BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - The Board and Management of Sagicor Financial Corporation Limited (Sagicor) noted with concern, the article published in the BARBADOS TODAY on Monday, December 18th, 2017 and wish to make the following statement in the interest of our many and various stakeholders:

Sagicor is a well governed, financially strong international financial institution. Our total assets at September 30th 2017 stood at US $6.8 billion with capital of US $1.3 billion.

We operate in 21 countries in the Caribbean, Latin America and the United States and are actively regulated by all of the regulators in these countries. We are in good standing in each of these jurisdictions.

Sagicor is listed on the Barbados Stock Exchange, the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange. We fully comply with the rigorous requirements of these exchanges.

While there are no uniformed capital standards for the Caribbean, Sagicor has voluntarily adopted the Canadian international capital standard, "Minimum Continuing Capital and Surplus Requirements" (MCCSR), and has been following this standard since 1991.

The MCCSR seeks to demonstrate to policyholders and shareholders the capital strength of the company, as a measure of its ability to meet its long-term obligations.

Canadian regulators expect insurance companies to maintain an MCCSR ratio of 150% and Sagicor has consistently maintained a ratio above 175%. As at the end of September 30th 2017 our MCCSR Ratio was 304%.

Sagicor is rated on an annual basis by AM Best, Standard and Poor's Global Ratings, and Fitch Ratings. We have been rated by AM Best since 1998, S&P since 2006 and Fitch since 2015. These ratings are an independent measure of our financial strength. The current ratings are as follows:

  • AM Best "A-" Excellent
  • S&P BB- stable
  • Fitch B stable

The ratings are assigned after a comprehensive and independent review. We encourage readers to view these independent reviews on our Sagicor website (www.Sagicor.com) or alternatively on the websites of the rating agencies: www.amBest.com, www.StandardandPoors.com and www.fitchRatings.com.

Sagicor is a publicly listed company with over 36,000 shareholders. We publish quarterly financial results and audited annual financial statements that are subjected to external audit every year by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). These financial statements are delivered to and approved by our shareholders at our annual general meetings.

In addition, because Sagicor is listed on the London Stock Exchange, PwC's audit of Sagicor has periodically been subjected to further independent review from time to time.

Sagicor is therefore, one of the most highly and actively regulated financial institutions in the Caribbean. While there are no provisions for Group Regulations in the region, Sagicor has always treated the Barbados Financial Services Commission (FSC) as our Home Regulator and has an open and transparent relationship with the FSC.

We frequently share Group wide information with all regulators and have met with the Caribbean College of over 100 Regulators on more than one occasion to update them on the Sagicor Group's strategy.

We, therefore, find it grossly inaccurate and indeed recklessly careless that an article or a report can be published to suggest that Sagicor is an under-regulated financial institution. This assertion is not supported by the facts as all can see from our frequent and various public disclosures.

We are a large company by Caribbean standards, but we are a well-governed, successful, solid institution. We would like to assure our policyholders, shareholders and customers of our financial strength. We remain committed to delivering quality products and services to our customers and competitive returns to our stakeholders.

On behalf of the Board of Directors:

Stephen McNamara, Dodridge Miller Chairman President & CEO