INTERMEDIARIES ARE A POOR MARKET CONDUCT AND DISCLOSURE CHANEL: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON SAUDI ARABIA
Journal Title: European Journal of Business and Social Sciences - Year 2015, Vol 4, Issue 2
Abstract
Market conduct refers primarily to the way insurers deal with existing or prospective policyholders whether directly or through intermediaries; it also covers other market players such as investments managers, The strength of market conduct varies from one jurisdiction to another. However, even in advanced jurisdictions market conduct regimes for insurance have lagged behind the development of prudential regulation and behind other sectors. Accordingly, the main market conduct problem faced by Takaful Operators (TOs) is the issue of intermediaries and regulations, which vary from one jurisdiction to another in regulating intermediaries. For example, some jurisdictions regulate intermediaries directly, and some place the onus on the insurer, while others have scarcely any provisions at all. Although regulations might ask takaful companies to take the responsibility of letting their intermediaries disclose the required information to the customers, a suitability regime however, is very difficult to apply especially if an intermediary is an agent to another company. No studies have been conducted to systematically document takaful participants’ perceptions of the quality and knowledge of TOs intermediaries’ personals. This paper attempts to fill the gap. The paper reports a result on the perceptions of 420 participants of takaful companies in Saudi Arabia. The research findings indicate that, although the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) has identifies the duties of intermediaries, such as (communicate all relevant information including coverage details, acceptance conditions, exceptions and restrictions of the insurance policy to the customers in a timely manner, and ensuring customers are aware of the commitment they are about to make to enable them to make a suitable decision), the majority of participants are against the idea of selling takaful products via intermediaries. Participants believe that takaful products shall be sold by the TOs agents. Participants believe that intermediaries in Saudi Arabia have a weak knowledge about sharia'h and takaful business.
Authors and Affiliations
DR. HASHEM ABDULLAH ALNEMER. | ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN FINANCE COLLEGE OF BUSINESS, UNIVERSITY OF JEDDAH SAUDI ARABIA.
Keywords
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- EP ID EP10585
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