The changes made by the new insurance code

The new insurance code promulgated in November 2002 gave banks 12 months to regularize their bancassurance activity. Since November 7, 2002, the main provisions have barred banks from:

• Selling damage insurance
• Perceiving a commission on group contracts when they intervened as mediators

and have required them to:

• Hold an agreement to sell life, savings, credit and assistance insurance
• Upgrade the clause terminology in insurance contracts in accordance with the new legal provisions.

Bancassurance is a relatively new activity that emerged in the 1970s and has greatly developed since, especially in the last decade. The new provisions brought to the first legal texts (dating from 1930-1940) are of crucial importance, taken that the activity lacked a legal framework.
To compensate the loss of profits, banking groups intend to create their own captive brokerage firms.