Kuwait: Govt rejects formation of separate insurance regulator
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Dec 2016
Kuwait’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry has rejected a proposal to establish a separate body to supervise the insurance industry, in adherence to the government’s belt-tightening drive. The government is rationalising the public sector in the wake of the oil price decline.
The insurance sector remains under the Ministry with the same organisational and administrative structure, but adjustments will be made in line with developments in the industry, reported Unity News.
Since at least 2011, when significant amendments were made to the existing insurance law, the government has been working on replacing the law and establishing an independent regulator for the sector. The current insurance law was introduced in 1961.
A new draft insurance law is currently being prepared. It includes provisions which incorporate amendments passed over the years and has a section to cater to takaful.
For instance, in 2011, the Ministry increased minimum capital requirements for Kuwaiti-owned entities from a mere KWD150,000 (US$492,775) as set out in the 1961 law to KWD5 million for life and general insurance companies; KWD10 million for composite insurers; and KWD15 million for reinsurers. These provisions are in the draft of the proposed new law.
KWD1 = US$3.29