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.