eBusiness Weekly
Business Writers
Zimbabwe’s insurance and pension industry regulator has started beefing up its structures to strengthen supervision and bring sanity into the sector.
The Insurance and Pension Commission (IPEC) has in recent months issued regulations designed to tackle regulatory loopholes largely blamed for market disorder.
The commission of inquiry that probed conversion of pensions and insurance benefits post dollarisation also observed serious levels of regulatory flaws within the industry.
The insurance industry registered a 32 percent total asset base growth to $5, 4 billion as at March 2017, due to growth in equities and asset revaluations, according to IPEC.
Pension funds on the other hand hold assets worth $10 billion, divided into four categories—the compulsory scheme, administered by the National Social Security Authority, the Public Service Scheme, voluntary occupational pension funds and personal pension plans.
“We are beefing up the organisation by recruiting more technical personnel to improve onsite investigations,” IPEC commissioner Tendai Karonga said. “This will help us to get accurate information on the operations of the insurance companies and pension funds.
He said IPEC has already come up with risk guidelines issued through a Statutory Instrument, to be effective in December this year to enhance supervision of the industry. The regulator is proposing to evaluate competence of directors of insurance firms.
IPEC would also come up with minimum standards that compels companies to release financials annually. “Corporate governance is really a major issue,” said Karonga.
