The government is going to submit a request for legislative authorization to the Assembly of the Republic (AR) to approve the legal framework for insurance in the country.

The draft law authorizing the government to approve the legal framework for insurance was approved yesterday in Maputo, during the 20th ordinary session of the Council of Ministers.

The spokesman for the Council of Ministers, Inocêncio Impissa, who was speaking at the usual press briefing minutes after the end of the session, explained that the revision of the legal regime aims to introduce legislative reforms in the insurance sector, appropriate to the dynamics of the current context in the country.

The review also aims to create reforms that are in line with the principles and good practices of insurance approach, governance and management issued by the international organizations of which Mozambique is a member, including the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) and the Committee of Supervisors of Non-Banking Financial Institutions (CISNA).

In addition to creating the figure of the client ombudsman, whose main mission will be to speed up the resolution of disputes in insurance contracts, the review will also redefine rules for distributing risk in reinsurance operations.

The revision, according to Impissa, will also "broaden the range of offenses committed in the exercise of the activity, including the strengthening of the respective sanctions, as well as defining the general rules of conduct of the market, introducing the general principles of liquidation of insurers and reinsurers".

The reforms are part of the 40 recommendations issued by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) that will help remove Mozambique from the Grey List.

In June 2021, the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG), a regional body similar to the FATF, established in 1999, of which Mozambique is a member, adopted and published the Mutual Evaluation Report on Mozambique, which identified deficiencies in terms of compliance with FATF standards, i.e. weaknesses in the country's legal, regulatory and institutional structures in terms of the effectiveness of the money laundering and terrorist financing regime.

This has put the country on the Grey List, which prevents it from accessing various international financing instruments.

Photo DR