CIMA assessing Motor and General suspension
(CNS): Following media reports from Trinidad that Central Bank officials have suspended the operations of Motor and General Insurance Company there, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) has said it has been in close communication with the CBTT, management of Motor and General Insurance Company Ltd., and PricewaterhouseCooper, the auditor’s engaged by the bank. The local regulator said it was actively assessing the options to protect the company’s domestic policyholders and the assets of the company’s Cayman operations, as well as to safeguard the public interest.
CIMA did not say how long it had been communicating with the parties or how many people could be affected by the firm’s financial difficulties. However, there are believed to be a considerable number of people insured by the company as it is one of the oldest insurance firms in Cayman. The authority said it would provide further information to the public when an assessment had been completed.
Trinidad’s Inspector of Financial Institutions at the Central Bank, Carl Hiralal, took regulatory action and ordered the doors of Motor and General closed for an initial period of 60 days after the Port of Spain-based insurer firm was struggling to maintain the required quantity of money in its statutory fund. “This was necessary to protect policyholders," Hiralal said during a press conference in Port of Spain yesterday.
Motor and General provides insurance coverage to clients in Trinidad & Tobago and from an office in the Cayman Islands.
All new business has been suspended at the company but existing insurance policies remain in force, though no claims can be paid while the company’s operations are suspended. Hiralal said the temporary suspension did not mean the company was in receivership but provided an opportunity to assess its financial status. Brian Hackett of accounting and auditing firm Pricewaterhouse-Coopers has been engaged by the Central Bank to assist in this process. The company has reportedly had problems over several years in filing financial statements to the Central Bank.
It also had challenges maintaining the required quantity of money in its statutory fund, and its accounting records made it difficult for the company to keep track of its claims, Hiralal added.
Category: Business
The government also needs to look at the economic value of CIMA to this country and examine its performance. It appears to many to be another overstaffed, overpaid government agency that could be scaled back and streamlined. For once, perhaps, any political connections within could perhaps be pushed aside for sake of country.
An excellent idea but it will never happen. Too many favorite baggage carriers and assorted hangers on. The man simply could not find his way to thelimousine if CIMA was streamlined.