Chedid Re, a member of Chedid Capital Holding, has announced that its Paris office received a licence to conduct insurance and reinsurance brokerage activities in France, extending the network of Chedid Re Global Operations.
Beirut-headquartered Arab Reinsurance Company (Arab Re) has reported an underwriting profit in 2021 despite a long-term negative track record, notes AM Best.
The economic and financial crisis that Lebanon has been going through since mid-2019 has affected all sectors of the country, including the insurance sector.
The implementation of insurance reform in Lebanon, such as the move to a risk-based solvency framework and new governance guidelines, which have been in the pipeline for a few years, remains stagnant despite significant pressure from key industry stakeholders, such as the Insurance Control Commission (ICC), says AM Best.
Apart from the economic turmoil ravaging Lebanon, real non-life premium growth in the country is likely to remain constrained by strong competition and negative rate pressure, with insurers vying a slice of the pie in a market that is shrinking in size relative to inflation, says AM Best.
Lebanon's (re)insurers have experienced extremely high levels of operational risk, though reinsurance has largely protected their balance sheets from the Beirut Blast two years ago, says AM Best which has released a market segment report today, the second anniversary of the devastating Beirut Port explosions.
GlobeMed Group, a leading healthcare benefits management group in MENA has held its first field executive seminar this year.
From 2022, insurance companies will collect premiums on health insurance in "fresh dollars" only, says the Association of Insurance Companies in Lebanon (ACAL), as the insurance sector has been struggling to cope with the collapse of the Lebanese pound since 2019.
The total gross written premiums of 46 licensed insurance companies in Lebanon reached $928.8m in the first half of 2021, constituting an increase of 12.1% from $828.8m in the same period of 2020, according to figures released by the Insurance Control Commission.