Registration
3. (1) No person shall, after the commencement of this Act, begin to carry on any class of insurance business in Bangladesh, and no insurer carrying on any class of insurance business in Bangladesh shall, after the expiry of three months from the commencement of this Act, continue to carry on any such business, unless he has obtained from the Chief Controller of Insurance a certificate of registration for the particular class of insurance business:
Provided that in the case of an insurer who was carrying on any class of insurance business in Bangladesh at the commencement of this Act, failure to obtain a certificate of registration in accordance with the requirements of this sub-section shall not operate to invalidate any contract of insurance entered into by him if before such date as may be fixed in this behalf by the Government by notification in the official Gazette, he has obtained that certificate.
[(1A) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, no certificate of registration shall be granted by the Chief Controller of Insurance to any person [* * *] for carrying on any class of insurance business in Bangladesh without the prior permission of the Government.]
(2) Every application for registration shall be accompanied by-
(a) a certified copy of the memorandum and articles of association, where the applicant is a company and incorporated under the Companies Act, 1913 or under the Indian Companies Act, 1882, or under the Indian Companies Act, 1866, or under any Act repealed thereby, or, in the case of any other insurer specified in sub-clause (a) (ii) or sub-clause (b) of clause (9) of section 2, a certified copy of the deed of partnership or of the deed of constitution of the company, as the case may be, or, in the case of an insurer having his principal place of business or domicile outside Bangladesh, the document specified in clause (a) of section 63;
(b) the name, address and the occupation, if any, of the directors where the insurer is a Company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1913, or under the Indian Companies Act, 1882, or under the Indian Companies Act, 1866, or under any Act repealed thereby, and in the case of an insurer specified in sub-clause (a) (ii) of clause (9) of section 2 the names and addresses of the proprietors and of the manager in Bangladesh, and in any other case the full address of the principal office of the insurer in Bangladesh, and the names of the directors and the manager at such office and the name and address of some one or more persons resident in Bangladesh authorised to accept any notice required to be served on the insurer;
(c) a statement of the class or classes of insurance business done or to be done, and a statement that the amount required to be deposited by section 7 or section 98 before application for registration is made has been deposited together with a certificate from the Bangladesh Bank showing the amount deposited;
(d) where the provisions of section 6 or 97 apply, a statement duly certified by an auditor showing the total paid up capital or the total working capital of the insurer and a declaration verified by an affidavit made by the principal officer of the insurer authorised in that behalf that the provisions of those sections as to paid up capital or working capital, as the case may be, have been complied with;
(e) in the case of an insurer having his principal place of business or domicile outside Bangladesh, a statement verified by an affidavit made by the principal officer of the insurer setting forth the requirements (if any) not applicable to nationals of the country in which such insurer is constituted, incorporated or domiciled which are imposed by the laws or practice of that country upon Bangladesh nationals as a condition of carrying on insurance business in that country;
(f) a certified copy of the published prospectus, if any, and of the standard policy forms of the insurer and statements of the assured rates, advantages, terms and conditions to be offered in connection with insurance policies together with a certificate in connection with life insurance business by an actuary that such rates, advantages, terms and conditions are workable and sound:
Provided that in the case of marine, accident and miscellaneous insurance business other than workmen's compensation and motor car insurance the Chief Controller of Insurance may exempt any insurer from the above requirements regarding prospectus, forms and statements to such extent and for such period as he may deem fit; and
(g) the receipt showing payment in the prescribed manner of the prescribed fee which shall not be more than [five lakh Taka] for each class of business.
(3) In the case of any insurer having his principal place of business or domicile outside Bangladesh, the Chief Controller of Insurance shall withhold registration or shall cancel a registration already made, if he is satisfied that in the country in which such insurer has his principle place of business or domicile Bangladesh nationals are debarred by the law or practice of the country relating to, or applied to insurance from carrying on the business of insurance, or that any requirement imposed on such insurer under the provisions of section 62 is not satisfied.
(4) The Chief Controller of Insurance shall cancel the registration of an insurer either wholly or in so far as it relates to a particular class of insurance business, as the case may be,-
(a) if the insurer fails to comply with the provisions of section 7 or section 98 as to deposits, or
(b) if the insurer is in liquidation or is adjudged an insolvent, or
(c) if the business or a class of the business of the insurer has been transferred to any person or has been transferred to or amalgamated with the business of any other insurer, or
(d) if the whole of the deposit made in respect of a class of insurance business has been returned to the insurer under section 9; or
(e) if, in the case of an insurer specified in sub-clause (c) of clause (9) of section 2, the standing contract referred to in that sub-clause is cancelled or is suspended and continues to be suspended for a period of six months,
and the Chief Controller of Insurance may cancel the registration of an insurer-
(f) if the insurer makes default in complying with, or acts in contravention of, any requirement of this Act or any rule or order made thereunder, and
(g) if the Chief Controller of Insurance has reason to believe that any claim upon the insurer arising in Bangladesh under any policy of insurance remains unpaid for three months after final judgment in regular course of law.
(5) When the Chief Controller of Insurance withholds or cancels any registration under sub-section (3) or clause (a), clause (e), clause (f) or clause (g) of sub-section (4), he shall give notice in writing to the insurer of his decision, and the decision shall take effect on such date as he may specify in that behalf in the notice, such date not being less than one month nor more than two months from the date of the receipt of the notice in the ordinary course of transmission.
[(5A) When the Chief Controller of Insurance cancels any registration under clause (b), clause (c) or clause (d) of sub-section (4) the cancellation shall take effect on the date on which notice of the order of cancellation is served on the insurer.
(5B) When a registration is cancelled the insurer shall not, after the cancellation has taken effect, enter into any new contracts of insurance, but all rights and liabilities in respect of contracts of insurance entered into by him before such cancellation takes effect shall, subject to the provisions of sub-section (5D), continue as if the cancellation had not taken place.
(5C) Where a registration is cancelled under clause (a), clause (e), clause (f), or clause (g) of sub-section (4), the Chief Controller of Insurance may at his discretion revive the
registration, if the insurer makes the deposits required by section 7 or section 98, or has his standing contract restored or has had an application under sub-section (4) of section 3A accepted, or satisfies the Chief Controller of Insurance that no claim upon him such as is referred to in clause (g) of sub-section (4) remains unpaid or that he has complied with the requirement for the non-compliance or contravention of which the registration was cancelled under clause (f) of sub-section (4), as the case may be, and complies with any directions which may be given to him by the Chief Controller of Insurance.
(5D) Where the registration of an insurance company is cancelled under sub-section (4), the Chief Controller of Insurance may, after the expiry of six months from the date on which the cancellation took effect, apply to the Court for an order to wind up the insurance company, or to wind up the affairs of the company in respect of a class of insurance business, unless the registration of the insurance company has been revived under sub-section (5C) or an application for winding up the company has been already presented to the Court. The Court may proceed as if an application under this sub-section were an application under sub-section (2) of section 53, or sub-section (1) of section 58, as the case may be.]
(6) Subject to compliance with the provisions of sections 2C, 5, sub-section (2A) of section 10 and section 32 and of any order made under section 3B, the Chief Controller of Insurance shall, on being satisfied that the applicant has fulfilled all the requirements of this section applicable to him, register the insurer and grant him a certificate of registration.
(7) The Chief Controller of Insurance may, on payment of the prescribed fee which shall not exceed [five hundred Taka], issue a duplicate certificate of registration to replace a certificate lost, destroyed or mutilated, or in any other case where he is of opinion that the issue of a duplicate certificate is necessary.