 a day on the insurance companies.
