Kuwait: Lawmakers approve new insurance law
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Jul 2019
The National Assembly has approved a new insurance law on the first reading, with lawmakers saying that the insurance sector must be supervised by the Central Bank or continue under the Commerce Ministry.
Commerce and Industry Minister Khaled Al-Roudhan said Kuwait badly needs a new insurance law especially because the existing legislation was issued some 60 years ago and was last amended in 1981, reported Kuwait Times.
The existing law does not include supervisory tools, while the new one tackles the negative aspects of the insurance sector. The minister noted that Kuwait was the first Gulf state to regulate its insurance sector, but it is now lagging behind its neighours in updating its regulations.
Currently, 39 insurers operate in the country, 28 of them are Kuwaiti and the remaining being foreign.
MP Saleh Ashour called for the insurance sector to be under the supervision of the Central Bank and opposed a proposal to establish an independent supervisory body.
At the end of the debate on the new law in May, 34 lawmakers voted for the law against 13. The second reading will be held following the introduction of several changes. M