The registration and licensing of an insurance broker splits into two legal blocks: the broker's own intermediary activity does not require a license and is regulated by registration with the service, while the insurance activity license is mandatory for the insurer. On this page we explain both regimes: how a broker is registered, how the insurance license is issued, and when it is refused or cancelled.
Insurance agent and insurance broker
Intermediary activity in the insurance sphere is carried out by two subjects: the insurance agent and the insurance broker. An insurer may conduct insurance activity both directly and through an agent and a broker — and for certain types of insurance activity the insurer must act only through a duly registered insurance broker. Intermediary activity does not include actions performed by the insurer or its employee, nor the supply of additional information within another professional activity where the aim is not assistance in concluding or performing an insurance contract.
The broker's status carries name protection as well: the firm name of a person conducting insurance broker activity must contain the words "insurance broker" or a wording using them; without registration in the manner established by the service, no one may use those words in a firm name. This norm serves consumer protection: the name must be a guarantee of broker status.
Licensing of insurance activity
The insurance activity license is issued by the service and may be granted only to a legal entity in the organizational-legal form of a joint-stock company. The license is issued for only three activities: life insurance; non-life insurance; and reinsurance. The authority to issue life-longevity annuities belongs only to an insurer holding a life insurance license. The license is issued for an indefinite term, to a specific insurer, and its transfer to another legal entity is impermissible.
Beyond the general license conditions, the seeker fulfills additional ones: a written application; founding documents; the state registration document; an extract from the securities registry on the distribution of shareholders' shares; documents from licensed banks on the full monetary contribution of the minimum capital and the placement of minimum funds; identification documentation of the significant share and of the administrators; certified information on conformity with the fitness criteria; information on the origin of capital; a three-year business plan including the reinsurance program; information on the location of the head office and branches; information on the organizational structure and the audit committee; and proof of payment of the license fee. The license must also be used: the insurer is obliged to use it at least once every six months of conducting insurance activity.