The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has published two papers designed to assist resolution planning for insurance companies. The papers are practices papers on Resolution Funding for Insurers and Internal Interconnectedness in Resolution Planning for Insurers. Resolution Funding for Insurers. This practices paper considers different sources of resolution funding including policyholder protection schemes and standalone resolution … Continue Reading
The High Court of Australia has denied special leave to appeal the decision of the New South Wales Supreme Court of Appeal in HDI Global Speciality SE v Wonkana No 3 Pty Ltd [2020] NSWCA 296, bringing to an end at least one element of confusion which has gripped policyholders and insurers since last year. … Continue Reading
The Insurance Authority (IA) has taken its first disciplinary actions against two licensed insurance broker companies for failure to submit their audited financial statements and auditor’s reports within required timeframes. One of the broker companies has had its licence suspended, and both companies have been fined. The enforcement actions are the first of its kind … Continue Reading
On 4 September 2020, the Insurance Authority (IA) launched a six-week consultation on the proposed Insurance (Special Purpose Business) Rules (SPB Rules). The consultation ties in with the introduction of the new regulatory regime for the issuance of insurance-linked securities (ILS) which is expected to come into operation in 2021. The SPB rules will be added … Continue Reading
The Insurance Authority has issued a circular today extending Phase 2 of the temporary facilitative measures (TFMs), introduced in March 2020, by another three months (i.e. to 31 December 2020) in light of the current COVID-19 situation. The Phase 2 TFMs permit insurers and intermediaries to use non-face-to-face distribution methods for selling certain insurance products … Continue Reading
The Hong Kong Insurance Authority (IA) has published a consultation paper on the proposed Insurance (Group Capital) Rules (Group Capital Rules), marking the launch of a six-week public consultation which will end on 30 September 2020. The consultation ties in with the implementation of the new supervisory framework for multinational insurance groups, which is due … Continue Reading
Further to the introduction of the Phase 2 temporary facilitative measures (TFMs) on 27 March 2020, the Insurance Authority (IA) has released a circular announcing that Phase 2 of the TFMs will be extended by three months in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Phase 2 TFMs (amongst other things) permit insurers and intermediaries to … Continue Reading
In recognition of the impact of COVID-19 on the insurance industry and taking into account a request made by the Hong Kong Federation of Insurers, the Insurance Authority (IA) has issued a circular, announcing that it will modify the approach for bringing certain guidelines into effect. In relation to the following guidelines (which took effect … Continue Reading
The bills amending the Insurance Ordinance (Cap.41) (the IO) which are expected to help Hong Kong grow its insurance sector have now been published in the Gazette. The bills – namely, the Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2020 (the First Bill) and the Insurance (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 2020 (the Second Bill), seek to (i) introduce a new … Continue Reading
Further to the Phase 1 temporary facilitative measures (TFMs) introduced by the Insurance Authority (IA) on 21 February 2020, the IA has announced the second phase of TFMs in view of the development of the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to reduce the risk of infection from in person meetings during the sales process for insurance … Continue Reading
The Insurance Authority has issued an explanatory note to provide guidance on the extent to which certain banking activities involving insurance would be regarded as regulated activities under the new regulatory regime for insurance intermediaries (to read further on the new regime which came into operation on 23 September 2019, please refer to our blog … Continue Reading
With less than a week before the Insurance Authority (IA) takes over the regulation of insurance intermediaries on 23 September 2019 (please refer to our earlier blog post), we round up the following recent related announcements: On 30 August 2019, the IA issued a circular reminding each authorized insurer that upon the commencement of the … Continue Reading
With effect from 23 September 2019, the Hong Kong Insurance Authority (the IA), an independent statutory body, will take over regulation of insurance intermediaries from the three existing self-regulatory organisations (the Hong Kong Confederation of Insurance Brokers, the Professional Insurance Brokers Association, and Insurance Agents Registration Board) and administer a new statutory licensing regime. The … Continue Reading
To promote the development of Insurtech in Hong Kong, the Insurance Authority (IA) launched two initiatives on 29 September 2017, “Insurtech Sandbox” and “Fast Track”. Insurtech Sandbox Insurtech Sandbox aims to facilitate a pilot run of innovative Insurtech applications by authorized insurers in their business operations. Insurtech Sandbox allows authorized insurers to experiment with new … Continue Reading
Summary Hong Kong has recently introduced fit and proper requirements for “key persons in control functions”. As a result, an insurer must now obtain the Insurance Authority’s prior approval before appointing a key person in a control function. Individuals who were key persons in control functions before 26 June 2017 can benefit from the Insurance … Continue Reading
On 6 April 2017, the Government and financial regulators in Hong Kong, namely the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the Insurance Authority (IA) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), published their conclusion on the public consultation relating to the protected arrangements regulation, bringing the Financial Institutions (Resolution) Ordinance (Chapter 628 of the Laws of … Continue Reading
What you and your board need to know Changes to GN10 From 1 January 2017, the first phase of changes to the Hong Kong Insurance Authority’s Guidance Note on the Corporate Governance of Authorized Insurers (GN10), will take effect. The second phase of changes (which are more substantive) will take effect from 1 January 2018, … Continue Reading
The Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) recently released its 2015 Annual Report, highlighting the considerable challenges and changes ahead for the insurance industry and the OCI. Essential preparation is underway for the OCI to be succeeded by Hong Kong’s new insurance regulator, the Independent Insurance Authority (IIA), which is expected to start operation … Continue Reading
The Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) issued on 1 June 2016 a new guidance note on prudent practices relating to reinsurance management and general guiding principles in assessing the adequacy of the reinsurance arrangements of authorized insurers (the Guidance Note). The purpose of the Guidance Note is to set out Hong Kong reinsurance … Continue Reading
The Insurance Commissioner recently announced that his office is working with the Hong Kong Federation of Insurers to better protect Chinese residents who purchase insurance policies in Hong Kong. From mid-2016, all Chinese residents who purchase Hong Kong insurance policies will be required to sign and acknowledge a fact statement that they understand key differences … Continue Reading
On 20 November 2015 the Hong Kong Government published the Financial Institutions (Resolution) Bill (the Bill). The Bill seeks to bring Hong Kong into line with the latest international standards – the Financial Stability Board (FSB) ‘Key Attributes of Effective Resolution Regimes for Financial Institutions’ (Key Attributes) and to establish an effective cross-sector resolution regime … Continue Reading
The government has published a commencement notice for specified provisions (Initial Provisions) of the Insurance Companies (Amendment) Ordinance (Amendment Ordinance). The designated commencement date for the Initial Provisions is 7 December 2015. This follows the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury’s previous announcement (see previous blog entry) that the Amendment Ordinance would be introduced … Continue Reading
The Hong Kong Legislative Council passed the Insurance Companies (Amendment) Bill 2014 today (10 July 2015). The Bill will need to be gazetted before it becomes law. The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Professor KC Chan, indicated that the Ordinance will be brought into force in three stages. This is to facilitate the … Continue Reading
Technology-led innovation has the potential to truly disrupt existing business models and distribution channels in the financial services industry. In Australia and more broadly, we have seen start-ups build innovative payment systems, peer-to-peer lending platforms, crypto-currencies, robo-advice and automated investment management. However, the large institutions are well capitalised, have large customer bases and are adapting … Continue Reading
