As the new supervision template, known as Risk Based Supervision (RBS), set to replace Compliant-based Supervision in the country’s insurance sector in a bid to allow the industry regulator express its supervisory roles effectively, expectations are high, believing the new system will usher in a new dawn in proper financial management, adherence to corporate governance and positive financial performance of insurers in the country. ABDUL OLALEKAN writes.
Change, no doubt, is the only permanent thing in life. The continuous daily discoveries of new ideas, innovations and inventions mean the world is changing so fast. With human activities influenced by this change, the old ways of doing things are giving way for new ways.
So, it was not surprising when insurance industry regulator, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), announced that it was set to quit compliant-based supervision and embrace a new supervision template known as Risk Based Supervision (RBS) as, according to it, this is the latest supervision model.
This comes with its own sacrifice and cost especially on the part of insurance operators who are expected to adhere to this new model. Apart from the fact that consolidation is imminent, there will also be an embargo placed on some illiquid firms to underwrite certain businesses, a development that will not go down well with some.
Currently, the commission has now started a sensitisation campaign on RBS to ensure that both operators and regulator are operating on the same page.
The new supervision template would translates to business specialization where some underwriters are going to be restricted to a particular line of business because of their low capital base, while some insurers would be asked to upgrade their capital base, if they want to play in a particular market, such as; Aviation, Marine and Oil and Gas. Hence, there is no longer uniform capital base among operators in insurance industry.
However, some operators who spoke to Business247 said they are already operating within their capital base, while trying to avoid taking businesses they have no capacity, as spelt out in the RBS, to underwrite. While some express readiness for the new supervision template, some advised that the RBS should not be used to limit some operators from certain businesses, as this would be inimical to the growth of insurance sector in the country.
Speaking on the reasons for this change, the Commissioner for Insurance, Mr. Mohammed Kari, said supervisory approaches in the earliest days tended to be ‘compliance-based’, aimed mainly at ensuring compliance with the rules laid down for financial soundness and the conduct of business.
The risks associated with compliance-based approaches, according to him, are that they may lead to excessive focus on observed non-compliance and to insufficient understanding of key business drivers and flaws in risk management practices of insurers.
“The provision of insurance service, over the years, has developed to sophistication level beyond the imagination of the early practitioners. Coupled with other external risks and incidences, the profession has had to evolve as fast to continue to survive and be relevant,” he noted.
Explaining how the risk-based supervision works, Kari said operators and regulators have their respective roles to play.
“In risk based supervision, we had, in one of our meetings at the Insurers Committee, emphasised on the responsibilities and expectations from insurance companies. We had told them what they need to do to ensure the risk based supervision succeed and what we as regulators would be able to do. Unconsciously, the regulator has gone ahead to implement risk based supervision, because the expectation of the regulator is, first of all, to set up guidelines,” he stated.
Pointing out that the commission is to strengthen corporate governance in the companies, he added that this was because the responsibility of selecting the kind of insurances one get into and how one capitalised the company are all the responsibility of the board and that is what the corporate governance is.
The next phase, he said, would be the financials, which is what would lead the industry into consolidation.
According to him, “Consolidation is inevitable. We have many players in the industry that do not add value to the services they provide, both in the intermediary and insurance sectors. Consolidation does not mean just an additional capital; it could be redefining and identifying the type of insurance business you want to operate.
“For instance, if you did not have as much capital as company B, you would operate within the confines of your capital. Today, we have capital as the only bases for operation and if you meet the minimum capital, you can operate.”
The current legislation, he said, had structured the industry into Life, General and Miscellaneous and that if one is licensed to do General Business, it means that with N3 billion, such firm can attempt to insure petroleum refinery or can claim the right to insure an airline which, he said, is not right looking at the foundation of insurance. “This is because, to be able to hold a risk, you must have enough asset base to cover the risk. So, risk based is being able to identify what is your financial capability. If your financial capability does not guarantee you to insure oil refinery or airline, you will not be allowed to do so. Your financial ability may be to insure a Keke NAPEP, then you will be a specialist in Keke NAPEP insurance. That is what risk based is going to be,” he stressed.
The new supervision model, he pointed out, would require a review of the minimum capital requirement to measure its adequacy. To him, “If not, we would require additional capital to meet that minimum. But if it is okay, we would just require the classification of companies’ assets plus the extra needed to get into the class of business one wants to undertake.”
The Director of Afrisk Management Consultant Limited, Dr. Nike Fajemirokun, justified the movement away from rules-based supervision to risk-based supervision by NAICOM, saying under the former regime, questions were asked and assessments made by the inspectors who later issue reports based on their subjective findings.
“It is not quantifiable. For example, when you the assessors say satisfactory, good, etc, it does not state what should be improved upon and comparisons are not possible,” she stressed.
Fajemirokun also stated that unlike what obtains in rules-based supervision, in risk-based supervision, all regulatory factors are appropriately scored and an overall score is awarded.
She noted that most importantly, all companies are not supervised or graded using the same parameters, adding that there would be a three-tier supervisory framework based on the impact of individual operators on NAICOM’s regulatory activities.
Speaking on how his company will operate under RBS, Group Managing Director, Royal Exchange Plc, Alhaji Auwalu Muktari, said his firm would be an active player in the area of risk-based structure, saying, the company was only waiting for the final directive from the regulatory body. “We have to examine our shareholders’ funds and the areas we have been playing so well because the risk based will affect all aspects of our businesses, he stated”.
According to him, “We are waiting for the commission to come up with the guidelines so that we can look at it effectively and come up with policy of where Royal Exchange wants to play. As of today in Royal Exchange, we are looking at increasing our shareholders’ fund to enable us play at the top and actively position the company to be among the first players in the insurance Industry in Nigeria and Africa.”
On his part, Managing Director, Anchor Insurance Limited, Mr. Mayowa Adeduro, believes risk based supervision is the right way to go because there are some companies, supposedly with big capital but based on the risk they have underwritten, are undercapitalised. So also, he said, some companies, supposedly called small players but with the volume of their business, are over-capitalised.
He pointed out that risk based supervision is expected to place a company in the right direction, saying, that is a welcome development that will reposition the industry players.
However, he did not subscribe to NAICOM’s idea of stopping some companies from doing a particular type of underwriting because of this new supervision template.
To him, “Underwriting is about experience, how you arrange your reinsurance and your capacity to undertake risks. So, the commission should not say, because a company is operating with N3billion capital base, it cannot underwrite oil and gas, aviation, among other businesses. No, what matters is the experience of the underwriter and the type of reinsurance the company has on ground.”
Stating that, that is the position of Anchor Insurance, he said his company is well positioned for it and that it is strategising to ensure that it plays effectively in that area.
“We are restricting our company from certain businesses to ensure that our portfolio is in good shape, even though, what matters is the kind of reinsurance arrangement one has on the class of business it is underwriting, your experience about the risk being taken and how much of capital is exposed to this class of business,” he pointed out.
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