Part II: Financial Regulations for Insurance Companies

Analysis

The UAE Insurance Authority (the Authority) published the Financial Regulations for Insurance Companies (the Financial Regulations) in December 2014. They have subsequently been supplemented with a pro-forma solvency template and e-Forms. Each of these documents is available on the Authority's website [http://www.ia.gov.ae/en/RulesRegulations/Pages/Financial_instructions_IC.aspx]. In this second Article in our series on the Financial Regulations, Peter Hodgins and Liesel van den Heever consider the detailed requirements with which insurers will be required to comply [For an overview of the Financial Regulations and the timetable for their implementation, please refer to our first article which can be found at http://www.clydeco.com/insight/updates/view/uae-insurance-market-leads-the-way-with-long-awaited-prudential-regulations].

This Article addresses the requirements of the Financial Regulations in relation to:The insurer's investments;The new solvency requirements for insurers;Risk management;Technical provisions;Corporate Governance; andDocumentation and Reporting.

The Insurer's Investments

Much of the commentary on the Financial Regulations to date has focused on the limits on asset investments. This is perhaps unsurprising given the reputation of certain Insurers for focusing on generating profit through their investments rather than the technical underwriting aspects of their business.