Weqaya’s losses reach 175 percent because of SAMA’s regulations, Oula CEO

Most insurance companies, including Weqaya Takaful, are struggling with losses because of the new regulations on calculations of losses imposed by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA),  CEO of the Kuwaiti-listed  al-Oula Cooperative Insurance Wabeen al-Attal told al-Siyassah al Kuwaitia newspaper.

The Saudi-listed Weqaya, which is 20 percent owned by al-Oula,  was forced to book 175 percent provision, he said.

The company needed to increase capital to avoid losses, but the slow bureaucracy at SAMA made it difficult to do so, he said. A total of 1.7 million official papers and exchanges were submitted to SAMA to no avail.