Saudi Arabia to Announce Unified Insurance Regulator Soon

Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jadaan attends the Saudi Insurance Symposium (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jadaan attends the Saudi Insurance Symposium (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT

Saudi Arabia to Announce Unified Insurance Regulator Soon

Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jadaan attends the Saudi Insurance Symposium (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jadaan attends the Saudi Insurance Symposium (Asharq Al-Awsat)

A unified regulator for the insurance sector, independent of the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), will be announced soon, Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jadaan stated on Wednesday.

While the minister acknowledged that the insurance sector needs powerful entities capable of expanding within and outside Saudi Arabia, he stressed that the government is keen on supporting and developing the financial sector.

Al-Jadaan pointed out that great investment opportunities are available in Saudi Arabia’s insurance sector.

The government, according to Al-Jadaan, is working on attracting quality investments from inside and outside Saudi Arabia.

Al-Jadaan invited international insurance companies to enter the Saudi market directly by opening branches or participating with investors.

Speaking about the anticipated unified regulator, Al-Jadaan said: “The objective is to develop the sector as well as to facilitate compliance processes between existing regulators.”

During the Saudi Insurance Symposium held on Wednesday, Al-Jadaan stressed that the insurance sector hasn’t quite yet reached the level of the Kingdom’s ambitions for it.

The minister also highlighted the importance of mergers to strengthen the sector.

He announced ongoing efforts to push the sector toward further growth during the coming period.

Al-Jadaan added the government initially approved a proposal to establish an independent insurance regulator.

SAMA Governor Fahad Abdullah Al-Mubarak confirmed that the insurance sector in the Kingdom achieved a growth of 8.5 %, recording an upward performance in 2021.

According to Al-Mubarak, SAMA is working on developing standards in the preparation of financial reports and has cooperated with companies to develop a clear transformation plan to implement the new standard.

Al-Mubarak explained that the Saudi insurance sector is recently going through stages of growth, maturity, and development, the most prominent of which are mergers and acquisitions between insurance companies and capital increase.

There is a tendency among several companies to raise their capital due to the expansion of business and high growth rates, which enhances the capacity, positions and solvency of companies, the Governor noted.



World Leaders Descend on Azerbaijan’s Capital Baku for United Nations Climate Talks

 Leaders arrive for a group photo at the COP29 UN Climate Summit, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP)
Leaders arrive for a group photo at the COP29 UN Climate Summit, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP)
TT

World Leaders Descend on Azerbaijan’s Capital Baku for United Nations Climate Talks

 Leaders arrive for a group photo at the COP29 UN Climate Summit, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP)
Leaders arrive for a group photo at the COP29 UN Climate Summit, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP)

World leaders are converging Tuesday at the United Nations annual climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan although the big names and powerful countries are noticeably absent, unlike past climate talks which had the star power of a soccer World Cup.

But 2024's climate talks are more like the World Chess Federation finals, lacking the recognizable names but big on nerd power and strategy. The top leaders of the 13 largest carbon dioxide-polluting countries will not appear with their countries responsible for more than 70% of 2023's heat-trapping gases.

Biggest polluters and strongest economies China and the United States aren't sending their No. 1s. The four most populous nations with more than 42% of all the world's population aren't having leaders speak.

“It’s symptomatic of the lack of political will to act. There’s no sense of urgency,” said climate scientist Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics. He said this explains “the absolute mess we’re finding ourselves in.”

On Tuesday, Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev, United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are the headliners of among the nearly 50 leaders set to speak.

But there'll be a strong showing expected from the leaders of some of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries. Several small island nations presidents and over a dozen leaders from countries across Africa are set to speak over the two-day World Leaders’ Summit at the COP29 conference.