The Philippines' Insurance Commission closed the operations of five nonlife insurers and placed them under conservatorship for their failure to meet the statutory regulatory capital requirement.
The regulator said March 13 that the five firms it placed under conservatorship are First lntegrated Bonding & Insurance Co. Inc., Investors Assurance Corp., Metropolitan lnsurance Co., Plaridel Surety & lnsurance Co., and Premier lnsurance & Surety Corp.
The five insurers failed to meet the mandated increase in net worth requirement of 550 million pesos, the regulator said. Existing insurance companies in the Philippines are required to have a minimum net worth of 550 million pesos by the end of 2016. The requirement will increase to 900 million pesos in 2019 and to 1.3 billion pesos by 2022, the regulator added.
As a result, the regulator appointed a conservator for each of the companies to take charge of the company's management and its assets and liabilities.
Under the regime of conservatorship, a company's operations will be business as usual under the management of the lC-appointed conservator but it cannot sell new insurance products and policies, said Insurance Commissioner Dennis Funa. The commissioner pointed out the companies can pursue several options to lift the conservatorship order including entering into a merger or consolidation.
As of March 13, US$1 was equivalent to 51.94 Philippine pesos.
