Uhuru signs competition and insurance bills into law
What you need to know:
- Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2019 empowers the Competition Authority of Kenya to review contracts and agreements between suppliers and buyers to determine cases of abuse of buyer power.
- Insurance (Amendment) Act, 2019 introduces provisions for protection of policy holders where an insurer is in distress and the assets are put in statutory management.
President Uhuru Kenyatta signed into law the amended competition and insurance bills at State House in Nairobi on Friday.
Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2019, now an Act of Parliament, was submitted to the National Assembly during the reading of the 2019/20 budget.
It is aimed at separating the legal provisions on abuse of buyer power from those on abuse of dominant power.
The law empowers the Competition Authority of Kenya to review contracts and agreements between suppliers and buyers to determine cases of abuse of buyer power.
It further empowers the authority to require sectors with potential for abuse of buyer power to develop a binding code of practice.
INSURANCE LAW
Insurance (Amendment) Act, 2019 introduces provisions for protection of policy holders where an insurer is in distress and the assets are put in statutory management.
It empowers the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) to prescribe the manner of submission of various kinds of returns and provides for a penalty for late submission, payable into the Policyholders' Compensation Fund.
To strengthen the regulatory framework of the insurance industry, premium collections and payment of claims in particular, the law introduces requirements for insurance companies to regularly submit premium levy returns and claims payment returns to the IRA.
Attorney-General Paul Kihara, acting Treasury CS Ukur Yattani, National Assembly majority leader Aden Duale, Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua and National Assembly Deputy Clerk Jeremiah Ndumbi witnessed the signing of the laws.
