Axa granted first general insurance licence in Qatar

Middle East

Qatar’s regulator, the Qatar Financial Centre, has granted a licence to Axa Insurance (Gulf) to operate in the country. The operation will be based in Doha. The regulator said Axa is the first company to be licensed specifically to write general insurance business. Phillip Thorpe, chairman and chief executive of the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority, said: “We have been pleased with the level of interest shown by insurers in the potential for accessing the GCC [Gulf Cooperaton Council] markets from the QFC. New enquiries from prospective applicants including insurance managers and brokers are running at a high level.”