Legislation for insurance brokers — 2026: what has changed and what is critical

The regulator assigns the insurance broker the role of the client's professional representative – from choosing an insurer to receiving a payout. The Insurance Market Development Programme until 2030 explicitly states that brokers should focus on the professional settlement of claims. Below we examine what applies now, what is changing and where the risks for brokers lie.

Current requirements

• Licence and exclusivity. Broker activity is licensed and is an exclusive type of activity (Article 17 of the Law "On Insurance Activity"). A broker is prohibited from working as an insurance agent, participating in public procurement of insurance services (except for pool management) and investing clients' premiums and payouts.
• Capital. Under Resolution No. 270 of the Board of the National Bank dated 29 October 2018 (in the version available in public legal databases), a broker's minimum equity capital is 3,500 MCI for insurance and 80,000 MCI for reinsurance (where both are combined, the second threshold applies). Money in accounts and deposits, excluding the special broker account, must amount to at least 40% of equity capital.
• Handling client money. Premiums and payouts pass through a separate bank account and are transferred no later than three business days. The broker's own funds and client funds are accounted for separately.
• Choosing an insurer. The broker requests terms from at least three insurers holding the relevant licence. The amount of commission is stated in the insurance slip and cover note.
• Liability and reporting. Every year, by 30 April, the broker submits to the ARDFM its current professional liability insurance contract and its internal regulations. Information on the liability contract is posted on the broker's website.
• Reinsurance. A risk may not be transferred through a chain of two or more non-resident brokers. A non-resident broker must have liability insurance of at least 263,000 MCI per claim and 330,000 MCI for all claims per year.
• Remuneration. Remuneration for brokerage services in the interests of the policyholder is paid only by the policyholder.
• AML/CFT. Insurance brokers, like insurers, are subject to the regulator's approved requirements for internal control rules aimed at countering money laundering and terrorist financing.

What changed in 2026

The new rules of insurance activity that came into force in 2026 require disclosure of information about brokers' activities, including the minimum and maximum amount of their commission. For a market where commissions used to be a closed subject, this is a notable shift.

What the draft Law "On the Insurance Market" proposes

• Claims settlement becomes part of brokerage. The broker settles claims under a contract concluded through its intermediation, including after the contract has expired. Remuneration for this is included in the main commission, and charging the client an additional fee is prohibited (Article 155).
• Disclosure of the source of remuneration. Before a contract is concluded, the broker must inform the client of its agreements with the insurer under which it receives remuneration, as well as the source and structure of that remuneration.
• Conflict of interest. An insurer may pay a broker for additional services, such as consulting or product development. However, such a payment is prohibited if its amount or basis depends on the conclusion of a contract with a specific client.
• Protection of payouts. When settling claims, the broker may not receive the payout into its own account or withhold its commission or expenses from it.
• New permitted services: outsourcing work for the Compulsory Housing Insurance Fund, acting as a financial platform operator subject to a permit, and developing products and risk assessment methodologies for insurers.
• Transition period. Licences are reissued free of charge; the application must be filed within three months after the law comes into force. A branch abroad may be opened only if there is an agreement on the exchange of supervisory information with the regulator of the country concerned.

What is critical

• A contradiction in the draft text. Article 155 still lists collecting insurance payouts for transfer to the client among the permitted services. At the same time, paragraph 12 of the same article prohibits the broker from receiving a payout into its own account when settling claims. These provisions need to be reconciled; otherwise it is unclear whether the usual practice of working through a broker account is lawful.
• Claims settlement without a separate fee. Handling large and complex losses involves costs, and these can only be built into the commission at the risk placement stage. Brokers will have to recalculate the economics of their contracts.
• Liability insurance. We did not find a direct requirement for professional liability insurance in the draft's articles on brokers. It may be moved to a secondary regulation, as the conditions of broker activity are still set by the ARDFM. This should be clarified.
• Capital will be set by the regulator. The minimum authorized and equity capital, as now, is established by an ARDFM regulation. The thresholds after the reform are not yet known.
• Competition with consultants and agents. Intermediaries who help obtain payouts are being separated into a distinct category of insurance consultants, while agents are getting wider access to mass-market products. It is important for brokers to secure complex corporate and reinsurance risks for themselves.

Recommendations

1. Prepare a standard form for disclosing the source and structure of remuneration and start using it now.
2. Review your client contracts: include claims settlement in the scope of services and set out the procedure for handling payouts.
3. Check that your capital, liquidity and AML/CFT rules comply with current standards before your licence is reissued.
4. By 7 October 2026, submit comments to the "Open Regulatory Legal Acts" portal on the contradiction in Article 155 and on broker liability insurance.