The Bahrain Monetary Agency (BMA) has granted a licence to global insurance broking and consulting giant, Aon Corporation, to establish Aon Re Middle East, an insurance brokerage firm in Bahrain.
The BMA has also granted a licence to a group of corporates and investors from Saudi Arabia to establish CareCard Insurance Company, a group health insurance provider.
Aon Re Middle East is being established by Aon subsidiaries Aon Holdings and Aon International, both incorporated in the Netherlands.
Aon Re Middle East will be domiciled in Bahrain, with a paid up capital of BD100,000 (US$265,000).
The new licence to Aon is in addition to the firm’s existing operation in Bahrain, Aon Limited, an insurance consultancy firm established in 2002, said Mr. Ahmed Al Bassam, Director, Licensing & Policy, at the BMA.
Headquartered in Chicago, USA, Aon Corporation is a leading provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, human capital and management consulting, and specialty insurance underwriting.
Aon Corporation employs about 52,000 people in 600 offices in more than 120 countries.
CareCard Insurance Company, with an initial paid up capital of BD1 million (US$2.65 million), will provide medical insurance policies, group term life assurance and health claims management services in the Middle East region.
A major shareholder of the new firm is Mr. Faisal Elseif, Partner, Elseif Development Company, one of Saudi Arabia’s top 10 groups specialising in hospital and medical equipment.
Other shareholders of the Bahrain firm include Arabia Medical Access Company, a leading group medical insurance provider in Saudi Arabia and a subsidiary of Elseif Development Company, as well as other individual investors.
The new firm would be re-located to the upcoming Bahrain International Insurance Centre, in the Bahrain Financial Harbour complex. “BMA welcomes the addition of Aon Re Middle East and CareCard Insurance Company to Bahrain’s well-diversified financial center,” said Mr. Al Bassam.
“At the BMA, we are committed to providing an environment in which financial institutions, in general, and insurance firms, in particular, can grow and prosper.”
Bahrain has, on 14th September 2004, signed a free trade agreement (FTA) with the US, he pointed out. The FTA aims at achieving extensive liberalisation across a wide spectrum of trade issues, both in terms of goods and services.
In the area of insurance, the FTA provides for the two countries to allow market access to their insurance companies. (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
