The Egypt Financial Regulatory Authority issued Decision No. 228 of 2025 establishing a regulatory framework that allows life insurance and “capital formation” insurers to invest, on a direct basis, the investment-linked portion of insurance policies and capital formation contracts in precious metals, particularly gold. The permission is conditional on prior approval from the authority and explicit, informed customer consent. The framework requires board-level approvals and an investment policy that specifies the permitted metals, targeted returns and the liquidity to be maintained to meet liabilities. Buying, selling and custody must be conducted only through entities registered with the FRA, with contracts submitted to the authority and a no-objection obtained before implementation; metals must be segregated by provider where multiple counterparties are used. Insurers must appoint an FRA-licensed management services company to periodically value metals holdings and must disclose, in quarterly and annual reports, the amounts invested in metals, their share of the overall investment portfolio, and returns and costs by metal. Investments must also meet conditions set in the FRA’s metals-related rules, including that metals are hallmarked by competent authorities, have undisputed ownership, are traded through licensed manufacturers or merchants, and reference FRA-approved price indices. Separately, the FRA indicated it is preparing a further decision on investment rules and ratios for government insurance funds, including setting a 5% minimum allocation to investments in the stock exchange and open-ended investment funds.
Egypt Financial Regulatory Authority 2025-11-12
Egypt Financial Regulatory Authority sets rules for life insurers to offer direct gold and precious metals investment through policy savings components
The Egypt Financial Regulatory Authority issued Decision No. 228 of 2025, establishing a framework for life insurance and capital formation insurers to invest in precious metals, particularly gold, with prior approval and customer consent. It mandates board-level approvals, specific investment policies, and transactions through registered entities, with periodic valuation and detailed reporting requirements. Additionally, the FRA plans to set investment rules for government insurance funds, including a 5% minimum allocation to the stock exchange and open-ended investment funds.