Monthly Brief 2016/03 EN

Mar 2016

Issue No.232

Lunch Talk by Chairman of the Provisional Independent Insurance Authority (IIA)

Levy and Fees to be Collected by the IIA

As you know, Dr Moses Cheng was appointed Chairman More than 130 representatives from 70 Members

of the Provisional IIA in December 2015. We have invited him to address us at lunch on 21 April 2016 so that we can hear firsthand from Dr Cheng his vision for the IIA and the insurance industry. Dr Cheng will speak on “Insurance in new economy: scaling new heights with IIA”. For table subscription, please refer to Circular Ref: ML/SL/ec/16-002. Book your table now as seats are limited.

Companies attended a briefing on this subject conducted by the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB). Numerous questions were raised about the collection mechanism, definition / application of specific terms, obligations and liability of insurers / policyholders, etc. Grave concerns were also expressed over the unrealistically tight timeframe of implementation and excessive administrative burdens being imposed on insurers.

FinTech in Insurance

Separately, we have collected from Members some concrete examples to help illustrate those practical difficulties in calculating the levy payable. Such information together with all related concerns have been forwarded to the FSTB for proper consideration.

Following the briefing on FinTech for the FSTB and OCI last month, we had met the Honourable K P Chan and the Commissioner of Innovation and Technology Annie Choi to explore further ideas of promoting FinTech in insurance.

On 31 March 2016, the Task Force on FinTech organised a visit to PwC’s Experience Centre, one of the well-established FinTech laboratories in Hong Kong.

Joining the event were Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Professor K C Chan and his senior management team at the FSTB, the Commissioner of Insurance John Leung and the Assistant Commissioners and the Hon K P Chan. In addition to seeing how a FinTech lab operates, we also came to learn more from the FSTB about the Government’s Strategies and Measures to Develop Fintech. Experts at Fluid have also briefed us on “Insurance Today, Digital Tomorrow” – an overview of the current insurance processes and the possibilities in financial services in a digital world.

Establishment of a Centralized Claims Database for the Prevention of Fraud

A fter interviewing more than 30 parties to understand

their expectations and visions on the captioned database, our appointed consultants have presented the first interim report to the Provisional Board. We are most encouraged by the support rendered by most of the interviewees, including the regulators and law enforcement agencies, and their constructive suggestions on how to move the subject forward. The consultants are now working on a sustainable target operating model and will help address the related privacy issues.

Annual Reception 2016

The HKFI Annual Reception will be held on Wednesday, 13 April 2016 at 6:00 pm at the Garden Lounge of the Hong Kong Club. Chairperson of the Competition Commission the Honourable Anna Wu will be our principal Guest-of-Honour. We look forward to seeing you that evening.

Convictions under the Direct Marketing Regime – Points to Note

Career in Insurance

There have been two court cases of criminal convictions The first batch of Young Insurance for breaching the Direct Marketing Regime under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance. This has triggered serious concerns of members over the application of the relevant rules in the policy renewal process, in particular for those clients who have opted out from receiving direct marketing materials.

As such, we have engaged a legal counsel to provide some relevant points to note for Members’ reference. If in doubt, members are strongly advised to obtain their own legal advice accordingly.

International Union of Marine Insurance

I am pleased to report that at its Spring Meeting held recently in Hamburg, the IUMI agreed in principle to set up an Education Foundation to promote marine insurance education globally. The HKFI will donate €100,000 as seed money to help fund the project. This mainly came from the surplus achieved by the 2014 IUMI Conference held in Hong Kong. Germany, Japan and Italy have agreed to make similar donations out of their conference surplus in future.

Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) Schemes (Amendment) Bill 2015

The Life Insurance Council has expressed the industry’s

serious concerns to Legislative Councillors and the Administration about the opt-out approach proposed in the Amendment Bill for establishing the Default Investment Scheme.

On 8 March 2016, we met Professor K C Chan, together with the Hon K P Chan and the Hong Kong Trustees’ Association. We had a constructive discussion on (i) the Committee Stage Amendments proposed by various Legco members; (ii) how to reduce and properly handle potential complaints from scheme members arising from the proposed opt-out approach; and (iii) the possibility of deploying electronic notification to help minimize administrative burden on administrators / trustees.

Executive Development Programme (YIE) trainees will complete their YIE study this June. The recruitment for the July cohort is underway. Member Companies are welcome to join this initiative (Circular Ref: Mv030/16).

To promote this meaningful programme to a wider audience, we participated in the Credit Accumulation and Transfer (CAT) Marketplace organized by the Education Bureau on 22 March 2016. Representatives from employers and training institutes showed interest in our YIE programme and through this expanded network, we hope to attract more young talents into our industry.

Like us on Facebook!

It is encouraging to see a steady growth of the number

of fans of our Facebook Fan Page “HKFI Smart Union ( 保 聯 同 學 會 )”. On this platform you receive interesting insurance news and timely and practical information / tips on a variety of insurance products and services.

We have so far achieved an accumulative post reach of over 800,000 and it is encouraging to note that our feeds are being actively shared by our fans, in particular the intermediary community.

Further promotional campaigns and interactive games are in the pipeline. And more popular bloggers / vloggers, insurance practitioners and policyholders will appear at our fan page to share their real-life experiences of what insurance has meant and done for them. Watch out for these interesting feeds and like us on Facebook!

Membership News Change of Company Name Minan Property And Casualty Insurance Company Limited, Hong Kong Branch to Asia-Pacific Property & Casualty Insurance Co., Ltd., Hong Kong Branch Change of Authorised Representative ● Bank of China Group Insurance Company Limited (General Member) - Ms Liu Hui Jun ● California Insurance Company Limited (General Member) - Ms Vivian Wong ● SCOR Reinsurance Company (Asia) Limited (Life Member) - Mr Louis Lee ● Taiping Reinsurance Co., Ltd (General Member) - Ms Polly Ho HKFI Membership As at 31 Mar 2016, the HKFI has 89 General Insurance Members and 46 Life Insurance Members.

Mike Lee HKFI Chairman