QFCRA joins global insurance supervisors

The Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority has become a signatory to the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MMoU) under which the QFCRA will be provided with a formal framework for the secure exchange of supervisory information with insurance supervisors around the world. It is an essential regulatory tool to assist with the cross border oversight of insurance companies in the QFC and to help promote financial integrity and appropriate customer protection in Qatar. The IAIS accepted the application of the QFCRA to be a signatory of the MMoU after undertaking a rigorous and independent validation process of the insurance regulatory framework in place at the QFC. QFCRA chief executive officer Michael Ryan welcomed the authority’s addition as a signatory to the MMoU and said, “We are very pleased to join with other insurance supervisors around the world in becoming a signatory to the MMoU. With a growing number of international insurance firms continuing to establish in the QFC, the MMoU will assist with their effective supervision through increased co-operation and exchange of supervisory information with our fellow MMoU signatories.” Chair of the Executive Committee of the IAIS Peter Braumüller said, “We are pleased to welcome Qatar as a signatory to the MMoU. The global insurance marketplace in which we operate demands an insurance supervisor with the ability to co-operate quickly and effectively for the benefit of consumers. The MMoU is an essential regulatory tool – not only in crisis situations, but on a day-to-day basis – for supervisors to foster safer and more stable insurance markets, and the IAIS encourages each of its Members to become a MMoU signatory.” The IAIS represents insurance regulators and supervisors of some 190 jurisdictions and issues global insurance principles, standards and guidance papers for supervisors on insurance supervision. The IAIS works closely with other financial sector standard setting bodies and international organisations to promote financial stability. from gulf times.