There are issues revolving around the company developing a monopoly over the life and health market in The Bahamas.
In an interview with The Guardian on Friday, Dr. Rodger Brown, registrar of insurance companies revealed that his office has to adhere to what is in the insurance act. “This office does not make the final decision on whether or not a company is merged, purchased or opened.”
He added that the office of the Registrar of Insurance Companies simply reviews the documents once they are presented and makes recommendations to the Minister of Financial Services and Investments, Allyson Maynard-Gibson once his office finishes its due diligence.
No recommendations on any acquisitions have been presented to the Minister as yet, he said.
Dr. Brown predicts that the processing of Colina’s documents should go smoothly but may not be completed in the time frame initially requested by the company. “According to the principals of Colina and Imperial Life, they are looking at the end of the year.”
According to Dr. Brown the acquiring company still has outstanding documents to be submitted. “We still have a long way to go with collecting documents and processing them.”
He continued that his office requires at least one month after the submission of the final document for the review process. He added that his office does not wait until all the documents are in before working on them.
According to Dr. Brown if Colina submits all their required documents by the end of November, this could possibly speed up the process, as his office would definitely have their recommendations completed by the end of December.
This would mean that the acquisitions would be able to be presented to the minister before the end of the year. “If all the documents come in by the end of this month definitely by the end of December we will be finished even though December is a short month,” he said.
In their review of the acquisitions, the Office of the Registrar of Insurance Company would consider things such as the financial status of the purchaser, solvency and assets of the purchaser, and the profitability and solvency of the seller.
Noting that his office is aware of the concern over the acquisitions of Colina, he said these opinions would not affect the registrar’s decision as the decision to recommend the acquisition must be made based on the information presented by the companies involved in the process.
Dr. Brown continued that presently there is nothing in the Domestic Insurance Act to address this issue of competition and the new act, which is presently at the Attorney General’s office, would not address this issue either. “I don’t think that there is anything in that because there is no national policy on competition.”
By Martella Matthews, The Nassau Guardian
