Bahrain based Gulf Ventures Corporation are undertaking a survey for Omani investors to assess the interest amongst insurance customers in Oman for Islamic insurance (which is known as "Takaful").
All GCC countries, except Oman, have a thriving Islamic finance segment, and earlier this year the Omani authorities announced that they would give licenses to new Islamic financial services entities. The first licence is likely to be granted soon for an Islamic bank. Potential investors are keen to create the first Islamic insurance firm.
Conventional insurance is considered to be in conflict with Shari'a as it can be seen as a form of gambling, where one party stands to gain benefit whilst one party loses i.e. if a customer makes a claim, then they gain at the expense of the insurance company, or if no claim is made, the insurance company keeps the payment from the customer. Under Takaful (Islamic insurance) policyholders' payments are held in a mutual pool, from which claims are paid. Any surpluses left in the pool, for example if there are low levels of claims, belong to the policyholders, as opposed to the insurance company. The insurance company acts as an administrator of the policyholders funds, for which they are paid a service fee. In this way the policyholders stand to benefit from lower levels of claims, as any surpluses belong to them and not the insurance company.
The survey can be found online at this web address: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GWNGTGV
-Ends-
GULF VENTURES CORPORATION (GVC) is an international consulting firm that is dedicated exclusively to the financial services sector with a focus on the Emerging Markets and the Middle East where this sector faces formidable challenges and opportunities.
For further information please contact:
Ms. Lisa Markowski
Press Coordinator
Gulf Ventures Corporation
Ground Floor, Al Jasrah Tower, Diplomatic Area, PO Box 20358, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain
T: +973-1753-1321
Web: www.gulfventurescorp.com
© Press Release 2011
