Africa-Press – Angola. The Bank will continue to mediate insurance in any branch of insurance activity for legal entities, within the scope of the Proposed Law on Insurance Mediation.
The document was approved this Friday by Parliament’s Specialized Committees.
In relation to the retail segment (for natural persons), this action will be restricted to products sold by the bank itself.
The proposed Law in question, discussed in detail by the specialized committees of the National Assembly, due to the matter, will go to the final global vote at the Plenary meeting on the 25th of this month.
Throughout the discussions, in the specialty, some deputies defended the Bank’s exit from intermediating the insurance business, driven by the fear of latent conflicts of interest in this area.
In this regard, the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Angolan Insurance Regulation and Supervision Agency (ARSEG), Elmer Serrão, said that, banking is fundamental to the Angolan insurance market, fundamentally in terms of insurance penetration and financial literacy.
For you, the intermediary relationship with your client is a relationship of trust, which takes time to establish.
He made it known that, as a proponent, they brought a common vision in several jurisdictions that are embodied in the harmonious coexistence of several insurance distribution channels, namely mediation through banking financial institutions
He said it is natural that there is fear that, in this last channel, the rights of borrowers could be harmed, taking into account the relationship that exists between banks and insurance companies.
“What we have done is improve the law, introduce a set of factors to mitigate these risks and clearly define their scope of action in the wake of insurance mediation, from the moment the Law is approved”, he assured
Likewise, he clarified that, regardless of whether banks continue to be supervised by the National Bank of Angola (BNA), whenever a bank intends to develop insurance mediation activities, it must be registered with the insurance activity supervision body, ARSEG.
He informed that, among the 24 insurance companies operating in the Angolan insurance market, 12 have Banca Security agreements and, among these 12, are the five largest insurance companies in the country.
“Therefore, 73 percent of the total market production corresponds to these five insurers”, he emphasized.
According to ARSEG’s PCA, 15 percent of the total premiums issued by insurance companies, around 48 billion kwanzas, comes from Banca Security.
For him, removing Banca Security from the insurance market would cause a change in the configuration of the competitiveness of various distribution channels, which would have an impact on technological innovation and the emergence of new products that optimize people’s income.
He noted that the withdrawal would also have an impact on reducing the proximity between the citizen and the insurance, because the citizen is closer to the bank.
According to the person responsible for the life sector, by September 2023, Banca Security had accumulated 39 billion kwanzas in gross premiums and of this amount 35 billion kwanzas corresponding to insurance mediation via the bank.
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