Corporate Governance Guidelines: NAICOM to sanction defaulters

By Asishana John

The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has revealed plans to sanction insurance operators that fail to implement the corporate governance guidelines in the country.

The Commissioner for Insurance, Sunday Thomas, at a workshop in Lagos, said the absence of sound corporate governance structure in some insurance companies has been the cause of the industry’s abysmal performance.

Thomas said: “The corporate governance guidelines that became effective last month would change the way companies, especially underwriting firms, are being run in the country. Companies don’t fail on their own. Instead, people make companies fail. Companies don’t die, companies are killed and the death of companies involves poor governance structure.

“The corporate governance guideline, which has become effective is to make sure that resources put into the insurance sector are well protected.”

Meanwhile, Thomas said NAICOM Academy will kick off by the end of this quarter or the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2021.

“NAICOM has acquired a property and work is currently ongoing. We believe that by the end of third quarter or beginning of fourth quarter 2021, the NAICOM Academy will take off,” he said.

According to him, the academy will not only serve the commission’s training needs but also those of other regulators in the West African sub-region.

He said the academy would not compete with the College of Insurance which is run by the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) but complement the activities of the Institute for the benefits of the insurance business.