The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) has granted insurance companies, which have not completed the procedures for obtaining a licence or have started to operate, a period of time to align their positions in accordance with the provisions of the Authority's latest decision regarding the rules of incorporation and licensing for companies operating in (re)insurance activity.?
The Authority stated in its decision that the deadline is 10 July 2025, and that insurance companies must provide the Authority with a timetable, setting out the measures taken or to be taken to comply with the provisions of this decision within one month from the date of its entry into force.
On 17 February 2025, the FRA issued Decision No. 15 of 2025 regarding the rules for establishing and licensing companies operating in the insurance or reinsurance activity. The rules are issued within the framework of implementing the provisions of the new Unified Insurance Law that entered into force on 11 July 2024. Under a related decree, insurance and reinsurance companies, brokers, insurance consultants, damage estimation experts and healthcare programme management companies. must regularise operations to align with the law by 1 December 2024.
Licensing requirements
The licensing requirements include:
An insurance or reinsurance company that is to be licensed must be an Egyptian joint-stock company whose activity is limited to practising insurance or reinsurance.
The issued and paid-up capital upon establishment must not be less than the minimum set by the Authority’s Board of Directors for each activity. The company’s shareholder structure and objectives must be consistent with the controls approved by the Authority regarding ownership, control and merger in non-banking financial activities.
Companies are prohibited from combining personal insurance and capital formation operations on the one hand, and property and liability insurance on the other hand, except for companies licensed to practice micro-insurance or specialised medical insurance. The founders of companies must also have a good reputation and must not have been convicted of crimes during the five years prior to submitting the application for incorporation.
The establishment process requires submitting an application to the Authority, accompanied by documents including a statement of the names of shareholders, the percentage of their contributions to any other insurance companies within Egypt, in addition to a technical and economic feasibility study that includes the company’s vision for developing the insurance market and its operational and financial plans, in addition to data on the organizational structure and members of the board of directors.
A certificate proving that the company’s capital has been deposited in one of the banks registered with the Central Bank of Egypt must also be submitted, as well as documents proving the availability of the technological infrastructure necessary to carry out the activity.