Feud over mutual funds

The Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) has issued a circulation asking mutual funds not to follow the instructions of the Ministry of Economy and Trade (MoET) regarding the issuance of insurance policies.

In March, the MoET issued a decision that forbids mutual funds to sell insurance policies either directly or indirectly to the public. The decision would have been carried out by the Insurance Control Commission (ICC).

Insurance companies are being competed against by mutual funds that are illegally offering different kinds of coverage. Mutual funds are legally only allowed to sell medical policies as a social service. But many have gone beyond this jurisdiction.

Unlike insurance companies, mutual funds are not required to have financial reserves or pay an 11 percent tax per policy.

The MoA said that mutual funds are under the jurisdiction of the Directorate General of Cooperatives, which operates under it. “Mutual funds are asked not to take into consideration the circulation of the Insurance Control Commission, because it is not concerned at all with the matter and because the MoET has no jurisdiction to interfere in the work of mutual funds,” according to the MoA circulation.