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  • Chapter Three Insurance Companies Section One The Insurer

    • Article (24)

      1. Insurance and re-insurance operations in the State may be carried out by any of the following entities which are licensed and registered with the Authority:
         
        1. A public stock company established in the State.
        2. A branch of a foreign insurance company
        3. An insurance agent
           
      2. A. The prior approval of the Board shall be obtained before incorporating any insurance company in the State or opening a branch of a foreign insurance company or carrying out the operations of an insurance agent.

        B. The fiscal year of the company shall commence on the first day of January and end on the thirty first day of December each year and as for the first fiscal year it shall commence as from date of incorporation and end on the thirty first day of December of the following year.

      3. Any insurance contract concluded by a company not duly registered according to the provisions of the law herein shall be deemed invalid and the affected party may claim compensation by reason of so invalidation.
      This article has been amended by Federal Law No. (03) of 2018. You are on the latest version. To view the previous version, click the version box below.
      Version 1(effective from 15/02/2007 to 26/04/2018)

       

       

      1. Insurance and re-insurance operations in the State may be carried out by any of the following entities which are licensed and registered with the Authority:
         
        1. A public stock company established in the State.
        2. A branch of a foreign insurance company
        3. An insurance agent
           
      2. A. The prior approval of the Board shall be obtained before incorporating any insurance company in the State or opening a branch of a foreign insurance company or carrying out the operations of an insurance agent.

        B. The fiscal year of the company shall commence on the first day of January and end on the thirty first day of December each year and as for the first fiscal year it shall commence as from date of incorporation and end on the thirty first day of December of the following year.
         
      3. The capital of an insurance company shall not be less than the minimum limit as determined by the executive regulation of the law herein.
         
      4. Any insurance contract concluded by a company not duly registered according to the provisions of the law herein shall be deemed invalid and the affected party may claim compensation by reason of so invalidation.

       

    • Article (25)

      1. The company may not combine both Persons and Funds Accumulation Insurance Operations and Property and Liability Insurance Operations.

      2. Exception to what is stipulated in paragraph (1) of the article herein, an existing company licensed to practice the two types of insurance prior to the promulgation of this Law may combine Persons and Funds Accumulation Insurance Operations and Property and Liability Insurance Operations, provided that it will comply to do the following:

      (a) Complete separation between Persons and Funds Accumulation Insurance Operations and Property and Liability Insurance Operations in terms of technical, financial, technological, administrative and legal procedures and the relevant requirements in terms of technical, administrative and financial staff, with the exception of the Director-General of the company.

      (b) Preparation of all reports and financial statements required by the Law herein, the instructions and decisions of the Board on a consolidated total basis, and on the basis of the separation between Persons and Funds Accumulation Insurance Operations and Property and Liability Insurance Operations.

       

      This article has been amended by Federal Law No. (03) of 2018. You are on the latest version. To view the previous version, click the version box below.
      Version 1(effective from 15/02/2007 to 26/04/2018)

       

      1. The company shall not carry out life assurance and funds accumulation operations together with the operations of properties and life liability insurances.

      2. The existing companies engaged in the two types of insurance as provided for in Para (1) of the Article herein shall adjust their situations within five years as from date of enforcing the law herein. However, the said period may be extended by resolution of the Cabinet.

      3. The existing companies engaged in the two types of insurance as provided for in Para (1) of the law herein upon enforcing the provisions of the law herein shall abide by the directives issued by the Board organizing the operations of each of these two types of insurances.

       

    • Article (26)

      1. Properties or possessions in existence inside the State or liabilities resultant thereof shall not be insured with insurance companies outside the State and as well no mediation in insuring these properties, possessions or liabilities except with a company duly registered according to the provisions of the law herein.

      2. The insurer may re-insure inside and outside the State.

    • Article (27)

      Taking the provisions of the law herein into consideration, the company may open branches therefor in the State.

    • Article (28)

      1. Insurance policies concluded in the State shall be written in Arabic and a faithful translation into another language may be attached therewith, and in case of differences over the interpretation of the policy the Arabic text shall prevail.
      2. The policy's articles exempting the company from the liability shall be written in bold letters and different colour and must be acknowledged by the insured.
      3. Insurance policies may be issued electronically, in accordance with the circumstances and conditions established by a decision by the Board.
      4. Exception to paragraph (1) of the article herein, the Director-General may exclude certain insurance policies from the condition of writing them in the Arabic language.

       

      This article has been amended by Federal Law No. (03) of 2018. You are on the latest version. To view the previous version, click the version box below.
      Version 1(effective from 15/02/2007 to 26/04/2018)

       

      Insurance policies concluded in the State shall be written in Arabic and a faithful translation into another language may be attached therewith and in case of differences over the interpretation of the policy the Arabic text shall prevail.

      The policy's articles releasing the company from the liability shall be written in bold letters, different color and endorsed by the insured.

       

    • Article (29)

      The company shall be maintain the number of UAE nationals working therewith as resolved by the Cabinet.

    • Article (30)

      No one shall be a member of the company's Board of Directors, a general manager or an authorized manager therein should he ever been:

      1. Convicted of a crime or a felony of dishonor, distrust or public moral or pronounced bankrupt and never been rehabilitated.

      2. Liable according to the Board's discretion for grief violations of any of the provisions of the law herein or of the companies' law in his capacity as general manager or board member of one of the companies including the liability of causing the company to go for compulsory liquidation.

    • Article (31)

      1. The chairman and the members of the board of directors of the company, its general manager and the authorized manager or whosoever acting on his behalf or any of the company's managers or a senior officer shall not:

      1. Participate in managing other competing insurance company or a similar company thereto,
      2. Compete the company's operations or do any actions or an activity that conflicts with the company's interest,
      3. Carry out the operations of an insurance agent or a broker,
      4. Receive a commission for any of the insurance operations.

      2. Whosoever be in charge of the management of the company or any employee therewith shall not represent any of the shareholders of this company.

    • Article (32)

      Efficiency and experience in insurance operations shall be prerequisites have to be fulfilled by any general manger or authorized manager and the senior officers of the company. The company shall provide the Authority with detailed description thereof implying qualifications and experience of each one as specified in the executive regulations of the law herein.

    • Article (33)

      1. The company shall advise the authority of the names of the members of its board of directors, general manager or the authorized manager or any of the senior staff and whether the position of any one of them vacated. The company shall fill the vacancy within sixty days as from date of vacating the same and notify the Director General of the Authority as so.

      2. The company's Board of Directors shall provide the Authority with copies of the minutes of the Board's meetings and its decisions related to the elections of the company's chairman, his deputy, and the board's members authorized to sign on behalf of the company and their specimen signatures within seven days as from date of issuing these decisions.

      3. Should the chairman and the members of the board of directors lodged their resignations or the Board lost its quorum the board of directors shall form a provisional committee of experienced and specialized individuals, appoint a chairman thereto, a deputy therefor out of its members to take charge of the company's management, invite the general assembly to convene within a period not exceeding three months as from date of the formation of the committee which shall be subject to renewal for a similar period once only by decision of the Board - in order to elect the company's new board of directors. The company shall bear remunerations of the committee as decided by the Board.

    • Article (34)

      The company in implementation of the instructions issued by the Board shall maintain the following:

      1. Solvency margin and the minimum guarantee fund associated with the type of insurance engaged therein.
      2. Technical provisions as estimated at the end of each fiscal year.
      3. The reserves need be maintained inside the State.
    • Article (35)

      The company licensed to carry out insurance operations after the implementation of the provisions of the Law herein shall appoint or approve a registered actuary within a month as from date of granting the license thereto, provided reporting the same to the Director General within a month as from date of appointing or approving the actuary. The companies licensed prior to implementing the provisions of the law herein shall adjust their situation in accordance with the provisions of the Article herein within three months as from date of implementing the provisions of the law herein.

       

      This article has been amended by Federal Law No. (03) of 2018. You are on the latest version. To view the previous version, click the version box below.
      Version 1(effective from 15/02/2007 to 26/04/2018)

       

      The company licensed to carry out life assurance and fund accumulation operations shall appoint or approve a registered actuary within a month as from date of granting the license thereto, provided reporting the same to the Director General within a month as from date of appointing or approving the actuary. The companies licensed prior to implementing the provisions of the law herein shall adjust their situation to make it consistence with the provisions of the Article herein within six months as from date of implementing the provisions of the law herein.

       

    • Article (36)

      1. The company shall provide any data or information requested by the Director General on the company per se or on any company possessively related or associated therewith during the period as determined by the Director General, in addition to any data or information submitted by the company to any other monitoring body and any data or information received by the company from these bodies on time of occurrence.

      2. The company's Board of directors shall invite the Director General to attend the general assembly meetings before at least fifteen days as from date of its convention. The Director General may depute whosoever represents him out of the Authority's employees in this respect.

      3. The Director General may assign one or more of the employees of the Authority to ascertain or verify at suitable times any of the company's transactions, records, or documents. The company shall put any of the aforesaid at the disposal of the so assigned employee and cooperate with him to enable him to fully perform his duties.

      4. The Director General on basis of the verification performed pursuant to the provisions of Para (3) of the Article herein shall appoint experts, consultants, actuaries or accounts auditors to check the company operations, evaluate the situations and file a report thereon. The company shall cooperate with them in a manner that enables them to fully perform their duties. The company shall bear their remunerations as determined by the Director General for each one of them.

      5. The expert, consultants, actuary or the accounts auditor shall not disclose to any body whatsoever any information on the results arrived at according to Para (4) of the Article herein only after obtaining the written approval of the Board.

    • Article (37)

      1. The company shall be obligated to provide the Authority with a detailed report on its operations signed by the chairman of its board of directors, the authorized manager or those authorized to sign on behalf of the company containing company's final annual accounts and all the related detailed information annexed thereto including the annual budget, detailed profit and loss accounts of the two types of insurance in which the company is engaged and of each branch thereform plus the accounts auditor's report within a period not to exceed four months as from the end of the fiscal year. The report shall reach the Authority within at least thirty days period prior to inviting the company's general assembly to convene.

      2. Should the accounts and data provided for in Para (1) of the Article herein proved to be not in agreement with the provisions of the law, and the regulations, rule, directives and decisions issued pursuant thereof the director general shall request the company's board of directors make them corrections in order to obtain the approval thereto before presenting them to the general assembly. The company's board of directors shall not present the same before obtaining such an approval.

      3. Should the company faces unfavorable financial or administrative situations or inflicted grief losses affecting the rights of the insured or the beneficiaries, the company chairman of the board of directors or its general manager shall forthwith inform the director general of the Authority as so.

    • Article (38)

      1. A.The company shall provide the authority with the insurance policies' forms and endorsements they have approved for its operations including the general and special terms and conditions and the technical basis of these policies and the premiums rates annexed thereto and as well shall provide the director general with schedules of the redemption values of the life assurance policies and funds accumulation operations and the premiums rates annexed thereto.

        B. The director general should the public interest require or in case of existence of a genuine imperfection may demand insertion of amendments into these forms within the period he determines for the purpose. The company may oppose the amendment and in case no agreement reached the matter shall be referred to the Board to settle it.
         
      2. The company shall provide the insured and the beneficiaries with copies of the insurance policies and the related details.
    • Article (39)

      The insurance and re-insurance companies registered with the Authority shall observe the doctrine of disclosure and transparency in their dealing with their patrons and in respect of all the documents, papers, bulletins, advertisements, propaganda and articles and scientific materials of their issue. The Board shall issue a resolution in respect of the matters must be observed in implementation the renderings of the Article herein.

    • Article (40)

      The accounts auditor shall forthwith file a report to the Authority with copy thereof to the company's chairman of the board of directors in any of the following cases:

      A. Should he became evident that the financial situation of the company does not enable it to fulfill its obligations towards the insured or hinders its capacity to meet the financial requirements provided for in the law herein and the regulations, rules, directives and decisions issued pursuant thereto relevant to the financial situation of the company.

      B. Should he became evident that there is grief imperfection in the company's performance of its financial procedures including the process of entering the statements into its accounting records.

      C. Should he refused or have reservations in respect of any certificate issued by the company related to its income or its financial statements.

      D. Should he decided to resign or refused to be reappointment with the company for unusual reasons.

      2. The Director General may ask the accounts auditor to furnish him directly within a specific period with the information needed to monitor the company's operations.

      3. The general assembly of the company, in case the accounts auditor recommended that the financial statements filed thereto by the board of directors not to be approved, may resolve either to:

      1. return the financial statements to the board of directors and demand the budget and profit and loss account be corrected according to the auditor's remarks and deem them approved following the correction, or
         
      2. refer the matter to the director general to appoint an expertise committee of account auditors, determine their remunerations to be borne by the company, to settle the subject matter of the dispute between the company's board of directors and its accounts auditors. The decision of the committee shall be binding after presenting the same once more to the general assembly for approval. The budget and the profit and loss account shall be amended as decided by the committee.
    • Article (41)

      The Authority shall conduct periodical inspection on the insurance and re¬insurance companies to ensure the soundness of their financial situations, and their compliance with the provisions of the law and the technical basis of carrying out the insurance and re-insurance operations. Should the Director General come to know through such inspection or vide sufficient information that one of the following incidents took place, then he shall ensure soundness of such information:

      1. (a) The company did not fulfil its obligations, or it's likely to fall short in doing so or the company is unable to continue its operations.
      2. (b) The company violated the provisions of the law herein, bylaws, regulations, instructions or the decisions issued pursuant thereto.
      3. (c) The company's procedures needed to reinsure the risks accepted by it are inadequate or the company didn't make these procedures, with the exception of the insurance-related professions.
      4. (d) The company has lost one of the required terms and conditions for licensing or registration to carry out the insurance activity.
      5. (e) The company's total losses exceeded (50%) of its paid-up capital.
      6. (f) The company ceased its operations for more than one year without justifiable cause or legitimate reason.

      2. Should the Director General became evident that the said information is correct he shall ask the company to take certain procedures to rectify its position within the period he shall determine, and in case the company failed to do so, the Director General shall refer the matter to the Board to take the necessary actions to rectify these situations; including:
      (a) Request from the company or the main office of the foreign insurance company, as appropriate, to take the necessary action to correct the administrative situations, including the disqualification of the Director-General, the Authorized Manager or any senior official.

      (b) Disqualification of the Chairman of the Board of Directors or any member of the Board that proves accountability for the current status of the Company.

      (c) Dissolving the Company's Board of Directors and appointing a provisional neutral administrative committee of experienced individuals to take its place and appointing a chairman for the committee and a deputy thereof. The functions and competencies of the committee shall be determined for a period not exceeding six months, extendable for a period not exceeding one year in cases where this is required. The company shall be liable for the fees of the committee as determined by the Authority and upon accomplishment of the committee's mission a new Board of Directors shall be elected in accordance with the provisions of the Commercial Companies Law.

      (d) Taking the necessary action to merge the company into another according to the provisions of the Commercial Companies Law.
      (e) Ceasing or cancelling the company's license.
      (f) Restructuring the company.
      (g) Preventing the company from concluding any more insurance contracts or preventing it from practicing a particular type or types of insurance.
      (h) Setting upper limit for the premiums total amounts received by the company for issuing insurance policies.
      (i) Retaining assets in the State equal in value to the company's total net obligations accrued from its operations in the State or a certain percentage of their value as determined by the Board based on the recommendation of the Director General.
      (j) Restricting the company's involvement in any of its investments activities associated with the solvency margin or compeling it to liquidate its investments in any of these activities to serve this purpose, unless such action would cause damage to the company as decided by the expert specialized in this field.
      (k) Appointing an independent observer member from outside the Authority to attend meetings of the Board of Directors of the company and participate in the discussions without having a vote during taking the decision and the Board shall determine his competencies and fees.
      (l) Liquidating the company.

      3. The provisions stipulated in paragraph (1) and (2) of the article herein shall apply to Insurance Related Professions to the extent appropriate to the nature of these professions.

      Article (41) bis (1):

      1. Subject to the provisions of the Law concerning Offences and Administrative Sanctions in the Federal Government, the Authority has the power to impose administrative fines on insurance companies, reinsurance companies and insurance-related professions.

      2. The Cabinet shall issue a decision to determine the offences for which the fines referred to in paragraph (1) of the article herein shall be imposed.

      Article (41) bis (2):

      1. The Director-General shall designate any expert, consultant, actuary or auditor for the purpose of conducting an inspection or audit.

      2. Inspectors and auditors appointed by the Director General shall be given all necessary authorities to enable them to carry out their duties, including:

      (a) Accessing records, registers, statements and internal audit reports. As well as collecting information and requesting necessary clarifications from the insurance company, reinsurance company, insurance-related profession and the members in respect of the insurance operations they carry out. In addition to obtaining prints or copies of records, registers and statements.

      (b) Collecting the necessary information and clarifications from the members of the group of insurance company or reinsurance company in relation to all records, operations and activities relating to the insurance company.

      (c) Collecting the necessary information and clarifications from any third party that has a relation with the insurance company, reinsurance company or the insurance-related profession concerning the subject matter of auditing.

      Article (41) bis (3):

      Any insurance company, reinsurance company or insurance-related profession, or any of their managers or employees shall not:

      1. Prevent, intercept or obstruct any person appointed by the Director General to carry out inspections or audits pursuant to the law herein.

      2. Conceal any data, registers or books requested by the Director General or the person appointed by him to perform the inspection or auditing duties.

      3. Issue any misleading statements or give any inaccurate data, registers or books.

      This article has been amended by Federal Law No. (03) of 2018. You are on the latest version. To view the previous version, click the version box below.
      Version 1(effective from 15/02/2007 to 26/04/2018)

       

      The Authority shall conduct periodical inspection of the insurance and re-insurance companies to ensure safety of the financial situations, observance of the provisions of the law and the technical basis of conducting the insurance and re-insurance operations. Should the Director General came to know through such inspection or vide sufficient information that one of the following incidents took place he shall ensure soundness of such information:

      1. That the company did not fulfill its obligations or it's likely to fall short in doing so or unable to go on with its operations.
      2. That the company violated the provisions of the law herein, or the regulations, rules, directives or the decision issued pursuant thereto.
      3. That the company's procedures needed to re-insure the risks of its tolerance are inadequate or the company didn't make these procedures.
      4. That the company became devoid of one of the required terms and conditions for licensing or registration to carry out the activity of insurance.
      5. That the company's total losses exceeded 50% of its paid-up capital.
      6. That the company ceased to carry out its operations for more than a year without justified or legitimate reason.

      2. Should the director general became evident that the said information are correct he shall ask the company to take certain procedures to rectify its situations within the period he may determine and should the company failed to do as so, the director general shall refer the matter to the Board to take the necessary actions to rectify these situations; including:

      1. Preventing the company from concluding any more insurance contracts or transacting in certain type or types of insurance.
      2. Setting upper limit for the premiums total amounts received by the company against issuing insurance policies.
      3. Retaining assets in the State equal in value to the company's total net obligations accrued from its operations in the State or to a certain percentage of their value as determined by the Board following a recommendation by the Director General.
      4. Restricting the company's involvement in any of its investments activities associated with the solvency margin or obliging it to liquidate its investments in any of these activities to serve this purpose unless such action would inflect harms on the company as decided by the expert specialized in this respect.
      5. Asking the company or the main office of the foreign insurance company as the case might be to take the necessary actions to rectify the administrative situation therein including removing the Director General, the authorized manager or any of its senior officers away from office.
      6. Removing the Chairman of the company's board of directors or any Board member proved to be liable for the ensuing situation of the company.
      7. Dissolving the company's board of directors, appointing a provisional neutral administrative committee of experienced individuals to take its place and as well appointing a chairman for the committee and a deputy thereof, determining their responsibilities and powers for a period not to exceed six months subject to renewal for a period not more than a year in the cases requiring as so. The company shall bear the fees of the committee as determined by the Authority and upon accomplishment of the committee's mission a new board of directors shall be appointed according to the provisions of the Law of Commercial Companies.
      8. Taking the necessary action to merge the company into another according to the provisions of the Law of Commercial Companies.
      9. Ceasing or canceling the company's license.
      10. Restructuring the company.
      11. Liquidating the company.