Page 41 - Annual Report 2016 EN

A regulatory framework for
insurance firms

In 2016, the Regulatory Authority assisted the Qatar Central Bank
with a key initiative: to implement a regulatory framework for insur-
ance firms operating in the State of Qatar.

Two staff members of the Regulatory Authority specialising in super-
vision and authorisation, respectively, were seconded to the Qatar
Central Bank to provide tailored risk management and insurance
training to their staff. This important initiative is helping to build the
human capital required to review the license applications from
State insurance firms that were submitted to the Qatar Central
Bank at the end of 2016. The staff members assigned to the Qatar
Central Bank have been provided, along with other Regulatory
Authority supervisory staff, professional development opportunities
to keep technical actuarial, insurance and accounting expertise
up-to-date.
The Regulatory Authority’s seconded staff furthered the insurance
initiative by assisting with the implementation of an online pruden-
tial return system; providing dedicated onsite specialist technical
support; the secondment of several Qatar Central Bank insurance
personnel to the Regulatory Authority for targeted training on firm
licensing, supervision and financial analysis; delivery of a formal
technical insurance training programme and soft skill training; and
producing documentation for the insurance licensing process from
receipt of an application to its analysis to the recommendation
report and granting of a Qatar Central Bank insurance license.

AML/CFT cooperation and coordination

The Regulatory Authority is committed to assisting with and partici-
pating in State initiatives to combat money laundering and terrorist
financing. In this regard, two staff were seconded to the National
Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terror-
ism Committee Working Group to assist with a number of strategic
initiatives. The Regulatory Authority’s chief executive officer is a
member of the Steering Committee that oversees these initiatives.

The Regulatory Authority is assisting the National Anti-Money Laun-
dering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Committee on a
number of initiatives designed to identify and assess money laun-
dering and terrorism financing vulnerabilities and threats and to
develop action plans to address these threats.