The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) entered today into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Insurance Authority (IA) of the UAE regarding co-operation and exchange of regulatory information.

The MoU was signed in the presence of His Excellency Eng Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of the Economy and Chairman of the IA, in the Dubai Office of the Ministry, by Mr Paul Koster, Chief Executive of the DFSA, and Her Excellency Fatima Mohammed Ishaq Al-Awadi, Deputy Director-General of the IA.

The Insurance Authority is responsible for regulating and monitoring the activity of the UAE insurance sector to secure a suitable environment for its development and to provide security for both the relevant inpiduals (the consumers, the public, the professions, the insurance companies, the insured, the beneficiaries, applicants for insurance) and property. The DFSA is the regulator of Authorised Firms, including banks, insurance companies, investment banks, asset managers and fund administrators, providing financial services in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

Mr Paul M Koster, Chief Executive of the DFSA said, "I am very pleased to be signing this MoU with our federal insurance counterpart, the Insurance Authority, and I am particularly honoured by the presence and support of His Excellency the Minister of the Economy. The DFSA already enjoys a strong relationship with the Authority and both agencies are members of the insurance standard-setter, the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) and last year the IA was a major sponsor for, as well as a participant in, the IAIS Annual Conference hosted by the DFSA in Dubai.”

“The signing of today's MoU extends that co-operation to day-to-day regulatory issues, formalising arrangements for information sharing. It recognises that both supervisors place reliance on the quality of regulatory standards administered federally and in the DIFC. This also marks a formal collaborative link between the DFSA and all three federal financial supervisors; MoUs having been signed with the Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority in 2005 and with the Central Bank of the UAE in 2009.”

“Continuing close co-operation and future joint initiatives between the DFSA and the Insurance Authority will reinforce our mutual commitment to ensuring financial stability and promote sound economic growth in the UAE," Mr Koster said.