AFSA

29 September 2022 00:00:00

The Astana Financial Services Authority (the “AFSA”) has suspended the License of GB Insurance Ltd with immediate effect after the Firm had failed to satisfy the pre-conditions on which its conditional license from the AFSA had been granted.

In particular, the company disregarded or ignored the pre-conditions that had been imposed upon it by the AFSA and, in so doing:

• chose to commence live operations without the AFSA’s agreement or knowledge;
• failed to fulfil its mandatory pre-conditions before undertaking the activities of an insurance company;
• failed to have in place actuarial policies, procedures, systems and controls that had been developed by the company to the AFSA’s satisfaction;
• allowed persons who were not approved by the AFSA to perform the Controlled Functions of Insurance Risk Manager, Internal Audit Manager and Approver Actuary; and
• consequently undertook the writing of insurance risks whist failing to have in place the appropriate arrangements and people to undertake such activities.

The AFSA’s mission is to establish an environment that delivers fair and transparent financial and capital markets, in which individuals and institutions act with integrity and maintain the highest standards of corporate governance and international standards on which the AFSA and the AIFC is based.

Gareth Ling, Deputy CEO of the AFSA said, “It is imperative that firms granted conditional licenses by the AFSA must fulfil those conditions to the AFSA’s full satisfaction before undertaking those activities for which they have sought authorisation. The fact that GB Insurance Ltd completely disregarded critical pre-conditions of its license was an act of recklessness and irresponsibility and cannot be tolerated under any circumstances”.

Protection of consumer rights is one of the AFSA’s highest priorities. The AFSA will not permit companies to operate that fail to comply with the core requirements set by the regulator where such failures may expose consumers to unwarranted risks.

As a Class 3 Captive Insurer, the firm’s business was limited to insuring risks of entities owned by the same persons as the owners of GB Insurance Ltd. Nevertheless, the firm has been ordered, amongst other actions, to wind-down or run-off its existing insurance contracts.

Reference: 

The Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) is the independent regulator of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), which is established in accordance with the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On the Astana International Financial Centre” for the purposes of regulating financial services and related activities in the AIFC. AFSA administers the AIFC Regulations and Rules and is responsible for the authorisation, registration, recognition and supervision of financial firms and market institutions in the AIFC.

Over 1,500 firms from 65 countries are registered in the AIFC. These firms provide banking, insurance, investment, professional and other services. The range of financial services offered at the AIFC is comparable to the list of services available in long-established financial centers of the world, such as London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai and others. www.afsa.kz

The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) is an independent jurisdiction that began operations in 2018. In accordance with the 2025 Development Strategy, the key task of the AIFC is to consolidate as a universal platform connecting the countries of the EAEU, Central Asia and South Caucasus. www.aifc.kz