By Mohammad Shoeb
DOHA: Governor of Qatar Central Bank (QCB) H E Sheikh Abdulla bin Saoud Al Thani yesterday announced that QCB has prepared new guidelines and ‘instructions’, in collaboration with Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (QFCRA), to regulate country’s booming insurance sector, which is to be launched within a few days.
These ‘instructions’, which is expected to be part of a new insurance regulatory framework, have been circulated to insurance and reinsurance companies and other entities concerned with an aim to check and make observations to reach an optimal formula that would lead to achieve the desired objectives of these ‘instructions’ and they would be issued in their final form soon.
This was announced in his keynote speech at the opening session of 10th edition of ‘Multaqa Qatar 2016’ (a forum on insurance, reinsurance and risk management).
The QCB Governor noted that the bank is currently preparing instructions and guidance that governs Qatari insurance sector to regulate management firms of this sector in accordance with the best international standards and practices in line with the principles of transparency and good governance.
Sheikh Abdulla said that Qatar has re-formulated all legislations organising insurance and reinsurance sector as well as assigning its supervision and control to the QCB ,where the Law of the Qatar Central Bank and the Regulation of Financial Institutions has been issued by virtue of Law No. 13 of 2012 and included an entire chapter on the insurance and reinsurance that inserted all texts and provisions regulating insurance activities , its supervision and control.
He stated that the insurance sector in Qatar has witnessed an accelerated growth from 2010 to 2014, adding that the total insurance premiums (by companies operating in the country under the QCB control and supervision) has climbed from QR3.5bn in 2010 to QR9.5bn in 2014.
He added that the number of insurance documents at the same period has jumped from half a million documents in 2010 to more than one million documents in 2014, reflecting the evolution and acceleration of the pace of growth in the local economy and increases the insurance needs of both projects and companies or even for citizens and residents. He also said that the contribution of the insurance sector to the GDP did not exceed 3.7 percent, despite growing 24 percent in 2013. He noted that such figures mean the sector needs more encouragement, especially that the local economy remains in need of insurance services.
The Governor also noted that Qatar imported insurance services worth QR33bn between 2010-2015, and the country’s needs for insurance services increased six-fold during the five year period. Imports (of insurance services) in 2010 were worth QR1.5bn, increasing to QR5.3bn in 2013 before leaping to QR9.6bn in 2015.
He added that there is still a huge scope for growth the country’s low level of insurance preparation.
The Peninsula
DOHA: Khalifa Abdulla Turki Al Subaey, Group President & CEO and Ali Saleh Al Fadala, Senior Deputy Group President & CEO of the QIC Group were awarded yesterday at the Multaqa Qatar 2016 for their outstanding contribution to the Qatar insurance industry. The award was presented by H E Ali Sherif Al Emadi, Minister of Finance and H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Saoud Al Thani, Governor of Qatar Central Bank.
Deputy Group President & CEO of QIC – Mena region, Salem Al Mannai received the award on behalf of Khalifa Al Subaey.
