The Egypt Financial Regulatory Authority has directed insurers to strengthen disclosures and prevent insurance policies with gold-linked investment strategies from being marketed as deposits, savings vehicles, investments or banking products. The circular responds to customer complaints and practices identified in bank distribution channels and requires clear precontractual disclosure of each product’s insurance nature, material terms, benefits, risks and investment component. For policies linked to gold or another investment asset, insurers must explain how the investment is managed, identify the relevant fund or investment manager and disclose whether customers may receive or redeem the underlying asset, including the applicable terms and valuation basis. Firms may not imply that they own or directly manage an asset when this is untrue or use inaccurate marketing that misrepresents an approved product. Before contracting, they must document the customer’s acknowledgment that the product is insurance rather than a bank product and that the customer has received the necessary disclosures, although this acknowledgment does not relieve the insurer of its legal or regulatory obligations. Insurers must review the materials, forms and marketing methods used to distribute products through banking channels, establish appropriate internal controls and report their measures to the authority within one month, together with the customer acknowledgment form they will use. The measure continues the authority’s scrutiny of insurance marketing arrangements and customer protection in product distribution.

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