The Central Bank as well as UK regulators will this Thursday receive a report conducted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers into the capital hole at the insurer RSA Ireland that has led to capital injections from its UK parent of more than £200 million.
Reports in British newspapers yesterday – apparently based upon leaked results from the PWC investigation – suggested that it will conclude that the company had strict governance rules in place and will “draw a line” under the issue.
It is unclear what the report will say about the conduct of the three senior RSA Ireland executives who were suspended by the insurer in early November over the capital shortfall, which was apparently the result of under-provisioning in relation to claims.
Philip Smith, the former RSA Ireland chief executive who was suspended , has since resigned. He was unavailable for comment last night.
Chief financial officer Rory O’Connor and claims director Peter Burke remain suspended and could not be contacted.
The company was also unavailable for comment last night.
Problems
The problems with its Irish unit ultimately claimed the scalp last month of Simon Lee, the former group chief executive.
The listed general insurer issued three profit warnings in the space of six months in the lead up to Christmas.
RSA has been keen to emphasis in recent weeks that it is “business as usual” for its Irish operations.
It has about 950,000 policyholders here, and owns the 123.ie motor insurance online brand.
