Johannesburg - Group CEO Khandani Msibi of Doves Group and 3Sixty Life has given Prudential Authority (PA) until tomorrow to return to them with a credible offer to keep the insurance company for its unemployed curators.
3Sixty Life was placed under curatorship over solvency and liquidity 22 months ago, after the company, which serves Numsa members, was placed under curatorship in December 2021 by the Prudential Authority (PA) on allegations of an unconvincing recapitalisation plan.
The insurance company was subsequently prohibited from taking on any new insurance business.
In a statement on social media, Msibi said he has been able to prove the curators wrong over the past 22 months, and in spite of this, the continued curatorship still stands.
‘’The business proved them wrong as it became profitable after Covid and fully recapitalised itself. We now have a curator who has moved the goal posts with the PA. They have kept our business for two years without producing AFSs or fixing the problems they allege exist, and now they blame us. We are done now, and we are going to move on with other insurers and let them liquidate 3Sixty Life. If by Wednesday they don’t come back to us with a credible offer, they can keep 3Sixty Life for this unemployed curator of theirs,’’ Msibi said.
Speaking to The Star yesterday, Msibi said they have since written to the PA, lamenting the impact this continued curatorship has had on their business.
In a letter dated September 7, 2022, and addressed to Kerwin Martin, Msibi details the negative aspect of the curatorship, saying the PA and BDO, which employed Yashoda Ram as the curator, were so enraged to realise that they both removed themselves from overseeing the process, resulting in the appointment of new curators.
‘’The new PA allowed us to terminate the services of SNG, who were our auditors and were suspected to have connived with the PA to engineer our curatorship. Throughout this process, we have had to defend ourselves against reputational attacks by the PA. We know that we were attacked solely because we defended the organisation in court when all other black insurance companies, which the PA placed under curatorship and liquidated, could not mount a challenge to the PA.
‘’The most recent example is the liquidation of Constantia Insurance and the elimination of UBank, which were executed without as much media controversy as the attempted destruction of 3Sixty Life,’’ Msibi writes.
Msibi also accused the PA of a smear campaign aimed at portraying him and 3Sixty Life as corrupt.
‘’The Prudential Authority mounted a smear campaign against us, implying that we are corrupt, and they had the business under curatorship for two years, but they were disappointed that there is no evidence of wrongdoing on our part.
‘’They found a business that is well run but was affected by Covid and undermined by the audit firm they were conniving with. We are going to write a tell-all book about the curatorship of 3Sixty Life. You will be surprised at the clandestine ways used to harass and intimidate us and the win at all costs strategies they employed,’’ he said.
He added that on July 7, the group wrote a letter proposing a meeting between itself and the PA, and to date, there has been no indication on the part of the PA to ensure the meeting takes place.
‘’We have noted the pronouncement of the governor of the reserve bank to the portfolio committee of finance that the reason for 3Sixty Life remains under curatorship is because of a breakdown of controls and a lack of annual financial statements since 2020.’’
‘’We would like to remind you that 3Sixty Life has been under curatorship for 22 months, and the PA, through the curator, had enough time to produce AFSs and establish the alleged missing controls. Moreover, the curator has terminated the services of the people who were responsible for 2021/2022,’’ he said.
Attempts to get comment from the PA were unsuccessful at the time of going to print, and previous requests for comment were declined.
The Star