MUSCAT: The Capital Market Authority and the Insurance and Social Security Control Authority in the Kingdom of Morocco, on Wednesday, signed a memorandum of understanding in the field of supervision and control of the insurance sector.

The memorandum of understanding will contribute to enhancing joint cooperation between the two sides in the field of insurance and exchanging information and experiences to develop legislative and technical systems that characterise the sector in the two brotherly countries.

The memorandum seeks to achieve a set of common goals, such as exchanging experiences in dealing with natural disasters, insurance risks, technical systems used in supervising and controlling insurance companies and their related activities, enhancing coordination and exchanging experiences and information in the field of combating money laundering and terrorist financing related to the insurance sector, and cooperation between the two parties apply international standards, especially the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force, related to international cooperation in this field.

The memorandum was signed by the Capital Market Authority, His Excellency Abdullah bin Salem Al-Salmi, CEO of the Authority, while it was signed by the Insurance Supervision and Social Reserve Authority in the Kingdom of Morocco, Othman Khalil Al-Alami, Acting Chairman of the Authority.

His Excellency the CEO of the Capital Market Authority said that the memorandum focuses on the countries’ level of regulation and supervision of the performance of institutions operating in the insurance sector, in a way that ensures the development of the insurance industry, raising the level of service quality, protecting policy holders and sustaining the performance of workers in the market.

His Excellency added that this type of cooperation ensures that the Omani insurance market keeps pace with what is new in the regional and global insurance market and meets the needs of the current stage of providing an insurance umbrella for individuals and a safe investment environment for institutions.

For his part, the acting head of the Moroccan Insurance and Social Reserve Control Authority confirmed that the signed memorandum of understanding would develop the insurance sector in the two countries by encouraging the exchange of supervisory and regulatory information and coordinating the supervisory frameworks between the two bodies in order to stimulate and ensure a continuous development of the supervision and control systems of each authority.

He pointed out that the cooperative framework that brings together the two bodies is related to the exchange of expertise and experiences, assistance in preparing research and studies, and providing consultations in all areas related to insurance, stressing the importance of coordination and exchanging expertise and information in the field of applying international standards.

The signing of the memorandum was attended by His Excellency Ambassador Tariq Al-Hussein, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to the Sultanate of Oman.