January 12: The campaign initiated by the then Insurance Board of Nepal to raise the paid-up capital of insurance companies is yet to be accomplished. The board, now renamed as Nepal Insurance Authority, had instructed life insurance companies to maintain a paid-up capital of Rs 5 billion and a non-life insurance company of Rs 2.5 billion in March/April 2022.

The authority had set a deadline of mid-July 2023 for the insurance companies to maintain the paid-up capital. Even after five months of the deadline, most of the companies have not been able to maintain the paid-up capital limit set by the authority.

Sambharaj Lamichhane, head of the legal department of the authority, said that although the deadline for capital increase has passed, no action has been taken against the companies. He says that since the deadline was given until mid-July of last year, the companies should be exempted until the annual general meeting. He said that some companies are in the process of raising their capital as the merger and acquisition and issuance of the initial public offering (IPO) are still underway.

Among life insurance companies, 13 companies other than Metlife had to maintain the paid-up capital of Rs 5 billion. However, only three of these companies have fulfilled the condition so far.

The companies opted for merger and acquisition to raise the capital and then took the measure of issuing bonus shares and rights shares when the funds were insufficient.

Among the ten companies, Rastriya Jeevan Bima Company (former Rastriya Bima Sansthan) has the lowest paid-up capital. This company needs an additional capital of Rs 2.97 billion.

The National Insurance Company has put forward a plan to raise its capital by Rs 3.5 billion through institutional shareholders and Rs 1.5 billion by issuing IPO to the general public.

Apart from this, Reliable Nepal Life Insurance Company plans to add Rs 640 million of capital by issuing 16 per cent bonus shares.

Suryajyoti Life Insurance, which requires a capital of Rs 454.4 million, has not yet announced any plans to increase its capital. The company, which opted for merger, is likely to issue bonus shares or equity as a means of capital increment.

Prabhu Mahalakshmi Life Insurance Company will issue 17 per cent right shares to raise the insufficient fund. Similarly, Life Insurance Corporation (Nepal) will collect an additional capital of Rs 2.34 billion through rights shares. The company has already submitted an application to the Securities Board of Nepal for this purpose.

Citizen Life Insurance Company, which needs an additional capital of Rs 1.25 billion, is raising Rs 187.5 million through 5 per cent bonus shares. Even after issuing the bonus shares, Citizen Life will need an additional capital of more than Rs 1.06 billion. The company has yet to decide on raising the said capital.

Sun Nepal Life, IME Life, Sanima Reliance Life and Asian Life will also have to raise their capital to meet the requirement set by the NIA. Asian Life needs to raise Rs 1.84 billion, Sun Nepal Life Rs 1.80 billion, Sanima Reliance Life Rs 81.6 million, and IME Life needs to raise Rs 1 billion. These companies have not officially decided to issue bonus shares.