Progressive Insurance, one of Samoa’s largest insurance companies, has filed for bankruptcy in the midst of a drawn out court battle over an unsettled claim.
Samoa Observer reports that liquidation comes just months after the Samoa Central Bank said all six insurance companies in the country were well regulated and solvency as a whole was strong.
Chan Mow and Company and Progressive Insurance were locked in the middle of a Supreme Court battle over unsettled claims, understood to relate to a fire that gutted the department store’s Togafu’afu’a wholesale building.
But shortly before the insurer was scheduled to file its defense against the alleged non-payment of claims, it went into voluntary liquidation.
Chan Mow, the country’s longest serving wholesaler and retailer is now requesting that the Supreme Court stay – or halt – Progressive’s bid to wind up its company.
The company currently has a sole director in Murray Drake, the founder of the national lawfirm, Drake & Co.
The Samoa Observer contacted Mr. Drake for comment about the liquidation, upon obtaining the court documents but did not receive a response.
Progressive Insurance is owned by an offshore company, Decatur Corporation, Incorporated, based in the Marshall Islands with a total two million shares.
The north Pacific island state is promoted as a “tax efficient” place to conduct international business.
The Decatur Corporation, incorporated in 1998, is listed as the sole owner of the company’s two million shares.
