Ministerial Decision No. 23/1985
Concerning the Regulation of the Insurance Consultancy
The Minister of Economy and Trade,
Having perused:
The Federal Law No. 1/1972 concerning the Functions of Ministries and Powers of Ministers and the amending laws thereof;
The Federal Law No. 8/1984 concerning Commercial Companies;
The Federal Law No. 9/1984 concerning Insurance Companies and Agents;
The Ministerial Regulation No. 32/1984 on the Implementing Regulations of the Federal Law No. 9/1984 concerning Insurance Companies and Agents, and
Based on the recommendation of the Acting Deputy Minister and approval of the Supreme Committee of Insurance,
Has decided,
Article 1
In the application of the provisions of this Resolution, the following words and expressions used in this Resolution shall have the meanings ascribed thereto:
The State/UAE: United Arab Emirates
The Ministry: Ministry of Economy and Trade
Competent Department: The Internal Trade Department at the Ministry of Economy and Trade
Ministry's Competent Office: The Competent Office of the Ministry of Economy and Trade in the Emirate where the profession is to be practised or the place of business of the insurance consultant is located.
The Register: Insurance Consultants' Register.
Insurance Consultant: A person who studies the insurance requirements for his clients, provides advice regarding the appropriate insurance cover, assists in preparing insurance applications and charges fees for his services from the clients.
Article 2
No person may practice insurance consultancy in the State, unless their name is registered in the Register designated for this purpose in the Competent Department.
Article 3
An individual person registered in the Register must satisfy the following conditions:
1- Have full capacity;
2- Be of good conduct and behaviour and has never been sentenced in moral turpitude crimes, unless he/she is rehabilitated or pardoned by the competent authorities, if applicable;
3- Has never been declared bankrupt, unless rehabilitated;
4- Be holder of a proper university degree or equivalent thereof along with experience in insurance of not less than ten years; or be a member in an insurance institute with experience in insurance of not less than eight years;
5- Be a resident of the UAE and practising the business in a permanent place of business;
6- Practising the profession on full-time basis. UAE nationals are exempted of this condition.
Article 4
A company registered in the Register must satisfy the following conditions:
1- A partner, director or an officer in charge in the company must be registered in the Register.
2- The conditions set forth in clauses 1, 2, and 3 of the previous article must be satisfied by all acting partners, board members or directors of the company, as the case may be.
3- The share owned by UAE nationals in the company capital must not be less than 51%, if the company is incorporated in the UAE. However, if the company is incorporated abroad, it must have a UAE national agent.
Article 5
A non-UAE national individual registered in the Register may not practice the insurance consultation profession, unless he/she meets one of the following conditions:
1- Have a UAE national sponsor.
2- Be a partner, director or an officer in charge in a company registered in the Register. Any individual registered in the Register must inform the Competent Department within three months as of the date of registration of the name of his UAE national sponsor or the name of the company where he/she has become a partner, director or an officer in charge, and must submit the supporting documents thereof along with an acknowledgement from him/her that he/she practices the profession on full-time basis and is not practising any other business or doing any other job. Under a decision of the Deputy Minister, the name of any person who fails to provide the said data and documents to the Competent Department within the period set forth in the Register may be written off.
Article 6
An application for registration in the Register shall be submitted to Ministry's Competent Office using the form designated for this purpose in duplicate signed by the applicant and enclosing the following documents:
1- A true copy of the applicant's passport;
2- An official certificate from the competent authorities that the applicant has never been sentenced in a crime involving moral turpitude along with an acknowledgement by the applicant that he/ she has never been declared bankrupt;
3- True copies of duly authenticated academic certificates.
4- Duly authenticated certificates of experience, with a true copy of each.
Article 7
In case the application for registration referred to in the previous article is related to a company registration in the Register, the application must enclose the following:
1- A true copy of the company's memorandum of association or articles of association.
2- A true copy of a certificate of registration of the company in the Commercial Register, if it is a trading company.
3- A true copy of a certificate of registration of a partner, director or an officer in charge of the company in the Register.
4- An official certificate from the competent authorities that each of the acting partners, board members or directors, as the case may be, has never been sentenced in a crime involving moral turpitude and an acknowledgement by each of them that he/she has never been declared bankrupt.
5- A true copy of the original ID, family record or passport of each partner.
Article 8
Each insurance consultant, whether an individual, company or individual entity, whose application is accepted must provide the Competent Department with a professional indemnity insurance policy in the amount of AED 1,500,000 which shall name the consultant as the insured, the company or the individual entity, as the case may be, and in favour of the Minister of Economy and Trade, in his capacity.
Exempted from the requirement to provide the referred-to insurance policy shall be individual insurance consultants who are partners in companies registered in the Register as well as the employees of both individual entities and insurance consulting companies.
Article 9
The Competent Department shall decide on the application for registration within a period of no more than thirty days from the date of submission. If the application is rejected, the Competent Department shall notify the applicant of the rejection decision by a registered letter. In case the registration of the expert's name and the application data in the Register are accepted, the Competent Department shall provide the applicant with a copy of the application for registration annotated that the registration has taken place and indicating the number and date thereof; and a certificate of the applicant's registration in the Register showing the name, address and the registration number and date of the applicant. The Competent Department shall also notify the competent authority in the relevant Emirate with a copy of the said certificate, subject to the provisions of Article (5) herein. The registration certificate shall be valid for one year as of the date of registration in the Register.
Article 10
Insurance consultants who are registered in the Register shall notify the Ministry of all amendments and alterations that may be made to the data of the application for registration or the documents annexed thereto. The notice shall be by an application for annotation to be submitted to the Ministry's Competent Office within thirty days from the date of such amendment or alteration using the form designated for this purpose in duplicate signed by the applicant, enclosing the documents supporting the validity of the data contained therein.
In case the application is accepted, the Competent Department shall record the new data in the Register. The annotation date and the supporting documents thereof shall be referred to in the Register margin. Then, the applicant shall be provided with one copy of the application indicating that the annotation of amendment or alteration was made, and the date thereof.
The Competent Department may reject the application for amendment or alteration, provided that it shall notify the applicant of the rejection decision by a registered letter within thirty days from the date of serving the amendment or alteration notice.
Article 11
Each insurance consultant who is registered in the Register must renew his/her registration on annual basis.
The application for renewal shall be submitted to the Ministry's Competent Office on the form designated for this purpose in duplicate signed by the applicant, at least thirty days prior to the expiry of the registration certificate each year.
The Competent Department shall renew the registration of the insurance consultant after ensuring that the registration renewal conditions are satisfied.
Article 12
Insurance Consultants working in the UAE before the provisions of this Resolution take effect must apply to the Ministry for registration in the Register.
The application must be submitted to the Ministry's Competent Office and must satisfy the conditions and be in accordance with the situations set forth herein no later than 31 December 1985.
Article 13
Any person registered in the Register must couple his name with his registration number in the Register on all correspondence, certificates and reports issued by him.
Correspondence, certificates and reports issued by insurance consultancy companies must be signed by an individual insurance consultant registered in the Register as a partner, director or officer in charge in the company.
Article 14
Insurance consultants must keep regular records for their insurance operations and such records must be according to the forms approved by the Competent Department.
Article 15
Any interested person may obtain from the Competent Department an official extract of the registration sheet in the Register, after paying the prescribed fees.
Article 16
Fees to be collected for the procedures carried out under the provisions of this Resolution shall be determined as follows:
Procedure
Prescribed Fees (in AED)
1. Application for registration in the Register.
2,000 (AED Two Thousand)
- Application for renewal of the registration in the Register.
1,000 (AED One Thousand)
- Application for annotation of data amendment in the Register.
250 (AED Two Hundred Fifty)
- Access to the data registered in the Register for a half hour or less.
100 (AED One Hundred)
- Application for copies or official extracts of the data recorded in the Register per page or part thereof.
100 (AED One Hundred)
Article 17
All competent authorities must implement this Resolution.
Article 18
This Resolution shall be published in the Official Gazette and shall take effect as of the date of its publication.
Issued in Abu Dhabi on:
25 Rajab 1405
15 April 1985
Seif Ali Al-Jarwan
Minister of Economy and Trade
