The Ministry of Finance is currently studying the new draft law on the financial market, which will replace 1993 stock exchange legislative decree.
The Social Insurance Organisation (SIO) announced a 1% increase in employer contributions to mandatory social insurance, effective January 2025. According to a circular sent to the owners of companies, the total employer contribution will rise to 17%.
Solidarity Bahrain and Bahrain National Holding Company (BNH) have signed the final sale and purchase agreement by which the former acquires the latter’s general and life insurance subsidiaries.
Insurers in Egypt are projecting that medical costs would jump by 31% in 2025, says WTW.
The insurance market in Egypt achieved notable growth in terms of premium income in the first 10 months of the past year, mainly driven by the rise in property and liability operations.
The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) has rejected the demand to raise the motor third party liability (MTPL) rates. The country’s insurance industry had submitted a proposal in this regard to CBJ in December 2024.
The Insurance and Social Security Supervisory Authority in Morocco is currently conducting a feasibility study on the introduction of mandatory home insurance.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) of Oman has started to link the electronic Dhamani platform online to the sultanate’s private health polyclinics and clinics.
Doha Insurance Group (DIG) will open a reinsurance branch under the Gift City international insurance office category in Gujarat International Financial Tec-City Gift City, India.
The Public Investment Fund (PIF) has acquired a 23.08% stake in Saudi Reinsurance (Saudi Re) by way of a capital increase and subscription to new shares, with the suspension of pre-emptive rights in accordance with Capital Market Authority regulations, the fund said in a statement.
Health and motor insurance premiums will increase in Dubai from 1 January 2025, as insurers hike rates to keep pace with the rising expenses in healthcare and vehicle repair costs.
The UAE insurance sector maintained its growth trajectory in the first three quarters of 2024 as well.
Watania Takaful Family PJSC (WTF) announced a new strategic partnership with Aura, a health insurance platform, to deliver faster and more tailored services for SMEs in the UAE.
Global
Reinsurers showed greater flexibility at the 1/1 renewals, as the expansion of available capacity after another year of strong results was more than sufficient to meet continued growth in global demand, according to Aon’s Reinsurance Market Dynamics January 2025 Renewal report.
After an extended period of rate increases across the (re)insurance sector – driven by accumulating and intersecting crises, capital constraints and cyclical adjustments – the availability of deployable capacity in the marketplace signals a new phase in the cycle, marking a significant shift from the recent past. The findings are according to Howden’s report Past the Pricing Peak.
In 2024, the international loss tally for billion-dollar events amounts to $18.2bn, slightly below the indexed long-term average of $19.9bn.
Wildfires at Los Angeles area are projected to cost insurers as much as $30bn, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs said in a report published last month.
Takaful
The National Insurance Commission of Nigeria (NAICOM) and Malaysia insurance will collaborate in two important areas of capacity building and investment opportunities in takaful.
Digital payments and financial services provider SeaMoney in partnership with Takaful Ikhlas General will offer motor takaful protection on the Shopee app.
Etiqa Insurance Singapore (Etiqa) has launched ‘Invest future’, Singapore’s first takaful offering in over a decade.
Watania Takaful Family (WTF) has announced a new strategic partnership with Aura, a health insurance platform, to deliver faster and more tailored services for SMEs in the UAE.