Two senators have introduced a bill to repeal the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act that enacted sanctions on the government of Bashar Al Assad for war crimes against the Syrian people.
Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Republican Rand Paul on Wednesday announced the bill, saying the sanctions had achieved their goal of isolating the former president but that they now threaten to derail Syria’s path towards stability and reconstruction.
“The Syrian people have a generational opportunity to write a new chapter for their country and the entire Middle East,“ said Ms Shaheen. “We can keep the new Syrian authorities accountable without decimating the economy. Sustained diplomatic engagement can yield tremendous results."
The Assad regime fell last December after a lightning offensive by groups led by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham. HTS's leader, Ahmad Al Shara, was chosen as transitional president.
The new government in Damascus lobbied for western countries to remove sanctions levied during Mr Al Assad's rule. Although Washington has been wary of the new government, because HTS was previously allied with Al Qaeda, President Donald Trump announced in May that the US would remove sanctions.
Repealing the Caesar Act would end broad-based economic sanctions while preserving US tools to hold Syrian officials accountable, the senators said in a statement.
“While the Caesar Act was intended to isolate the Assad regime, it has ended up punishing everyday Syrians – fuelling poverty, crippling recovery and blocking progress toward peace," Mr Paul said. "This repeal is about restoring a more targeted, principled approach that holds bad actors accountable without inflicting unnecessary suffering on the very people we claim to support."
The bill would further remove significant risks for companies looking to do business in Syria, giving the country an opportunity for economic recovery after years of economic stagnation.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
Brief scoreline:
Manchester United 2
Rashford 28', Martial 72'
Watford 1
Doucoure 90'
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Healthcare spending to double to $2.2 trillion rupees
Launched a 641billion-rupee federal health scheme
Allotted 200 billion rupees for the recapitalisation of state-run banks
Around 1.75 trillion rupees allotted for privatisation and stake sales in state-owned assets
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
THREE
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
