Do or Die

I t seems Nasser Saidi means business after all. Back in May 1999, when the new insurance law was finally passed in parliament, many wondered if it would be enforced. Meeting the new minimum capital requirement of $1 .5 million, up from $200,000, and depositing $3.3 million in order to sell premiums for all lines of insurance wouldn’t be easy. But then again that was the intention all along. By demanding a high capital, the ministry of trade and economy would force financially weaker firms to merge to meet the requirements. Otherwise, they would have to shut down and leave the sector to those with the financial backbone to remain solvent. Since then a wave of reform has washed through the sector, with the number of companies unable to stay afloat gradually rising. Insurers that didn’t already have these funds in place were given until last June to come up