Kathmandu. Current fiscal year 2081. Even after the end of the third quarter of 2082, most of the insurance companies currently in operation were in operation in 2080. They have missed out on the annual general meeting of 81. It has been found that most of the insurance companies have not shown interest in convening the annual general meeting of the last fiscal year, defying the provisions of the Companies Act and the Insurance Act.
According to the provision in Section 87 of the Insurance Act, 2079, the insurer has to conduct the audit within three months from the end of the financial year as per the prevailing law. In case the audit is not completed within the stipulated period, the insurer can request the Nepal Insurance Authority to extend it by two months.
Similarly, sub-section 5 of the same section states that the insurer has to submit his financial statements to the AUTHORITY for approval within 30 days of the completion of his audit. After the approval of the AUTHORITY, the companies can decide the date from the Annual General Meeting.
On the other hand, sub-section 1 of Section 76 of the Companies Act, 2063 states that every public company should hold its first annual general meeting within one year of the permission to start the business and then the annual general meeting within six months of the completion of the financial year of the company every year.
According to sub-section 2 of the same section, if any public company does not convene the annual general meeting within three months of the expiry of the deadline, the office of the Registrar of Companies can direct to convene the annual general meeting of such company. Sub-section 3 provides that if the company does not convene the annual general meeting within three months of receiving the instructions from the office, then any shareholder can file an application in the court. If such an application is made, the court may ask for the annual general meeting or issue other appropriate orders.
More than two dozen insurance companies have not yet convened the annual general meeting of the last fiscal year in accordance with the inline_tags_PLACEHOLDER_13##बीमा Act and the Companies Act. At present, there are 14 life, 14 non-life, seven micro (life and non-life) and two reinsurance companies in Nepal. Of these, only a dozen companies have held the annual general meeting of the last fiscal year.
Nepal Life, IME Life, Citizen Life, Suryajyoti Life, Sanima Reliance Life and Guardian Micro Life have already completed the annual general meeting of the last fiscal year. Nepal Life, IME Life, Citizen Life, Suryajyoti Life, Sanima Reliance Life and Guardian Micro Life have held their agm on March 15, 2019 and March 15 respectively.
The remaining 11 life BComs are National Life Insurance, National Life, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC Nepal), MetLife, Asian Life, Sun Nepal Life, Reliable Nepal Life, Himalayan Life and Prabhu Life and Crest Micro Life and Liberty Micro Life.
Similarly, six of the non-life insurers have already convened the annual general meeting of the last fiscal year. Among them, Nepal Insurance company, Shikhar Insurance, Himalayan Everest Insurance, Sanima GIC Insurance, Siddhartha Premier Insurance and IGI Prudential Insurance have already held their agm on March 15. The remaining eight non-life and four non-life micro insurers have not convened the agm.
Oriental Insurance, Rastriya Bima Company, National Life, NLG Insurance, Neco Insurance, Prabhu Insurance, Sagarmatha Lumbini Insurance and United Ajod and Nepal Micro Insurance, Protective Micro Insurance, Star Micro Insurance and Trust Micro Insurance have not yet called general insurance.
Similarly, two reinsurance companies Himalayan Reinsurance and Nepal Reinsurance Company have not convened the annual general meeting of the last fiscal year.
According to NEA sources, the financial reports of many insurance companies for the last financial year are still under approval.
