UAE's Central Bank begins work on Insurance Authority merger

Chairman Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed says move is part of a wider plan to create one of the top 10 central banks in the world

The Central Bank of the UAE will assume the UAE Insurance Authority's supervisory functions, including monitoring the financial solvency of insurance companies and ensuring businesses in the sector act ethically. Ryan Carter / The NationalShow less

The Central Bank of the UAE started the process to take over the supervision and regulation of the country's insurance sector.

The banking regulator is assuming responsibility for the insurance sector following a federal decree issued last year to merge the central bank with the UAE Insurance Authority.

“The decision to merge the Insurance Authority into the Central Bank of the UAE is part of a bigger initiative to transform the Central Bank of the UAE into one of the top 10 central banks globally,” Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Presidential Affairs and chairman of the Central Bank of the UAE, said in a statement on Wednesday.

He added that he was confident in the central bank's ability to oversee the insurance sector to ensure financial stability and the protection of consumers.

“Giving the Central Bank a broader mandate will ensure that high standards of supervision and regulation apply to all the sectors which we regulate including banking, insurance, money exchangers and payment services providers," the governor of the central bank, Abdulhamid Saeed Al Ahmadi, said.

"Our vision to build a prosperous insurance sector protects the interests of the policyholders and ensures adequate supervision and regulation, characterised by financially strong and properly managed insurance market participants who follow the highest standards of market conduct."

The supervisory duties being undertaken by the central bank include monitoring the financial solvency of insurance companies, ensuring businesses in the sector act ethically and protecting the rights of the insured, the statement said.

It will also "continue to facilitate the advancements of new technologies across all elements of the UAE's financial sector".