Several insurance and reinsurance companies in Nepal have remained without chief executive officers (CEOs) for more than three months, despite regulatory provisions requiring vacant CEO positions to be filled within a specified period.

The Corporate Governance Directive, 2080 issued by the Nepal Insurance Authority states that a vacant CEO position must be filled within three months. Subsection 11 of Direction 25 specifically states that the position of chief executive of an insurer should not remain vacant for more than three months.

Despite this provision, Nepal Reinsurance Company and Himalayan Reinsurance, along with several insurance companies, currently do not have active CEOs.

The companies mentioned include Himalayan Life Insurance and microinsurance companies such as Crest Micro Life, Nepal Micro Insurance, Liberty Micro Life, Protective Micro Insurance, and Guardian Micro Life Insurance.

The report states that the CEOs of Nepal Reinsurance Company and Himalayan Reinsurance are facing suspension and legal proceedings. Some of the executives have also remained in custody for further legal proceedings.

At Himalayan Life Insurance, the company had initiated the CEO appointment process through a vacancy announcement. However, the process was later halted following an order from the Supreme Court.

The report also states that the executives concerned were suspended from Jestha 28 after being named defendants in cases related to money laundering, insurance-related offences, banking offences and securities-related offences.

Despite the existing provisions in both the insurance authority's corporate governance directive and the Labour Act, the report states that the Nepal Insurance Authority has not shown sufficient interest in enforcing the provisions concerning prolonged CEO vacancies.