Q. How would you assess sector standards and governance in Sri Lanka?
The Insurance Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka is the governing body and its main responsibilities are the development, supervision and regulation of the insurance industry in Sri Lanka. It discharges its responsibilities to monitor the performance of the insurance companies by issuing guidelines/directions. Following are some of them covering the following areas.
- Principles of fair treatment of customers were issued to help insurance companies carry on their business in a professional and prudent manner with a view to protecting the interests of customers.
- Business continuity plan guidelines were introduced to assist companies in having plans and methods to continue their business smoothly even in the events of unavoidable disasters.
- Corporate governance direction was released to facilitate the companies to effective, entrepreneurial and prudent management of their activities with long-term success.
- Risk based capital rules came into effect to verify financial stability to meet obligations of the companies.
- Anti-money laundering guidelines were issued to avoid illegal financial transactions to safeguard the insurance companies.
- Complaint management guidelines were released to convene the insurance companies to act fairly on the grievances of the customers.
The above guidelines and directions are to help the insurance companies to perform their activities in order to safeguard the interest of the customers and it is worthwhile to mention that Sanasa Insurance does its business activities to the satisfaction of the regulator by maintaining all the sector standards.