The UAE Central Bank has annulled the registrations of two insurance companies, Seagull Insurance Services and Al Shorafa Insurance Services. These names have been removed from the broker registry as the Central Bank intensifies its crackdown on regulatory violations.
Regulatory Actions by the Central Bank
The decision was taken in accordance with the relevant rules, as stated by the banking regulator. However, the specific nature of the violation committed by these two insurance brokers hasn’t been disclosed.
The Central Bank’s move aligns with its increasing measures to combat regulatory offenses, which include money laundering and financing of terrorism. The regulator has rolled out several initiatives in recent months to bolster its regulatory oversight of the financial sector.
Recent Measures and Guidelines
In December, the Central Bank issued new guidelines for financial institutions in the insurance sector to reinforce their anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing obligations. These guidelines cover money-laundering and terrorism financing risks associated with life insurance and other investment-related insurance products, and offer guidance on identification, assessment, management, and mitigation of these risks.
Furthermore, in May, the regulator replaced the board of directors of an insurance company operating in the country with a temporary committee of experts for a six-month period.
In addition to these steps, the Central Bank has enhanced the regulatory framework to supervise banks’ exposure to the property sector and provided new guidelines to aid licensed exchange houses in combating money laundering and terrorism financing.
In 2021, the regulator also mandated all hawala providers, which are informal fund transfer agents operating outside the traditional banking system, to register with the Central Bank, in an effort to strengthen the oversight of money transfers.
