IDRA to handover Delta Life’s management to the board

The Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) and the board of directors of Delta Life Insurance Company Limited have come to a consensus that they would withdraw cases against each other and the regulator would hand over the management of the insurer to the company’s board.

Both sides have agreed on the issue in the last week, which was confirmed by both IDRA and Delta Life.

“Yes, we have agreed to settle the disputes and taking over the management from IDRA to Delta Life is under process,” said Adeeba Rahman who was the managing director and CEO of Delta Life Insurance before IDRA appointed administrator in February 2021.

This is very good news for the falling stock markets and their investors who have been losing money for months. Once the handover of management to Delta Life is completed there would be no barrier in giving the dividends pending for three years since 2019.

Dalil Uddin, member (law) of IDRA, also confirmed the development between IDRA and Delta Life.

“Handover of management has not yet been settled. It is under process,” Uddin told Business Insider Bangladesh on Thursday.

After detecting huge irregularities, on February 11, 2021, IDRA suspended the board of directors of Delta Life Insurance Company for four months and appointed a temporary administrator to protect the interests of the policyholders. IDRA also blamed Delta Life for evading taxes and not settling claims of policyholders.

Accordingly, Sultan-ul-Abedine Molla, a former member of IDRA, was given the administrator’s role with the condition of submitting a report to the authorities within four months. The administrator was also given two consultants to do his job properly.

But he could not submit any report despite the passage of over four months. He has also done some work beyond his jurisdiction, which forced IDRA to remove him. In June 2021, Md Rafiqul Islam, a retired joint secretary who had been working as a consultant for Delta Life was appointed as the new administrator.

Later, Md Quddus Khan, former secretary, was made administrator of Delta Life Insurance, which went to the court opposing the appointment.

On January 6, 2022, the High Court gave a verdict declaring illegal the IDRA’s decision on appointing the administrator to Delta Life Insurance in February 2021. The High Court also ordered the authority concerned to reinstate the previous board of directors. In February the Appellate Division stayed the HC order after IDRA challenged the HC order.

Delta Life has been a publicly listed company since 1995. Its paid-up capital is nearly Tk 124 crore and the market capitalisation is over Tk 1,667 crore as of July 28, 2022. Sponsors and directors hold 33.87% stakes in Delta while the public stake is 45.22% and institutes hold 20.91%.