An analysis of the insurance industry regulator in Saudi Arabia and Jordan through the comparison with insurance industry regulator in the UK

Abstract

Since the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) supervise and legalize the Saudi insurance sector, and as the Jordanian Insurance Commission (IC), which is an administratively and financially independent organization, regulates the local insurance sector; the purpose of this research is to critically examine the structure and functioning of insurance regulator in Saudi Arabia and Jordan through comparisons with the regulatory structure in UK. This is as an attempt to fill the lack of research in this vital area in order to arrive at constructive suggestions that could enhance the quality of insurance regulation in both countries. Indeed, this paper found that the insurance sector in Saudi Arabia and Jordan lags behind most of the other developing economies in Asia and Europe. Also, full implementation of the insurance regulatory Information System (IS) and publication of a clear regulatory ladder could support the taking of early and consistent intervention action on insurance companies.