One of the insurers named during the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry, Freedom Insurance Group, has entered a trading halt on the Australian Securities Exchange.
The company announced the trading halt pending an “announcement providing a material update on the financial position of Freedom and its subsidiaries”.
The company’s calling of a trading halt follows on from its December announcement that it expected to record a loss of between $9 million and $10 million before remediation, and an earlier announcement that it had ceased new sales changed senior management and reduced staff and operating costs.
The company also announced that it plan to acquire St Andrews Insurance had fallen through.
Freedom was focused on outgoing phone sales of life/risk insurance, something which is unlikely to continue under the recommendations of the Royal Commission.
The insurance company has joined this year’s awards as a principal partner.
The $135 billion fund has transitioned away from TAL Life Insurance following an “extensive tender process”.
The $80 billion fund is facing legal action over allegedly signing up new members to income protection insurance by default without active member consent.
In a Senate submission, the Financial Services Council has once again called for further clarification that the government will assess the consumer outcomes of group insurance against the enshrined objective of superannuation.