The MENA region is seeing strong demand for trade credit insurance (TCI), with keen appetite especially from the UAE.
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Zurich Insurance Middle East has extended its product and service offering to the corporate retail insurance market to serve the needs of large corporations that require more sophisticated and cross-border insurance solutions.
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Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) is leading other regions in terms of limits placed for transactional risk insurance at US$2.2 billion, up 29.4% y-o-y, said Marsh in a report.
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The Gulf Insurance Federation has approved a preliminary draft to launch a unified motor insurance policy in the GCC region by the end of 2013, said media reports.
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Bahrain National Holding Company (BNH) achieved a net profit of BHD2.33 million (US$6.2 million) last year, down 30.3% y-o-y, primarily due to higher claims and a slight increase in operational costs. Gross premiums dipped 6.4% y-o-y to BHD23.3 million in 2012.
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Bahrain's Social Insurance Organization (SIO) and the National Bank of Bahrain have purchased a combined 51.6% stake in Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB), owned by Kuwait's The Investment Dar (TID).
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Crescent Global Group has launched a managing general agency (MGA) to oversee the development of a regional life platform. The MGA, Crescent Global Vie, will be based in Bahrain.
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Fakhro Karvy Computershare (FKC), a pioneer in registrar and transfer agency services in Bahrain, has launched its fund administration services to provide end-to-end back-office activities for asset management companies (AMCs), insurers and portfolio management firms, said media reports.
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Insurance companies reported a total of EGP255 million (US$37.5 million) in premiums in the first half of the 2012-2013 financial year ending December 2012, said media reports citing figures released by the Egyptian Financial Supervision Authority (EFSA).
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US-based Odyssey Reinsurance Co (OdysseyRe) has increased its stake in Jordan Kuwait Bank (JKB) to 5.85% by acquiring an additional 1.05 million shares in the Jordanian lender.
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India is planning to set up a special fund to provide insurance to help public and private refineries overcome obstacles from global reinsurers who are not providing cover to Indian oil companies due to Iran sanctions, said media reports.
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Jordan Insurance Company (JIC) grew faster than the market in 2012, with its GWP growing 13% y-o-y to JOD52 million (US$73.5 million) last year, more than double that of the market.
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Oman Investment Fund (OIF), a sovereign wealth fund of the Sultanate, has acquired a 41.13% holding representing 71.32 million shares in Oman National Investment Corporation Holding (ONIC Holding) from Dubai Insurance Group (DIG), a subsidiary of Dubai Group.
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The government is going to convert 10-year-old captive insurer, Al Koot Insurance and Reinsurance Co, to a Qatari reinsurance company, said HE Yousef Hussain Kamal, Minister of Finance and Economy in Qatar in his keynote address at the 7th Multaqa Qatar in March.
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Qatar Insurance Company (QIC) has obtained approval from the Ministry of Business & Trade to increase its capital to QAR1.28 billion (US$351.6 million) from QAR1.07 billion after distributing bonus shares.
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Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC) has inked a deal with Daman Health Insurance Qatar to provide health insurance services for staff members and their families in 2013, through contracting with the network of hospitals, medical centres and clinics inside and outside Qatar.
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The Licensing Agency, Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) has launched vehicle testing and insurance services on Fridays starting this year, as part of its efforts to ease the weekday rush testing centres.
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The National Health Insurance Company - Daman has won a bid to provide health insurance to all the 20,000 employees of regional construction company Arabtec Holding.
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Insurance House (IH), listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), has secured approval from the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) for a share buyback programme of up to 10%, or 12 million shares, of its paid up capital.
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Dubai-based private equity firm Abraaj Capital is planning to sell its 50% stake in Turkish health insurer Acibadem Sigorta, said media reports. Insurers reportedly interested in buying Abraaj's stake include Aetna, Cigna Corp and Bupa Insurance.
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UAE residents are dangerously unprepared for their retirement, with 89% unable to describe their current savings "more than adequate" for the future and more than half fearing financial hardship during their retirement, said HSBC in a survey.
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Capital Shield Insurance Brokers (CSIB) and Abu Dhabi Aviation (ADA) have formed a new aviation consortium to create leverage for small and medium-sized aviation companies and aircraft owners in negotiating insurance premiums and terms, said media reports.
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Dubai Trade, a government-backed entity, has launched of Tradeshield, an online product offering cargo insurance to its customers, said media reports.
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