March 2014 Issue No. 210
New Member On behalf of the Governing Committee, I would like to extend our warm welcome to Factory Mutual Insurance Company for joining us as a General Insurance Member.
HKFI Annual Reception 2014 The HKFI Annual Reception will be held on Wednesday, 16 April 2014 at 6:00 pm at the Garden Lounge of the Hong Kong Club. Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Professor K C Chan will be our principal Guest-of-Honour. We look forward to seeing you that evening.
Health Care Reform On 21 March 2014, the Task Force on Health Care Reform wrote to the Food and Health Bureau (FHB) again to formally register our grave concerns over the proposed Health Protection Scheme (HPS). As promised by the FHB, our comments will be included in the final consultation paper to be released in the first half of 2014. On top of highlighting the missing links of the HPS, i.e. the absence of Diagnosis-related group, non-viability of the High Risk Pool, lack of consumer choice, unrealistic suggested premium rate and short of transparency, we have made some constructive suggestions to address these structural deficiencies. For details, please refer to: http:// http://www.hkfi.org.hk/pdf/lv020_14.pdf
Developing RMB Reinsurance Business in Hong Kong The Core Group leading this project has conducted a survey to ascertain Member Companies' support in this initiative. Feedback from them, I am pleased to say, has been positive. The results, together with the detailed proposal, were presented to the Financial Services Development Council's (FSDC) New Business Committee for consideration. We will continue to work closely with the FSDC to move this forward.
Establishing an Effective Resolution Regime for Financial Institutions in Hong Kong
The Government and the various financial services regulators are conducting the above consultation. On 10 March 2014 the Assistant Commissioner of Insurance Mr Tony Chan spoke at a briefing for members organised by the HKFI. More than 50 representatives from 37 Members attended. Mr Chan provided a clear and illuminating synopsis of the key proposals and possible options ahead. And the participants raised a number of thought-provoking questions and ideas. We are now collecting Members' views for the preparation of an industry's submission (Circular Ref: Mv020/14).
Methods for Selecting the CE in 2017 and for Forming the Legco in 2016 Public consultation on this subject will end in May 2014. Members have been invited to provide comments which will be consolidated for submission to the Government accordingly (Circular Ref: Mv021/14). Meanwhile, we have scheduled a joint session with the Hon K P Chan in mid-April to facilitate an exchange of the industry's views with the relevant Government officials.
Use of Mediation to Settle Dispute of Insurance Claims
To support the 2014 Mediation Week sponsored by the Department of Justice, the HKFI organised an Experience Sharing Session on 24 March 2014. Five senior claims managers from Member Companies shared their experience on using mediation to resolve insurance claims disputes in their daily work. They were joined by representatives from the Department of Justice and Legal Aid Department as well as seasoned mediators. More than 120 Members’ representatives attended and they found the session inspiring and useful.