In July 2024, Egypt issued Law No. 155 of 2024 regarding insurance, which represents an important step towards a comprehensive and integrated insurance sector. It aims to unify and regulate all areas and activities of insurance and reinsurance, and enhance the protection of the rights of policyholders and beneficiaries.
The law included the cancellation of Laws No. 54 of 1975 (Law of Private Insurance Funds), Law No. 72 of 2007 (Law of Compulsory Insurance for Civil Liability Arising from Rapid Transport Accidents within the Arab Republic of Egypt), as well as Articles 747 to 771 of the Civil Code.
The law gave the General Authority for Financial Supervision, and no other authority, the exclusive authority to establish, license, supervise and control all entities involved in insurance and reinsurance activities, and insurance services and professions activities.
On the other hand, the new law granted jurisdiction to economic courts to adjudicate disputes and lawsuits arising from the application of the provisions of the new law, including temporary and substantive implementation disputes, with the exception of disputes and lawsuits that the State Council has jurisdiction to consider. The law also made jurisdiction to consider lawsuits arising from the crimes stipulated therein to the economic courts. The law also determined the legal form of the companies addressed by its provisions, stating that they must all take the form of joint-stock companies.
Objectives of the law
The Unified Insurance Law aims to achieve several main objectives, including:
First: Unifying laws: Collecting all laws related to insurance in one law, which facilitates the process of supervision and control of the sector.
Second: Enhancing protection: Providing new insurance coverage that did not exist before, such as professional liability coverage for doctors, lawyers and accountants, and insurance for school and university students.
Third: Digital transformation: introducing digital transformation mechanisms in the insurance sector, which contributes to improving the efficiency of services provided and reducing the gap between companies and beneficiaries.
Content of the law
The law includes several provisions aimed at regulating the insurance sector comprehensively, including:
- Defining the practice of insurance activity according to types and branches, including personal insurance and money-building operations such as life insurance, long-term personal accident insurance, long-term medical treatment insurance, etc., as well as property and liability insurance, which includes insurance against fire, transportation risks, ship and aircraft hulls, petroleum, electronic risks, and accidents, as well as specialized medical insurance of long and short-term types, as well as micro-insurance.
- The law also includes special provisions for some types of insurance with regard to personal and property insurance, as well as insurance against fire risks, specialized medical insurance activities, mutual insurance, micro-insurance, and others.
- The law also addressed the regulation of insurance professions and experts in insurance activities, whose members practice insurance activities, and specified the conditions for practicing the profession.
- The law also included the regulation and oversight of insurance sector companies and related services, granting the authority to supervise and control to the Financial Regulatory Authority. The law set conditions regarding the establishment, licensing and transfer of ownership of insurance and reinsurance companies and their founders, and the rules for the management and governance of these companies.
- The law also includes a set of crimes and penalties related to insurance activities, which range from crimes of practicing insurance or reinsurance activities or any profession related to them without a license from the Financial Regulatory Authority, as well as conducting insurance fund operations without registering them, as well as crimes of concealing data, reports and documents submitted to the Authority fraudulently, as well as failure to implement the standards, rules and obligations contained in insurance documents. The law also includes crimes of obstructing the work of the Authority’s employees in supervision and control and delaying the submission of reports and data to it, as well as the crime of disclosing secrets related to work in accordance with the provisions of the law, etc.
Impact of law
The Unified Insurance Law is expected to have several positive impacts on the insurance sector in Egypt, including:
- Improving sector efficiency: by unifying laws and introducing digital transformation, which contributes to improving the efficiency of services provided and reducing the gap between companies and beneficiaries
- Enhancing confidence: By providing new insurance coverage and enhancing the protection of policyholders’ rights, which contributes to enhancing citizens’ confidence in the insurance sector.
- Achieving sustainable development: by achieving the sustainable development goals and implementing the insurance inclusion strategy to reach parties who have not been reached by insurance services before.
In conclusion, the new unified insurance law is an important step towards developing the insurance sector in Egypt, by unifying laws, enhancing protection and introducing digital transformation. The law is expected to contribute to improving the efficiency of the sector, enhancing confidence and contributing to achieving sustainable development in Egypt.