Insurance Law
Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr's expertise in the insurance sector is located across the firm's practice areas allowing a seamless service to our clients regardless of the nature of the transaction or advice they need. Our lawyers combine a detailed knowledge of the sector and a commercial awareness of the insurance industry.
Our dedicated team of corporate insurance specialists has vast experience and considerable knowledge of both the long-term and short-term insurance and regulatory industry. While centralised within the firm's Finance, Banking and Projects practice, the Insurance team includes specialists from the Corporate and Commercial, Dispute Resolution: Litigation, Arbitration and Mediation and Employment practices in particular. These specialists provide the full range of legal services pertaining to the insurance and regulatory sector by combining their detailed knowledge of the insurance industry with their respective commercial backgrounds.
The Insurance team's services include advising on, developing and structuring financial products offered by insurers, reinsurers, financial services providers and intermediaries, to comply with the legislative and regulatory framework, as well as general advice and assistance regarding complex legislation regulating the insurance and financial services industry.
Our clients include the top five life offices and various financial services providers in South Africa and abroad.
Our services
Our services include advising, assisting, structuring, drafting and implementing the following:
- demutualisation, transfers and substitutions of insurance businesses in terms of the Long-term and Short-term Insurance Acts, and close liaison with the Financial Services Board, auditors and actuaries in the implementation of the transfer or substitution
- cell captive arrangements
- formal notifications to and dealings with the Registrar of Long-term and Short-term Insurance and regular interaction with the Financial Services Board
- the implications and effects of insurance legislation, the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act, industry codes and ancillary legislation and any amendments impacting on the insurance industry; as well as providing general advice and opinions on the practical implications and structuring of business ventures to comply with such legal frameworks
- group scheme structures, policy agreements and reinsurance arrangements
- agreements with administrators, intermediaries, brokers and representatives
- specialised insurance products aimed predominantly at listed companies
- products offered and marketed by administrative and discretionary financial services providers
- bancassurance products
- insurance products for post retirement medical scheme benefit obligations of employers towards their employees
- insurance products issued to pension and provident funds
- advising on the prescribed kinds and spread of assets, capital adequacy requirements and financial soundness requirements of long-term and short-term insurers
- due diligence investigations pertaining to insurers
- distribution networks for life offices for purposes of channelling underwritten and non-underwritten investment products on the same investment platforms.
- Additionally, the team advises on general corporate issues affecting insurers and has had many dealings with various pension funds, provident funds and medical schemes.
Representative work
- Advised insurers and assisted them with responses following an investigation by the Financial Services Board into commission payments in the credit life insurance industry during 2007.
- Successfully completed numerous transfers of long-term insurance businesses between life offices in terms of section 37(1) of the Long-term Insurance Act, 52 of 1998, as well as transfers of short-term insurance businesses in terms of section 36 of the Short-term Insurance Act, 53 of 1998.
- Assisted in the substitution of various group schemes underwritten by one life office with policies of another life office in terms of section 37(2) of the Long-term Insurance Act, 52 of 1998.
- Assisted in the demutualisation of a life office together with the restructuring of the group.