1. MOBILE INSURANCE AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS
MOBILE INSURANCE WORKSHOP
MOBILE INSURANCE AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS
Fangman Alain Ouattara
Commissioner Comptroller-General of CIMA

2. CONTENTS REGULATORY AUTHORITIES AND LEGISLATION
REGULATORY FRAMEWORK OPTIONS
CONCLUSION 2

3. REGULATORY AUTHORITIES AND LEGISLATION
Close collaboration is needed between the various regulatory and supervisory authorities concerned:
CIMA
BCEAO
Telecommunications Regulatory Agencies and Data Protection Agencies
BEAC 3

4. REGULATORY AUTHORITIES AND LEGISLATION
Community decisions adopted by CEMAC and WAMU in regard to tariff harmonisation:
Directive No. 05/2006/CM/UEMOA on the harmonisation of tariff-setting for telecommunications services;
Directive No. 10/08-UEAC-133- CM-18 of 19 December 2008 harmonising the modalities for setting and controlling tariffs for e-communication services within CEMAC.
Community provisions governing e-money activities:
Instruction No governing the conditions and operating modalities for e- money issuers’ activities within the West African Monetary Union (WAMU) member-states;
Regulation No. 01/11/CEMAC/UMAC/CM on exercising the activity of e-money issuer. 4

5. REGULATORY AUTHORITIES AND LEGISLATION
As many different telecommunications sector regulators as there are member countries:
Benin: Law No on electronic communications and the postal service, and Decree No setting the responsibilities, organisation and operations of the Autorité de Régulation des Communications Electroniques et de la Poste (electronic communications and postal regulation authority);
Niger: Ordinance No regulating telecommunications, and Law No on the creation and organisation of the Autorité de Régulation des Télécommunications et de la Poste (telecommunications and postal regulation authority);
Togo: Decree No /PR governing the legal regimes applicable to electronic communication activities; and Decree No on the organisation and operation of the Autorité de Régulation des Secteurs des Postes et Télécommunications (regulatory authority for the postal and telecommunication sectors);
Chad: Law No. 013/PR/2014 of 14 March 2014 regulating electronic communications and postal activities; and Law No. 012/PR/2014 of 14 March on the creation of the Agence de Développement des Technologies de l’Information et la Communication (agency for the development of information and communication technologies). 5

6. REGULATORY FRAMEWORK OPTIONS
Analysis of various regulatory options: 6

7. REGULATORY FRAMEWORK OPTIONS
Scope:
The reference texts that the draft CIMA document could target address communications, transactions and e-money in very broad strokes.
The definition of e-insurance and the approach to be adopted by CIMA must be:
consistent with the reference texts of other regulators;
include mobile insurance, notably; and
open development perspectives for the sale and management of insurance contracts by other electronic means, notably Internet. 7

8. REGULATORY FRAMEWORK OPTIONS
Aspects to address in the regulatory framework:
General provisions;
Conditions for granting approval or authorisation to exercise the activities of issuing and managing insurance contracts in digital formats;
Specific modalities and conditions applicable to the activity of issuing insurance contracts in digital formats;
Specific modalities and conditions applicable to insurance companies authorised to exercise the activities of issuing and managing insurance contracts in digital formats;
Provisions on protecting policyholders and beneficiaries of digital contracts;
Supervision, oversight and penalties;
Transitional and final provisions. 8

9. REGULATORY FRAMEWORK OPTIONS
Aspects to address in the regulatory framework: General Provisions
Definitions;
Purpose;
Scope;
Partnership agreements;
Compliance with risk domiciliation obligations;
Technical requirements or specifications. 9

10. REGULATORY FRAMEWORK OPTIONS
Aspects to address in the regulatory framework: Conditions for granting approval or authorisation to exercise e-insurance activities;
Obligation to obtain prior approval or authorisation;
Application procedures to obtain approval or authorisation to exercise the activities of issuing insurance contracts in digital formats;
Application processing period and notification of the decision taken following processing. 10

11. REGULATORY FRAMEWORK OPTIONS
Aspects to cover in the regulatory framework: Specific modalities and conditions applicable to the exercise of the activity of issuing insurance contracts in digital formats;
Scope;
Nature or type of insurance activities in digital format;
Recourse to intermediaries and technical partners;
Insurance companies’ responsibilities vis-à-vis intermediaries and technical partners. 11

12. REGULATORY FRAMEWORK OPTIONS
Aspects to address in the regulatory framework: Specific modalities and conditions applicable to insurance companies authorised to exercise the activities of issuing and managing insurance contracts in digital formats;
Scope;
Governance;
Risk management and internal audit system;
The fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism. 12

13. REGULATORY FRAMEWORK OPTIONS
Aspects to cover in the regulatory framework: Provisions on protecting policyholders and beneficiaries of digital contracts;
Client identification;
Protection of personal data;
Issuing insurance contracts in digital formats;
Specific guarantees granted to policyholders and beneficiaries of insurance contracts;
Ceiling on capital in e-insurance contracts;
Monitoring commitments arising from e-insurance contracts;
Conditions and modalities for paying for services. 13

14. REGULATORY FRAMEWORK OPTIONS
Aspects to address in the regulatory framework: Supervision, oversight and penalties;
Communication of information to supervisory authorities;
Oversight and supervision of insurance companies issuing insurance contracts in digital formats;
Withdrawal of approval or authorisation to exercise the activities of issuing insurance contracts in digital formats;
Administrative measures;
Penalties. 14

15. REGULATORY FRAMEWORK OPTIONS
Aspects to address in the regulatory framework: Transitional and final provisions.
Transitional provisions;
Entry into force. 15

16. CONCLUSION
E-insurance should be more widespread and more inclusive than m-insurance.
E-insurance is an important lever to develop insurance, but also comes with risks, including the risk of financial instability: there is a need for cooperation among supervisory authorities and consideration in the framework of the Financial Stability Committee.
It is necessary to inventory, analyse and possibly target all studies and relevant texts (WAMU, CEMAC, BCEAO, BEAC, etc.) able to underpin the regulations on e-insurance within the CIMA zone.
Analyse and take a position on consideration of the diversity of texts in force in the various countries when it comes to regulating the telecommunications sector and data protection, define a common foundation that can serve as a support.
Ensure that the risks identified by the various experts and other regulators that are likely to materialise in e-insurance are covered in the frameworks of the draft regulations. 16

17. CONCLUSION
Instruction No governing the conditions and operating modalities for e-money issuers’ activities within the West African Monetary Union (WAMU) member-states and Regulation No. 01/11/CEMAC/UMAC/CM on exercising the activity of issuing e-money are an excellent working base to elaborate regulations on e-insurance (and m-insurance) in the CIMA zone:
Presentation of a draft text on e-insurance at the next Expert Committee meeting (September 2016),
Public consultation on the draft text and collection of feedback from the various stakeholders (September to December 2016),
Organisation of a broad meeting on the subject (January or February 2017), and
Re-submission to the Expert Committee and Council of Ministers for adoption (April 2017). 17