Botswana - Obtain a Health membership organization Licence

Advertisement

Procedure

Apply In Person:

1. Any person who desires to carry on business as a health membership organization/health insurance (insurer) shall apply to the Non-Banking Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA) for an operating License. NBFIRA Office Location & Contact Details
2. Applicants are required to collect and complete the Application for License to Operate as an Insurer- Form 1, obtainable at the NBFIRA office or download it via the NBFIRA Website NBFIRA Application Forms or directly download the form using this link, Application for License to Operate as an Insurer- Form 1
3. Upon obtaining the application form, the applicant should legibly complete the form, attach all the supporting documentation as listed under the “Required Documents” section of this page and submit the complete application file to the NBFIRA office, Insurance Section for consideration. Any omission of the required documents or information will render the application process incomplete.
4. The application shall also be accompanied by a license Fee of BWP 25,000.00 (Non-Refundable) and should be deposited into the NBFIRA bank account. Please refer to the “Fees” section for more information.
5. Upon receipt of the application, the NBFIRA officer will check for discrepancies or ineligibility in the application documents. If a discrepancy that cannot be immediately corrected exists in any of the documents, the application and all the submitted documents will be returned to the applicant and should not be re-submitted until the discrepancy has been rectified corrected.
6. The NBFIRA office may request additional information relevant to the application for the purpose of ascertaining compliance by the applicant with all applicable laws and regulations. In such a case, the information must be submitted within the stipulated time from the date of receiving such notice. Where the applicant fails to submit the required information, the NBFIRA office shall reject the application.
7. The Authority shall, for the purpose of considering and making a report on an application, appoint a committee of not less than three members of the Authority which committee shall report its recommendations to the Authority in writing.
8. After the successful screening of the submitted documents, Where the Regulatory Authority is satisfied that the applicant has complied with all the requirements as may be applicable; and demonstrated the capacity to meet the obligations and compliance requirements it shall, within 90 days of receiving the complete application and requested additional information, issue a license to the applicant.
9. Notice of the decision (Approval, Deferral, or Rejection) for the application will be communicated to the client by letter.
10. Where the Authority is not satisfied with the findings, it shall refuse to grant a License and give reasons in writing for its decision.
11. While collecting the license the applicant will be required to procedure their identity document and NBFIRA approval letter to be validated by the NBFIRA office.

Appeal against rejection of a license:

• Any person aggrieved by the decision of the Regulatory Authority not to grant a license, may appeal against the decision or re-apply if the deficiencies that formed the basis for rejection of the application have been corrected or otherwise addressed to the Regulatory Authority.

Advertisement

Required Documents

• Duly complete and signed Application for License to Operate as an Insurer- Form 1
• Certificate of Incorporation.
• Memorandum & Articles of Association and/or Constitution of Company.
• Notice of Issue of Shares (Form 8).
• Shareholder certificate(s).
• Consent and Certificate of Director(s) or secretaries (Form 2B).
• There is a limit of 5% ownership between an insurer and a broker, whether this is directly or indirectly held, No person is allowed to be employed by both an insurer and a broker, in the capacity of manager, controller, director, or principal officer.
• Where the insurer owns in excess of 20% of the equity stock in any other company the company name, country of incorporation or registration, principal business activity, and percentage stock holding of each such company shall be stated.
• Notice/Proof of physical and postal address (e.g. lease agreement, utility bills, etc.).
• Appointment of Auditors (offer letter from insurer, acceptance letter, and practicing certificate from auditors).
• Appointment of Valuators; Actuaries for Life re/insurers and approved persons for Non-life re/insurers.
• Controller Certified copies of identification documents (Omang for citizens; or work and residence permits, and passport for non-citizens), copies of educational certificates, Biographical Affidavit form, Security Vetting Authorization (SV1) form, Police clearance certificate (from the country of residence), CV, proof of residence (utility bill, letter from employer or affidavit), bank reference, personal balance sheet and 2 passport-sized photographs in respect of all controllers.
• Business plan. (The business plan must show that the company will be able to meet the required solvency margin. In the case of a non-life insurer, the solvency margin is P1 million or 20% of the net premium income, whichever is greater. For a life insurer, assets must exceed liabilities).
• Risk Management Strategy.
• Anti-Money laundering/ combating the Financing of Terrorism policy.
• Disaster Recovery Plan.
• Investment Strategy.
• IT System general overview.
• Underwriting policy.
• Reinsurance and other risk transfer policies.
• Approved person or Valuator’s report.
• Proposed products policy wording
• Other supporting documentation as requested by the NBIFA office

Office Locations & Contacts

Non-Banking Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA)
Address: 3rd floor Exponential Building,
Plot 54351 New CBD, Off PG Matante Road,
Gaborone.
Private Bag 00314, Gaborone
Tel: +267 3102595 / 3686100
Fax: +267 3102376 / 3102353
NBFIRA Office Location & Contact Details
NBFIRA Website

Eligibility

An insurer seeking registration should meet the following requirement to be eligible to apply –
Company Requirements:

• It is a company registered under the Companies Act of Botswana.
• It has a principal office in Botswana.

Controller Requirements:

• The controllers, managers, principal officers, and directors who handle the day-to-day management of the company are all residents in Botswana.
• The controllers and managers are persons with sufficient business knowledge and at least 5 years of experience in the insurance industry.
• The Principal Officer should be a person with a minimum of Associate in a recognized Insurance institution or its equivalent and at least five (5) years’ experience working in a managerial position of an insurance company.
• All controllers to meet the fit and proper requirements as prescribed by the NBFIRA Fit and Proper Rules.
• Evidence of insurance qualifications and experience of the principal officer, as per the NBFIRA Fit and Proper requirements.
• Appointment of Anti-Money Laundering/ Combating the Financing of Terrorism Compliance Office.

Capital Requirements:

• Non-life insurers to maintain a minimum capital target which shall be the higher of P5 million or 25% of operating expenses.
• Life insurers should maintain a minimum capital target which shall be higher than P10 million or 25% of operating expenses.
• Reinsurers should maintain a minimum capital target which shall be the higher of P10 million or 25% of operating expenses.

Fees

• A licensing fee of P25, 000 (non-refundable) and should be deposited into NBFIRA bank Account No: 9060001296510 Stanbic Bank-Fairgrounds.

Validity

• The validity of the insurer license is one (1) year from the date of issue and it shall remain valid for that period unless cancelled, revoked, or surrendered to Regulatory Authority.
• The License should be renewed ninety (90) days before the expiration of the current license.

Documents to Use

• Application for License to Operate as an Insurer- Form 1
  

Sample Documents

Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

Processing Time

• The time frame for processing the application is ninety (90) days from the date of submission of the application, provided all the documents and information have been provided for processing and consideration by the Regulatory Authority.

Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications.
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type='website'>video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the '&' inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver,
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is dkisplayed.
e.g In the following url 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M' Video ID is 'Y0US7oR_t3M'.

Instructions

Please provide other instructions related to the certificate/documents.
e.g. The state office holds birth records since January 1908.

Required Information

• Business name
• Head Office address /contact details
• Principal Place of Business Details/ Contact Details
• Reliance on Other Parties Details/Contact Details (Consultant/ Auditor/ Actuary/ Insurance Manager)
• Governance: Company Structure, Legal Form, and Head Office Details
• Ownership and Control Details
• Financial Soundness and Capital Requirements Details
• Size and Type of Business Details
• Administration Systems and Processes Details
• Particulars of controllers/key persons
• Questionnaire for controllers/key persons
• Particulars of the shareholders
• Particulars of service providers
• Risk management strategy
• Business plan
• Sources of Capital
• Declaration by applicant

Need for the Document

• Any company that wishes to undertake insurance business such as Health Insurance is required to be registered and licensed as an Insurer by the Non-Banking Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA) which is the Regulatory Authority.

Information which might help

No insurer may employ as its manager, controller, or principal officer any person who:

• Has been adjudged as bankrupt in any country
• Has made an assignment to or arrangement or composition with creditors which has not been rescinded or set aside
• Has been convicted by any court in any country of an offense involving dishonesty
• In the opinion of the Registrar, is an unfit person to hold the office.

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

Please explain what are other uses for obtaining this document/certificate.
e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

External Links

• Requirements for Licensing of an Insurance Company
  
• Insurance Industry Regulations 2019
  

Others

More information which might help people.