The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has said that the implementation of the insurance industry’s corporate governance guidelines will take off on June 1, 2021.

The Commission made this known in a publication on its website which disclosed that, the guidelines was issued on March 17, 2021, and urged all insurance and reinsurance firms to comply with the guidelines and the Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance 2018.

According to NAICOM, non-compliance with the Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance (NCCG) 2018 and the newly released guidelines shall be a violation of Section 49(1)b of the National Insurance Commission Act 1997, which attracts penalty under Section 49(5) of the Act.

The commission noted that its principal objective was to ensure effective administration, supervision, regulation and control of the insurance business in Nigeria, adding that Section 11 C and 51 C of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) Act, 2011 confers on the FRCN the power to ensure good corporate governance practices in public and private sectors of the Nigerian economy.

The Commission stated that the FRCN issued the Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance (NCCG) 2018 to institutionalize corporate governance best practices in all Companies in Nigeria and repealed all other sectorial codes.

The guidelines according to NAICOM 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; and all insurance and reinsurance companies are to comply with it and the Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance 2018.

Meanwhile, NAICOM has assured stakeholders that it will continue to introduce new reforms and initiatives in line with international best practices that will fortify insurance institutions in the country.