Life Insurance Act Section 33 — Separation from non-life business

Life Insurance Act

พระราชบัญญัติประกันชีวิต · B.E. 2535 (1992)

The Life Insurance Act B.E. 2535 (1992) governs life insurers in Thailand and repeals the Life Insurance Act B.E. 2510 (1967) (Section 3). Life insurance may be carried on only by a public limited company holding a licence from the Minister with Cabinet approval (Section 7); a foreign insurer may set up a licensed branch (Section 8). At least 75% of voting shares must be held by Thai nationals and at least three-quarters of directors must be Thai (Section 10), subject to the Commission's permission for non-Thai holdings of up to 49% and the Minister's power to relax the requirement, so 49% is not an absolute cap; foreign-insurer branches are exempt (Section 13). The Act also covers security deposits, reserves and capital funds, policy-form approval, the ban on unjustified delay in paying policy money, licensing of life agents and brokers, the Life Insurance Fund, and penalties. It is supervised through the Commission and Registrar of the Office of Insurance Commission (OIC). Non-life business is governed by a separate Act, and a life insurer may not carry it on (Section 33(1)). The Government Savings Bank's life insurance business is outside the Act (Section 4).