Times Kuwait, 3 May 2026: Kuwait’s Insurance Regulatory Unit has issued a circular requiring supervised entities to comply with the information exchange system under the FATCA Agreement and the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), with reporting deadlines set between 12 April 2026 and 31 May 2026.
The directive obliges companies to register and submit reports via the Ministry of Finance portal, ensuring verification of participating countries under the CRS framework. Entities must update or complete registration data if no prior account exists, making this a prerequisite for filing.
Reports must be submitted in the OECD‑approved XML format, whether electronically or manually, with strict adherence to technical validation rules. Institutions are required to use updated data schemas for both FATCA and CRS, and to file corrective reports if errors are identified post‑submission.
The circular also mandates the submission of “Nil Reports” by institutions without reportable accounts, confirming compliance even in the absence of data. Technical requirements include secure upload channels, file size limits of 50MB, and prescribed naming conventions to avoid rejection. For unverified accounts, companies must attach official memoranda explaining reasons for non‑verification.
Non‑compliance may result in legal action, including referral to competent authorities under Kuwait Law No. 125/2019 on Insurance Regulation and its amendments. In a separate circular, the unit adopted electronic notification as the official method of correspondence, confirming that registered email addresses will serve as legally valid channels for notices, violations, and summons.