Philippines: Insurers quit market for lack of capital
Source: Asia Insurance Review | Nov 2019
The Insurance Commission (IC) has called on the remaining clients of Meridian Assurance to file their claims, as the company is finalising its exit from the non-life insurance industry.
According to insurance commissioner Dennis Funa, Meridian has surrendered its licence to operate as a non-life insurance company as it could not raise its paid-up capital to the minimum PHP550m ($10.7m) by the end-December 2016 deadline.
“Notice is hereby given that Meridian Assurance Corp has applied for voluntary cessation from the insurance business and voluntary cessation from the insurance business and the withdrawal of its non-life insurance licence on 30 April 2017,” according to a notice posted on the IC website.
Under the insurance law, existing insurance companies need to have a net worth of at least PHP550m by the end of 2016, PHP900m by the end of 2019 and PHP1.3bn by 2022.
Separately, Mr Funa said in a statement last month that the former insurer of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police had surrendered its licence as it could no longer operate as a non-life insurance firm due to lack of additional capital.
Armed Forces and Police General Insurance Corp has applied for a servicing licence, as it is unable to meet the minimum net worth requirement by the deadline this year end. A