Bahrain Insurance Company, with a capital of $69 million, is planning to launch an initial public offering (IPO), reports said on Saturday. Qatar's insurance major, Doha Insurance Company, in a statement to the Doha Securities Market, said the plan for the establishment of Qatar-Bahrain Insurance Company emanated from the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry. A feasibility study conducted by Qatar's Chambers of Commerce said “there will be an organized committee from the Chambers of Commerce in Qatar and Bahrain and several national insurance companies in both countries for this project.” Bahrain, which emerged as the insurance and financial hub of the region, has 195 insurance players at the end of 2007 offering a wide range of services including life, general, marine, car, health, individual accidents, contractor risks, civil liability and other types of insurance. The Central Bank of Bahrain has also put in place a framework allowing for the establishment of captive insurance firms, the first of its kind in the Middle East region, aiming to fulfill the insurance needs of major industrial, oil, and service firms that seek to establish their own insurance companies. “The establishment of international standards and their implementation has bolstered Bahrain's reputation as a regional centre where sound practices prevail. This has encouraged many insurance and reinsurance firms to choose Bahrain as a base,” the governor of Central Bank of Bahrain, Rasheed M. Al-Maraj said. Doha Insurance and Al-Khaleej Insurance and Reinsurance Company told the Doha Securities Market that they were willing to participate in the establishment of the Qatar-Bahrain Takaful Company based in Qatar. Al-Khaleej Insurance and Reinsurance Company also announced that it completed negotiations for acquiring a 25 percent stake in Bahrain National Life, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bahrain National Holding Company, Bahrain's premier insurance group. __
