Insurance company shut down
Astra insurance company, which insures some 89,000 cars in Greece, was closed down yesterday by the government on the grounds that it had been falling behind on its legal obligations. The Development Ministry found that the insurer has delayed paying employee salaries, been slow in issuing customer compensation payments and ignored legal decisions. In August, Astra was one of three companies ordered by sector regulator the Private Insurance Commission to increase its share capital as a means of improving its capital base. Deputy Development Minister Yiannis Papathanassiou signed yesterday’s ministerial decision recalling Astra’s trading permit and said that if the sector is to move closer to EU standards then companies must be solvent and credible. «Those insurance companies which cannot adjust to these rules will find themselves out of the market,» the minister said. The ministry, which will confiscate all of Astra’s assets, also found reporting irregularities among the insurer’s 2004 records.
