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Tag: Goldlink

  • Goldlink gets new interim Board

    Goldlink Insurance Plc has announced a  change in its board and management as a result of the restructuring of the Interim Management Board by National Insurance Commission (NAICOM).

    A statement by the Head of Corporate Communications Unit, Adeola Adigun, said the Management headed by the Acting Managing Director, Mrs Funke Moore, has completed its mission of repositioning the company for capital raise; hence the restructuring and has ceased to be at the helm of affairs.

    This necessitated the appointment of Mr. Edore Kenneth Egbaran as  the new Managing Director, Mr. Nahim Abe Ibraheem, the Chairman of the Board with Messrs Olanrewaju Sulaimon, Adeyinka Olutungase, Farouk Lawal Yola and Mrs Tonbofa Ashimi as members of the Board.

  • NAICOM may prosecute ex-directors, for alleged fraud in Goldlink

    NAICOM may prosecute ex-directors, for alleged fraud in Goldlink

    Following the allegations of fraud by KPMG against former directors of Goldlink Insurance Plc, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) may prosecute those indicted, The Nation has learnt.

    NAICOM on November 1, 2012 took over the management of Goldlink when it became clear that there were anomalies and misstatements in the audited financial statements of the company for the year ended December 31, 2011.

    The commission reconstituted a seven-man interim Board of Directors headed by James Ayo to oversee the affairs of the company.

    It also engaged KPMG to carry out forensic investigation on the true financial position of the company.

    Unveiling the report of the forensic investigation at the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2011 to 2014, Ayo said the investigation confirmed the observation of NAICOM that various abnormalities identified in the 2011 financial statement were attempts to conceal the company’s true financial position.

    He disclosed that some irregularities were perpetuated by the former executives and staff of the company, adding that there was a  breakdown of corporate governance typified by the former non-executive chairman’s presence in the office.

    He explained that the interim management board instituted a share capital audit, which revealed that about 2.5 billion shares were inappropriately issued to selected shareholders without considerations into the company.

    He said: “To support the creation of these bubble shares, the Head Office Building and other assets were revalued and inflated by about N1.5 billion. The revaluation surplus was used in part to create these shares against sound accounting standards and principles.

    “Currently, the interim management board has recovered 1.2 billion shares through voluntary surrender and about 134 million shares by way of forfeiture.

    “The interim board also found out  that about 1.2 billion share unit have been disposed of by some of the beneficiaries, and that the interim management board has commenced the process of recovering the disposed shares and associated dividends of about N125 million.”

    The Commission’s spokesman, Rasaaq Salami, in an interview, said the Commission prompted the company to hold its AGM.

    He said they were sure the shareholders had been informed of developments in the company.

    Salami stressed that the Commission would not treat any issue that has to do with fraud with levity.

    “NAICOM will not treat any issue that has to do with fraud with levity. Rather it will ensure that the interest of policyholders are protected. The Commission ensured the company held its annual general meeting so that shareholders and the general public can know what is going on with the company.

    “The report has been forwarded to the appropriate department of the Commission to determine the next line of action. What we want to achieve is to ensure the company gets better than we met it,” he said.

  • Goldlink: Interim Board recovers 1.2b shares

    Goldlink: Interim Board recovers 1.2b shares

    • Shareholders demand new board

    After three years of  intervention in Goldlink Insurance Plc, the Interim Management Board has recovered 1.2 billion bubble shares perpetrated by its former directors.

    The interim management  determined that there were abnormalities in the 2011 financial statement and attempts made to conceal the company’s financial position.

    NAICOM on November 1, 2012 took over Goldlink when it became apparent that there were anomalies and misstatements in the audited financial statements of the company for the year ended December 31, 2011.

    The commission sacked the board, which had Femi Okuniyi as its Managing Director   and reconstituted a seven-man interim board headed by the Chairman, James Ayo, to oversee the affairs of the company.

    The Commission also engaged KPMG to  audit the company.

    Unveiling the report of the forensic probe at the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), Ayo said the audit confirmed the observation of NAICOM that various abnormalities identified in the 2011 financial statement were attempts to conceal the company’s true financial position.

    He said several irregularities were perpetuated by the former executives and staff of the company, adding that there was a breakdown of corporate governance.

    He explained that the interim management board instituted a share capital audit, which revealed that about 2.5 billion shares were inappropriately issued to selected shareholders without considerations into the company.

    He said “To support the creation of these bubble shares, the Head Office Building and other assets were revalued and inflated by about N1.5 billion. The revaluation surplus was used in part to create these shares against sound accounting standards and principles.

    “Currently, the interim management board has recovered 1.2 billion shares through voluntary surrender and about 134 million shares by way of forfeiture.

    “The interim board also found out  that about 1.2 billion share unit have been disposed of by some of the beneficiaries, and that the interim management board has commenced the process of recovering the disposed shares and associated dividends of about N125 million,” he said.

    Meanwhile, shareholders gave the Commission 90 days to reconstitute the board to reflect the shareholders of the company.

  • NSE clears Goldlink

    NSE clears Goldlink

    GOLDLINK Insurance Plc has received a clean bill of health from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

    This follows the response from Goldlink’s management to the warning issued by the Exchange to delist some companies from the NSE, including Goldlink, its Managing Director, Gbolahan Olutayo has said.

    He said this was contained in a  statement by the NSE on its website, which cleared Goldlink from the list of firms to be delisted.

    He said the NSE had posted the list of firms to be delisted on its website in September, last year and stated that 19 companies were regularising their books with the NSE to avoid being sanctioned.

    According to the NSE, he said, other listed companies that failed to take any or appropriate steps to regularise their books have been delisted from the Stock Exchange following the expiration of the deadline it gave before taking the final decision.

    He noted that with the clearance of Goldlink by the NSE, the company is reassuring its shareholders of its commitment to secure their investments in the company.

    Olutayo said all hands are on deck to ensure better returns on the investment of shareholders.

    He said the National Insurance Commission(NAICOM) has addressed all challenges confronted by Goldlink in the past, adding that  measures were in place to ensure that all requirements of statutory compliance are adhered to.

    Olutayo assured the shareholders that plans were in place to acquaint them with reports of efforts made  to reposition the company for effective service and better returns on their investments.

  • Goldlink will emerge strong, says NAICOM

    The regulatory body of the insurance industry, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has assured that Goldlink Insurance Plc will be repositioned. The assurance is coming on the heels of its intervention in the company when it sacked its management two years ago.

    Commissioner for Insurance, Fola Daniel made this known while giving an update on companies under its management in Lagos. He explained that their intervention in Goodlink is to rescue the company from collapse.

    He said: “I think our intervention in Goodlink is to rescue the company from imminent collapse. I am very happy to say that the company is on its right track and to coming back fully.

    “We actually put in a place an interim management that was meant to work for only six months. We found it necessary to extend it further because the interim management is doing a good job. “We have been able to track the assets that were shrouded in cloudiness. We know the exact liability of the company and the company is being repositioned.”

    NAICOM took over the management of Goldlink for financial reports and corporate governance failures. The commission has also reconstituted a seven-man interim board of directors to oversee the affairs of the company for the six months with effect from October 31.

    The commission uncovered anomalies and misstatements in the audited financial statements of the company for the year ended December 31, 2011.The interim board was charged with the responsibility of carrying out full investigation on the 2010 financial reports and corporate governance failures observed in the course of reviewing the company’s financial statement.

    The interim board, has James Olatunde Ayo, former Managing Director of Royal Exchange Assurance Plc as Chairman and Gbolahan Olutayo, Managing Director,  Adeyinka Olutungase as Chief Finance Officer (CFO), Ambassador Umar Damagun, Alhaji Sashe Dabana, Prof. Chioma Kanu Agomo and Mallam Abubakar Sadiq Mijinyawa as an Independent Director.

  • Goldlink settles N1.4b

    Goldlink settles N1.4b

    Goldlink Insurance Plc settled claims of N1.4 billion last year with a total of N872.5 million paid on General Insurance Business and N569.8 million on Life Business, its Managing Director,   Gbolahan Olutayo, has said.

    He said the firm’s selling point is its prompt claims settlement, adding that it is also one way of reassuring its clients and the public.

    He said to consolidate the prompt claims settlement culture, Goldlink, upon notification, keeps reserve for each and every claim immediately, adding that it also engaged the services of competent and qualified engineers and professional loss adjusters for immediate claims’investigations and handling, where necessary.

    He said to decentralise the claims-handling and administration, branch managers were authorised subject to their branch limit to issue settlement offer to their concerned clients before recourse to the Head Office, adding that it is the company’s policy to deliver claims’ settlement cheques within 48 hours of the receipt of all duly executed discharge vouchers.

    Olutayo explained that the recent restructuring of the firm’s board by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has repositioned it for increased productivity within the market.

    The new board is made up of veterans and professionals in various fields whose wealth of experience has given the firm a competitive edge in the industry.

    He said the firm engaged motivated workforce and have instituted various activities that are designed to sustain staff enthusiasm and performance toward delivering its goals.

  • NAICOM promises to release report on Goldlink soon

    The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has pledged to act soon on the recommendations of the report of the interim management it set up to probe sacked directors of Goldlink Insurance Plc, The Nation learnt.

    They were booted out for alleged anomalies and misstatements in the company’s accounts for the year ended December 31, 2011.

    Spokesman, Rasaaq Salami, confirmed NAICOM’s receiving of the report, adding that it was received about three weeks ago.

    He said the interim management has reviewed the audit by KPMG, and made recommendations, adding that the Commission is working on these recommendations.

    Salami regreted that NAICOM’s intervention came a little late. The former board alleged to be involved in mismanagement and other irregularities had Mr Gbenga Afolayan as Chairman, and Mr Femi Okuniyi as Managing Director.

    The interim board has Mr James Ayo as Chairman; Mr Gbolahan Olutayo, as Managing Director and Mr Adeyinka Olutungasem, Chief Finance Officer.

    Other members include Ambassador Umar Damagun, Alhaji Sahe Dabana, Prof. Chioma Kanu Agomo and Mallam Abubakar Sadiq Mijinyawa.

    But the interim management constituted to audit the financial reports and corporate governance failures, is still in office three weeks after the submission of their findings, despite shareholders’ grouse over the huge funds being spent on them.

    However, Salami said the interim management team was being retained to avoid a gap.

    Meanwhile, sources in the industry who asked not to be identified, said they were worried over the delay by NAICOM to unveil the findings of the KPMG report.

    One of the sources pointed out that there should be no more excuses from the regulator since the recommendation has been submitted to them.

    Another source urged NAICOM to release the findings soon.

    NAICOM had in furtherance of its oversight functions taken over the management of Goldlink Insurance Plc and constituted a seven-man interim board to oversee the affairs of the company for six months with effect from October last year.

    According to the commission, the interim board followed the resignation of members of the directors of the company. Their resignation became apparent after the commission uncovered anomalies and misstatements in the audited financial statements of the company for the year ended December 31, 2011.

    The board was charged with probing the financial reports and corporate governance failures observed in the company’s financial statement for 2011.

  • Shareholders to NAICOM: Be decisive on Goldlink

    SHAREHOLDERS of Goldline Insurance Plc have expressed doubt over the sincerity of the regulator, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), in exposing the forensic report of KPMG over the true financial position of the risk bearing firm.

    In line with its regulatory oversight function, NAICOM had taken over the management of Goldlink Insurance Plc, one of the composite insurance companies in the country.

    The takeover is similar to what happened in the banking sector in 2009 when the Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, wielded the big stick against some erring chief executive officers of banks in the country.

    NAICOM has in the past six years taken over Spring Life Insurance and Investment and Allied Assurance Plc. Goldlink is the third insurance company to be taken over by the commission.

    Following the resignation of the former board in November 2012, NAICOM, headed by Commissioner for Insurance, Mr. Fola Daniel, reconstituted an interim board comprising the chairman, Mr. James Ayo and Mr. Gbolahan Olutayo as Managing Director.

    The former board had Mr. Gbenga Afolayan as Chairman and Mr. Femi Okuniyi as the managing director of the company.

    They were forced to resign over alleged misstatements of the company for the year ended December 31, 2011.

    Daniel said the interim board is charged with the responsibility of carrying out full investigation on the financial reports and corporate governance failures observed in the course of reviewing the company’s financial statement for the year 2011.

    It was however gathered that NAICOM had received the forensic report of Goldlink Insurance Plc.

    It was also gathered that the regulator had also secretely extended the tenure of the interim board members which expired in April to end of July this year.

    Shareholders and sources in the insurance industry who spoke with The Nation over the company’s takeover said they want NAICOM to take a bold step on the company and reveal the findings of the report.

    They want to know if money has been stolen from the company and the financial status of the company.

    According to them, there is a lot of pressure on the commissioner not to disclose some of the findings of the report, adding that the further extension of the interim board may be part of the pressure mounted on him not to disclose the findings of the forensic report.

    A source who does not want his name mentioned disclosed that the KPMG’s forensic report contained damning revelations.

    Another source who spoke advised the regulator to be decisive about the way the intervention should go and not bow to any pressure if the ultimate goal of the takeover is survival of the company.

    He noted that NAICOM should be more sincere with its supervisory roles as the problem in Goldlink did not start in 2011.

    Chairman of Standard Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mr. Anono Godwin, said his members were not happy with timing of NAICOM’s takeover of the company, lamenting that efforts were underway to get funds to return the company back to profitability before the regulator swung into action.

    He said, “The regulator is only interested in slamming fines and penalties on these companies. The shareholders already gave the company the mandate to get a loan from the bank either on short or long term to get the company going.

    “But they went ahead and intervened. Now that they have intervened, how long will it take them to let us know what is happening in the company? But we will wait for them till the end of the three months extension which ends this month before we know what step to take.”

    A shareholder said NAICOM ought to let them know what the achievement of the interim board is in the first six months of their investigation before extending their tenure for another three months.

    The shareholder said his members would also like to know the financial cost of the intervention on the firm.

    “If the commission had been carrying out its oversight functions properly, it would not have waited until things got bad before reacting. “It was the same problem with Spring Life and Investment and Allied Assurance,”the shareholder said.

    Responding to an email enquiry on its intervention in Goldlink, the Commissioner confirmed that the commission has received a forensic report from KPMG on alledged misstatements in the company’s 2011 account.

    Stating reasons for the extension, Daniel had explained that it was in order to allow for the conclusion of the forensic audit which was still in process then.

    Daniel said: “Yes, a copy of the report was forwarded to the Commission just by way of information only. But it is the responsibility of the interim management of the company to submit the report to NAICOM, stating its observations, comments and advice.

    “The Commission awaits the report of the interim management, which is being expected soon and wouldn’t want to inadvertently pre-empt or influence their report.”

    When The Nation contacted the Chairman of the Interim Board, Mr. James Ayo, over some of the questions raised by the shareholders, he said the board members have decided not to speak with journalist and advised that all questions be directed to the regulator as the board members were its agents.