3Sixty Life, an underwriter of life insurance and funeral policies owned by the investment arm of the National Union of Metal Workers of SA (Numsa), has filed an 854-page answering affidavit objecting to the provisional curatorship secured against it by the Prudential Authority (PA) in December.
The answering affidavit was filed in the high court on January 21 and argues that the provisional curatorship “materially prejudices” 3Sixty Life and has “dire effects” on its policyholders and employees. Central to 3Sixty Life’s objection is the fact that the provisional liquidation order was secured on an ex parte basis, a legal term referring to orders granted without waiting for a response from the opposing side.
The high court appointed BDO SA auditor Yashoda Ram as 3Sixty Life’s provisional curator on December 21 after an urgent application was made by the PA, which says the insurer had failed to maintain the minimum capital and the solvency capital requirements, as prescribed in the Insurance Act. The court set a return date of April 12, to allow 3Sixty Life to argue why the provisional curatorship should not be made final.
“This order was secured ex parte and as such 3Sixty Life was not given notice of the application nor was it represented in the case when the order was granted,” 3Sixty Global Solutions Group, the insurer’s parent company said in a separate statement.
“The board of 3Sixty Life resolved to oppose that the provisional order be made final. 3Sixty has filed its opposing affidavit and has anticipated the return date of confirmation of the provisional order as it is entitled to in terms of the rules of court.”
According to 3Sixty Life’s website, the company was founded in 1993 as HTG Life but its name was changed to Union Life in January 2008. It was rebranded in 2018 as 3Sixty Life to align with the name of its parent company, 3Sixty Global Solutions Group, which also administers the Sizwe Medical Fund through its subsidiary 3Sixty Health.
The chair of 3Sixty Global Solutions Group is Khandani Msibi, the group CEO of the investment arm of Numsa. Msibi is also listed on the website of 3Sixty Life as the company’s acting CEO.
The return date of the court hearing of opposition of confirmation of the final order of curatorship is February 1, according to the statement by 3Sixty Global Solutions Group.
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