Insurance regulation gains traction in GCC

While the Takaful industry across the GCC is experiencing strong progress, development of a supervisory framework varies substantially between the constituent countries. The UAE, Bahrain and Oman — and the autonomous financial hubs of DIFC and QFC — have introduced regulations specifically for the Takaful market. Kuwait and Qatar (outside the QFC), do not have an explicit rule book for governing the market. Saudi Arabia has a common legislation applicable to both conventional and Takaful companies. The Kingdom prescribes the cooperative model for all insurance companies, which has a few variations from the Takaful model followed in other parts of the world.