Thailand’s Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) said on Tuesday one of the troubled insurance firms, The One Insurance, is still running its business after announcing to temporarily close for two weeks to enhance liquidity.
“It is considered a violation if the company ceases conducting business on its own without the permission of the insurance commission,” OIC secretary Suthipol Thaweechaikarn said in a statement.
Suthipol said that the OIC had assigned inspectors to examine the company for any suspicious asset transfers or odd bank transactions.
The One Insurance is one of those that has provided Covid-19 insurance, which guarantees a payout if the virus is detected.
However, when infections spiked swiftly, such insurers lacked the liquidity to pay on time and faced financial burden.
As a result, the OIC launched several measures to provide those insurers liquidity in order to help them pay outstanding Covid insurance claims to customers.
On Tuesday, the OIC arranged a meeting with The One Insurance executives to outline its capital increase plan, as well as discuss the solution to pay insurance claims properly.
“At this moment, no order has been issued to suspend business or to halt the payouts,” Suthipol added.
Besides The One Insurance, Syn Mun Kong Insurance (SMK) is another one confronting the payout crisis.
SMK’s controlling shareholders are considering selling a majority stake and have chosen several strategic parties to advance to the next stage of bidding, according to Bloomberg’s report.
Among those chosen for advancement are Assicurazioni Generali SpA and Liberty Mutual Group.
“The sale could include a fresh investment of about USD 100 million,” said the report.
