National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), has concluded plans to make available the operational guidelines meant at regulating the partnership business between the insurance industry operators and other sectors in the distribution channel in the country.

The Director, Authorisation and Policy, NAICOM, Pius Agboola, revealed this during a seminar organised by the Commission, for insurance and Finance journalists held at weekend in Gombe State that in the next few months, the guidelines aimed at regulating the partnership business in the insurance industry will be released.

He said the Commission has drawn out guideline that will guide the industry on how to partner with other sectors like the bank, the telecommunications sector on how to go about selling insurance products across the country.
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According to him, the guideline is still in the final stage of modifications, after which it will be released to the industry for its inputs and necessary corrections made by the Commission before it is finally released to as an operational partnership document.

Explaining the reason behind the guideline, he said it was observed that operators are partnering with other sectors without the Commission being able to regulate whom they are partnering with, saying that with the guidelines such activities will be regulated.

On partnership with the bancassurance, he said the commission intention was not to supervise what the banks are doing but to be able to know what is happening in the partnership.

He said the last time insurance operators met, they demanded that the copy of the guideline be released to the banking industry even though they already made their contributions.

He said the Commission agreed to it for transparency purpose, as there may be need for the banks to take it up with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), adding that nothing had happened more than two weeks after the guideline was given to them.

He assured that the Commission is willing to opens talks with the CBN or the banks in this regard.