NAICOM targets June for new guidelines implementation

The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has fixed June 1, 2021, for the implementation of the industry’s corporate governance guidelines that will take the sector to a greater height.

NAICOM, on its website, noted that the guidelines were issued on March 17, 2021, and implored all insurance and reinsurance firms to comply with the rules and the Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance 2018.

According to NAICOM, non-compliance with the code and the guidelines shall be a violation of section 49(1) of the National Insurance Commission Act 1997 and attracts a penalty.

The Commission maintained that its main objective is to ensure effective administration, supervision, regulation, and control of the insurance business in Nigeria, adding that Section 11 and 51 of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) Act confers on the FRCN the power to ensure corporate governance practices in public and private sectors.

It noted that the FRCN issued the Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance (NCCG) 2018 to institutionalise corporate governance best practices in the country and repeal previous sectoral codes.

“The Commission, in the exercise of its powers under the National Insurance Commission Act 1997 and in collaboration with FRCN, hereby issues its Corporate Governance Guidelines to assist the implementation of the NCCG 2018,” it said.

It posited that the guidelines shall be read and interpreted in conjunction with the provision of NCCG 2018 and replaces the NAICOM Code of Good Corporate Governance for the Insurance Industry 2009.