The Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica has enacted the Insurance Market Regulatory Law, which ends the monopoly of Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS - National Insurance Institute) and allows local companies as well as foreign companies organized in the country to enter into the insurance selling market.

Costa Rica will authorize the providers of these services to operate in all insurance fields, with the exception of the occupational hazards insurance and the statutory automobile insurance. In addition, such insurance carriers will be able to compete effectively supplying consumers directly services of cross-border insurance, such as maritime cargo and commercial aviation insurance.

Kathya Araya, partner of the Facio & Cañas Law Firm, affirms that “Consumers will have the possibility, like in the area of telecommunications, to select the best product offered on the market. INS will no longer have the exclusive offering of insurance... there will be competing carriers, resulting directly in products of better quality and better prices for consumers”.