The Chairman of the Financial and Monetary Crimes Fee, Ola Olukoyede, has pledged that the Fee will intensify its concentrate on monitoring actions inside Nigeria’s insurance coverage trade.
In keeping with him, the fraud within the sector was affecting the financial improvement of the nation.
Olukoyede vowed to probe the allegations of fraudulent administration of insurance coverage firms within the nation.
An announcement Wednesday by the EFCC’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, stated Olukoyede disclosed this when a delegation of the administration group of the Nationwide Insurance coverage Fee, led by Commissioner of Insurance coverage and the Chief Government Officer, Olusegun Omosehin, paid him a courtesy go to at EFCC’s company headquarters.
The pinnacle of the anti-graft company said that the insurance coverage trade would obtain the identical degree of scrutiny because the banking sector to assist its development.
He stated the EFCC has a Financial institution Fraud Part and would evaluate its scope to accommodate problems with fraud within the insurance coverage trade.
Olukoyede stated, “The problem of insurance coverage fraud is a serious albatross to our financial improvement. We’re able to take up a few of these circumstances, significantly insolvency, that’s attributed to fraudulent administration of those insurance coverage firms. It’s one thing that we should not tolerate, and that’s the place the problem of regulatory compliance takes the entrance burner in nations the place issues work.
“We’re able to work with you, and after they see us working collectively, it might ship indicators to the trade gamers that it’s not going to be enterprise as regular. Simply be prepared to provide us the required data that we have to work with.
“Starting right this moment, we’re going to begin taking a look at insurance coverage firms very severely, simply the best way we’re wanting on the banking trade in order that the trade can develop.
“We’ve a Financial institution Fraud Part, we are actually going to evaluate the scope of labor of that part to incorporate insurance coverage in order that we will deal with different rising points within the monetary system.”
The EFCC boss decried a state of affairs the place insurance coverage firms are solely eager on accepting premiums and never settling claims.
He stated, “They’re very quick at gathering premiums, however in the case of settling claims, they’d begin arising with all types of excuses. Whenever you go to a spot just like the US and Europe, you’ll uncover that the dimensions of actions in insurance coverage firms might be bigger than these of the banks. We’ll collaborate with you. We’re going to lend you our tooth to be able to chew.”
Omosehin famous that policymakers are at all times on the shedding finish within the occasion of a collapse of insurance coverage firms on account of company governance failures.
“The place insurance coverage establishments are failing, we’re anticipated to intervene and take applicable regulatory actions. We’ve a historical past of getting seen institutional failures amongst a few of the entities that we regulate.
“The start of such institutional failures usually come from company governance violations, and this cuts throughout a number of areas, together with the place the commonwealth of such establishments have been mismanaged by some people, and the those that endure the implications are the policyholders who’ve put of their life financial savings in these establishments.
“The establishment goes down, and so they stroll away with the loot. It’s our duty to report such conditions to applicable sister companies who can be sure that they’re delivered to e-book. This is likely one of the few issues that we’ve placed on the burner to come back to the EFCC.”