3Sixty Life has been placed into final curatorship – under a new curator – following an agreement between the life insurer and the Prudential Authority (PA), the regulator announced on Friday.
The move (hopefully) means the end of the legal battles between 3Sixty Life and the PA that began in December 2021 when the PA applied to the High Court to place Sixty Life under provisional curatorship. The PA said 3Sixty did not meet the capital and solvency requirements of the Insurance Act.
3Sixty Life is wholly owned by Doves Group Holdings (Pty) Ltd, which is ultimately owned by Numsa Investment Company (Pty) Ltd.
On 21 February, the High Court appointed Fagmeedah Petersen-Cook as the final curator of 3Sixty Life.
Petersen-Cook is a qualified actuary and a Fellow of the Actuarial Society in South Africa and the United Kingdom. She serves as a non-executive director for various companies, including Pepkor and Absa Financial Services. She has fulfilled the role of insurance director on the boards of several companies and holds a Chartered Director designation from the Institute of Directors in South Africa.
The appointment of Petersen-Cook means that Yashoda Ram, who was appointed as the provisional curator in December 2021, and Tinashe Mashoko, whom the PA initially sought to have appointed as the final curator, are no longer involved with the curatorship of 3Sixty Life.
In February 2022, the PA applied to have Ram removed as provisional curator on the basis that she had allegedly misrepresented qualifications. Ram, who resigned as the head of actuarial services of BDO SA in April 2022, has consistently denied the allegations.
On 30 September 2022, the High Court granted the final curatorship order and cancelled Ram’s appointment and appointed Mashoko of BDO Advisory Services as the final curator.
But 3Sixty immediately lodged an application for leave to appeal, suspending the High Court’s order. 3Sixty Life remained under provisional curatorship, with Ram as the provisional curator.
Read: High Court judgment is not the end of the dispute over 3Sixty Life’s curatorship
3Sixty’s application for leave to appeal was heard by the High Court on 4 November 2022. On 7 November, the High Court dismissed 3Sixty Life’s application, with costs. The following day, 3Sixty Life petitioned the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) for leave to appeal against the High Court’s decision. By default, this application also suspended the order of 30 September 2022.
The PA again opposed this application for leave to appeal.
Read: 3Sixty Life petitions Supreme Court of Appeal over final curatorship order
Parties reach an agreement
“The PA and the suspended directors of 3Sixty Life subsequently agreed that the protracted litigation was not in the best interests of the policyholders of 3Sixty Life, and following discussions between the parties, 3Sixty Life withdrew its appeal to the SCA on 2 February 2023. By virtue of the withdrawal of the appeal, the 30 September 2022 curatorship order became final,” the PA said.
Following discussions between the parties, the PA applied to the High Court to release Mashoko from his appointment as the final curator and for the PA to appoint a new independent final curator.
The PA said it remains of the view that the curatorship of 3Sixty Life is in the best interests of its policyholders, based on the currently available and verifiable information.
The PA will work with the FSCA and the curator to ensure 3Sixty Life’s policyholders continue to be properly protected during this process.
“The curatorship presents the most suitable and most effective mechanism to facilitate the orderly management of 3Sixty Life back to a position of financial soundness,” it said.
In a statement published on the 3Sixty Life website, Petersen-Cook said she was supported by “a strong” curatorship team, including actuaries, chartered accountants and lawyers, who “will strive to ensure that policyholders are treated fairly in the circumstances”.
Petersen-Cook said she could be contacted at curator@3sixtylife.co.za, although the PA advised policyholders that the email address is info@3Sixtylife.co.za.
