Initiatives and regulations introduced by the Insurance and Private Pension Regulation and Supervision Authority (SEDDK) has stemmed the use of fake surety insurance policies in the country, according to Insurance Association of Turkey (TSB) vice president Ahmet Yasar.
He said that the market had been plagued in the past by numerous fake surety policies that were used in tender exercises, reported Insurance Gazette.
Mr Yasar, who is also the president of Maher Holding Insurance Group, said that the SEDDK took steps to prevent forged surety policies upon receiving complaints about the wrongdoings.
He indicated that the issuance of surety policies electronically has helped curb fakes.
He said all surety policies had been transferred to the general insurance database, and insurance companies are required to obtain reference numbers from the Insurance Information and Supervision Centre (SBM) for surety policies to be issued online, ensuring that new policies are simultaneously recorded in the database.
Online checks
The SBM has also allowed online searches of surety policies to check their authenticity and validity. The search function has been provided free of charge since February 2024.
Mr Yasar also said that cooperation between the SEDDK and the TSB has also led to delivering electronic surety bonds to the Public Procurement Agency through SBM and Takasbank for the first time in Türkiye.
He is confident that the issue of fake surety documents will be resolved in one or two months, adding that development work on the online surety system has reached the completion stage. He said, “This project will end forgery by ensuring that the system works completely electronically and will eliminate the physical surety bond.”