National insurance (amendment) bill 2014

Attorney General’s Chambers

29 August 2014

NATIONAL INSURANCE (AMENDMENT) BILL 2014 ARRANGEMENT OF CLAUSES CLAUSE

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Short title and commencement Interpretation Section 2 amended Section 27 amended Section 33 amended Section 34 amended Section 40A inserted Section 45 amended Section 49 amended Section 53 amended Section 60A inserted Schedule 2 amended Schedule 3 amended

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Attorney General’s Chambers

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TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS A PROPOSAL FOR A

BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE NATIONAL INSURANCE ORDINANCE; AND FOR CONNECTED PURPOSES.

ENACTED by the Legislature of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Short title and commencement 1. This Ordinance may be cited as the National Insurance (Amendment) Ordinance 2014 and shall come into operation on such day as the Governor may appoint by Notice in the published in the Gazette.

Interpretation 2. In this Ordinance “principal Ordinance” means the National Insurance Ordinance.

Section 2 amended 3. Section 2(1) of the principal Ordinance is amended by inserting in the appropriate alphabetical positions the following definitions— ““National Health Insurance Board” means the National Health Insurance Board established under section 12 of the National Health Insurance Ordinance; “National Health Insurance Plan” means the National Health Insurance Plan established under section 3 of the National Health Insurance Ordinance; “National Insurance Board Investment Policy Statement” means a statement prepared under section 45(4A); “residual amount” means the amount of money available after distribution is made to any person entitled thereto as a

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result of any warrant, distress or application referred to in section 60A (1); and “Turks and Caicos Islands Integrity Commission” means the Integrity Commission” established by section 97 of the Constitution.”.

Section 27 amended 4. Section 27 of the principal Ordinance is amended by inserting after subsection (7) the following subsection— “(8) If at any time it appears to the Minister that the operations of the Board are not being carried out in the best interest of the insured persons or that the Board has failed to act in conformity with the provisions of this Ordinance, the Minister may, after such inquiry as may be necessary and on the advice and recommendations of the Turks and Caicos Islands Integrity Commission, take steps to rectify the situation in the manner recommended.”.

Section 33 amended 5. Section 33 of the principal Ordinance is amended by inserting after subsection (4) the following subsection— “(5) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), the Board shall appoint an Investment Committee and an Audit Committee.”.

Section 34 amended 6. Section 34 (1) of the principle Ordinance is amended— (a) by inserting after the word “shall” where it first occurs, the words “,after consultation with the Board,”; (b) by repealing the words “fit and proper”; and (c) by inserting after the word “person” the words “having the relevant qualifications and experience”.

Section 40A inserted 7. The principal Ordinance is amended by inserting after section 40 the following section— “40A. (1) No person who acquires information in his capacity as a member, officer, employee or agent of the Board shall without the express or implied consent of the person to whom the information relates disclose to any other person such

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information relating to the identity, assets, liability or medical condition of the second mentioned person except— (a) for the purpose of the performance of his duties or the exercise of his functions under this Ordinance; (b) for the purpose of the performance of his duties within the scope of his employment; (c) when the Board is lawfully required to make disclosure by a court of competent jurisdiction; (d) on the request from a Permanent Secretary of a government ministry, the Commissioner of Police or the director or chief executive officer of another statutory body pursuant to a memorandum of understanding agreed to by the Board and the relevant ministry or other statutory body; or (e) to a person with a view to the institution of, or the purpose of— (i) criminal proceedings; (ii) disciplinary proceedings, whether within or without the Islands, relating to a counsel or attorney, auditor, accountant or actuary of his professional duties; or (iii) disciplinary proceedings relating to the discharge by a public officer of his duties.

(2) Any person who contravenes the provisions of subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of $1,000 or to a term of imprisonment of twelve months, or both.”.

Section 45 amended 8. Section 45 of the principal Ordinance is amended— (a) by inserting after subsection (4) the following subsection— “(4A) The Board shall, after consultation with the Minister, prepare a statement of investment policies and guidelines for the management of the Fund.”; and (b) in subsection (5), by inserting after the word “Ordinance”, the words “and the National Insurance Board Investment Policy Statement”.

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Attorney General’s Chambers

29 August 2014

Section 49 amended 9. The principal Ordinance is amended by repealing section 49 and substituting the following section— “49. There shall be paid to the National Health Insurance Board out of the Fund at such times and in such manner as the Board may direct, such sums as are actuarially assessed to be the amount to be transferred to the National Health Insurance Board for providing medical services to insured persons who suffer personal injury as a result of their employment.”.

Section 53 amended 10. Section 53 of the principal Ordinance is amended— (a) by repealing subsection (4) and substituting the following— “(4) Where an offence under this Ordinance is committed by a body corporate, partnership, firm or any other body of persons, every person who at the time of the commission of the offence was a director, manager, secretary, partner or other officer of that body corporate, partnership, firm or other body also commits the offence and he as well as that body shall be liable to be proceeded against and penalised accordingly.”; and (b) by inserting after subsection (4) the following subsection— “(5) No person referred to in subsection (4) shall be found guilty of an offence where he proves that— (a) the act constituting the offence took place without his knowledge or consent; or (b) he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of the offence.”.

Section 60A inserted 11. The principal Ordinance is amended by inserting after section 60 the following section— “60A. (1) In any case where— (a) any warrant or distress is executed against the property of an employer and the property is seized or sold in pursuance of the execution; or (b) on the application of a secured creditor the property of an employer is sold, the residual amount of the proceeds of the sale of the property shall not be distributed to any person until the court ordering the

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sale has made provision for the payment of any amount due to the Board from that employer in respect of contributions or other debts payable by the employer during the twelve months immediately preceding the date of the order: Provided that in the case where any charges on any property have been registered at the Land Registry of the Islands after the commencement of this Ordinance, the court ordering the sale shall make provision for any amount due to the Board from the total proceeds of the sale.

(2) For the purposes of this section the expression “employer” includes any company in liquidation under the Companies Ordinance.”.

Schedule 2 amended 12. Part II of Schedule to the principal Ordinance is amended by repealing the word “ten” and substituting the word “five”.

Schedule 3 amended 13. Schedule 3 to the principal Ordinance is amended— (a) in paragraph 1(1)(b), by inserting after the word “Government” the words “one of whom shall be the Permanent Secretary Finance or his nominated representative”; (b) by renumbering paragraph 11 as paragraph 11(1); (c) by inserting after paragraph 11(1) the following subparagraphs— “(2) If any board member fails to comply with subparagraph (1) he shall be removed from the Board unless he proves that he did not know that the matter in which he had a pecuniary interest was the subject of consideration at the meeting.

(3) A disclosure under subparagraph (1) shall be recorded in the minutes of that meeting.

(4) No act or proceeding of the Board shall be questioned on the grounds that a board member contravened subparagraph (1).

(5) A member of the Board shall be treated as having an interest in a contract, proposed contract or other matter if— (a) he, his spouse, children, sister, brother or any nominee of his is a member of a company or other body which has a direct or indirect pecuniary or other interest in the contract, proposed contract or other matter under consideration;

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(b) he, his spouse, children, sister or brother is a partner, or in the employment of a person with whom the contract was made, or who has a direct or indirect pecuniary or other interest in the contract, proposed contract or other matter under consideration; or (c) he, his spouse, children, sister, brother or any partner of his is a professional advisor to a person who has a direct or indirect pecuniary or other interest in a contract, proposed contract or other matter under consideration.�.

PASSED by the House of Assembly this day of

Tracey Parker

Robert Hall

Clerk to the House of Assembly

Speaker

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Attorney General’s Chambers

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EXPLANATORY MEMEORANDUM This Bill seeks to— (a) make provision for the Minister responsible for National Insurance to, after a recommendation from the Integrity Commission, rectify the situation where the Board is not acting in the best interest of the insured persons or where the Board is not acting in conformity with the Ordinance; (b) make provision for the appointment of an Investment and Audit Committees of the Board; (c) make provision for the Minister to consult the Board prior to the appointment of the Director/CEO; (d) make provision to insure that the Director has the necessary qualifications and experience for the job; (e) introduce a confidentiality provision to govern circumstances where officers, employees or agents of the Board acquire information in their official duties; (f) introduce a provision creating an offence for breach of the confidentiality provision; (g) make provision for all investments to be made in accordance with the NIB’s Investment Policy Statement (IPS) and for the IPS to be prepared by the Board after consultation with the Minister; (h) amend section 2(1) to insert definitions for “National Health Insurance Board” and “National Health Insurance Plan”; (i) delete and replace section 49 to provide that the National Insurance Board shall pay to the National Health Insurance Board such sums of money as are actuarially assessed for providing medical services to insured persons who suffer employment injury; (j) make provision for corporate bodies and the officers of the bodies to be proceeded against at the same time in cases where offences against the Ordinance have been committed and to widen the provision to include other unincorporated bodies of persons;

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(k) introduce a provision for NIB contributions to be paid in cases where warrants or distress are executed against the property of delinquent contributors; (l) make provision for the Permanent Secretary, Finance to be an ex officio member of the Board and for his/her representative to deputize when the substantive member is absent; (m) introduce sanctions for Board members who are present at Board meetings and fail to disclose their interest in a matter that is the subject of consideration at the meeting.

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