By Uzoma Akobundu
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has lifted the trading ban it placed on Niger Insurance Plc and Guinea Insurance Plc shares.
This is even as customers that took the Niger Insurance Plc policies cannot get paid for claims that have matured because the insurance firm has been grossly mismanaged.
For some time now, the management of Niger Insurance has been tossing their customers, some for more than three years now, without signs they have plans to pay claims running into billions of naira.
When Armadanews.com visited the Anthony Village office of Niger Insurance on Wednesday, many of the customers who came for payment for their policies that had matured said that NSE should have carried out an independent investigation into the claims by Niger Insurance over the health of the company before lifting trading ban on its shares.
“How can they claim that all is well now when they cannot pay claims on policies many of their customers suffered to pay premium for years due to the mismanagement of the company, one of the customers who said her name is Bola told armadanews.com
Regardless, there was notification to the effect that Niger Insurance can trade freely now on its shares as the NSE served on Wednesday, September 25.
Godstime Iwenekhai, Head, Listings Regulation Department of NES said:
“Notification of Lifting of Suspension Placed on Trading in the Shares of Guinea Insurance Plc and Niger Insurance Plc
“We refer to our Market Bulletin dated 2 July 2019, with Reference Number:
NSE/RD/LRD/MB34/19/07/02 wherein we notified Dealing Members of the suspension of eleven (11) listed companies for non-compliance with Rule 3.1, Rules for Filing of Accounts and Treatment of Default Filing, Rulebook of The Exchange (Issuers’ Rules) (“Default Filing Rules”), which provides that: “If an Issuer fails to file the relevant accounts by the expiration of the Cure Period, The Exchange will: (a) send to the Issuer a “Second Filing Deficiency Notification” within two (2) business days after the end of the Cure Period;
(b) suspend trading in the Issuer’s securities; and
(c) notify the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Market within twenty- four (24) hours of the suspension.”
“Guinea Insurance Plc and Niger Insurance Plc, two (2) of the eleven (11) companies that were suspended on 2 July 2019, have now filed their Audited Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2018 with The Exchange.
“In view of the Companies’ submission of their Audited Financial Statements, and pursuant to Rule 3.3 of the Default Filing Rules, which provides that: “The suspension of trading in the Issuer’s securities shall be lifted upon submission of the relevant accounts provided The Exchange is satisfied that the accounts comply with all applicable rules of The Exchange. The Exchange shall thereafter also announce through the medium by which the public and the SEC was initially notified of the suspension”, Dealing Members are hereby notified that the suspension placed on trading on the shares of Guinea Insurance Plc and Niger
Insurance Plc was lifted today, Wednesday, 25 September 2019.”