Regulation 1
RegulationSingle-sourceOman
Oman's FSA pushes insurers towards satellite and drone data for flood risk
The Financial Services Authority ran a workshop on flood risk analysis using satellite and drone imagery, with executive vice president Ahmed bin Ali Al Mamari describing modern technology as a strategic requirement for risk management rather than an option. The regulator wants remote sensing used in underwriting and damage assessment, which is a sensible push in a market that has been repeatedly caught out by cyclone and flood losses.
Governance 1
GovernanceConfirmedUAE
Miller closes Shields deal and takes owned reinsurance broking into the DIFC
Miller has completed its acquisition of Dubai-based Shields Reinsurance Brokers, its first owned platform in the Middle East, with Ahmed Rajab staying on as chief executive. Shields places facultative and treaty business across specialty lines from the DIFC, and the deal continues the steady relocation of international broking capacity into Dubai rather than servicing the region from London.
Company 3
CompanySingle-sourceSaudi Arabia
Saudi Re more than doubles second-quarter profit, helped by a one-off
Saudi Re posted net profit after zakat of SAR 115m for the second quarter, up 118% year on year, on higher reinsurance revenue and a one-off reversal of SAR 53.5m in accumulated surplus. Take out the reversal and the underlying improvement is still there, but it is roughly half the headline.
CompanyConfirmedSaudi Arabia
Tawuniya's half-year profit falls 16% on general and motor claims
Tawuniya reported net profit of SAR 609.8m for the first half, down 16% year on year, with second-quarter profit off 31%. Chief executive Othman Alkassabi attributed the fall to higher general insurance claims, health seasonality, and two motor accounts written on 2025 assumptions that will not be renewed.
CompanyConfirmedOman
Oman Air embeds travel cover with Takaful Oman
Oman Air has signed Takaful Oman as its local travel insurance partner, selling cover inside the booking flow with Insurte providing the platform and ISA Assist acting as programme architect. Embedded distribution of this kind remains one of the few practical routes for GCC takaful operators to reach retail customers at scale without building an agency force.
Market 3
MarketConfirmedGCC
Lloyd's clause strips hull cover from ships that pay to transit Hormuz
The Lloyd's Market Association has published a model clause and guidance stating that insurers will not indemnify any transit fee paid for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, and that cover ceases where such a payment is confirmed, on sanctions and terrorism-legislation grounds. Gulf energy and trade flows run through that chokepoint, so the wording has immediate consequences for regional hull and cargo programmes and for the local insurers fronting them.
MarketConfirmedGCC
AXA XL books around EUR 100m of Middle East war claims in the first half
AXA's half-year results carry a charge of roughly EUR 100m for Middle East claims at AXA XL, concentrated in war, terrorism and political violence, adding about 0.4 points to the group loss ratio. The number is an estimate and may move, but it is an early read on where the region's conflict exposure is landing, and a signal that terms on those lines will tighten at renewal.
MarketCorroboratedQatar
Qatar's insurers grew premiums in 2025 while net profit fell about 70%
Qatar Central Bank's annual financial stability work records higher written premiums across the local insurance sector in 2025 alongside a fall of roughly 70% in net profit. Growth without earnings is the familiar Gulf pattern: volume is available at the price, and pricing discipline is what is scarce.
Each item is a short editorial summary with a link to the original source. Items marked Rumour · unverified are unconfirmed and should be treated with caution. Compiled automatically; corrections welcome.