National Reinsurance Corp. of the Philippines (Nat Re), the country’s sole domestic reinsurer, said two members of its board of directors—Emmanuel de Leon Samson and Rita Riddle—that quit their posts following their departure as trustees of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Nat Re said the resignations were accepted by its board, noting that both officials’ exit from the GSIS automatically affected their seats on the reinsurer’s board. The state-run pension fund, which holds a 25 percent stake in Nat Re, is the company’s single largest shareholder.
The departure of the two directors comes amid a wave of high-level resignations at the GSIS, sparked by internal disputes over alleged questionable investment decisions attributed to GSIS president and general manager Arnulfo “Wick” Veloso. Critics have accused Veloso of approving placements that reportedly cost the pension fund around P8 billion.
Veloso, however, has stood firm, dismissing the allegations and emphasizing that the GSIS’s actuarial life has been extended to 2058 under his leadership—a sign, he said, of the fund’s strengthened financial health.
Nat Re provides reinsurance capacity to both domestic and international insurers under life and non-life treaty and facultative arrangements. The company also offers consultancy and technical advisory services to the insurance industry.
Aside from GSIS, the Bank of the Philippine Islands is Nat Re’s second-largest shareholder with a 13.3 percent equity stake, underscoring the firm’s strategic ties with major financial institutions.
The recent resignations add another layer of uncertainty to the GSIS’s governance challenges, with potential implications for Nat Re’s board composition and strategic direction moving forward.
GSIS has yet to name who will sit in Nat Re’s board.
—
