Apr 2017
Issue No.244
New Governing Committee
T
he Annual General Meeting held today approved the formation of a new Governing Committee for 2017/2018 as follows: Chairman Mr Stuart Harrison
Deputy Chairman Mr P L Chan
Members Mr David Alexander Ms Charity Au Mr Praveen Daswani Mr Ronnie Ng Mr Jimmy Poon Mr Harry Wong Mr Lennard Yong Mr Derek Yung
Independent Insurance Authority (IIA)
Risk-Based Capital (RBC) Framework
As announced recently by the Financial Services and
We submitted our response to the draft Quantitative
the Treasury Bureau (FSTB), the new IIA will officially take over from the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) on 26 June 2017.
The existing self-regulatory system for insurance intermediaries will continue until the IIA takes over the direct supervision of insurance intermediaries in about two years. In the meantime, the IIA will prepare and conduct industry consultation on a set of proposed guidelines of proper conduct for anyone engaged in regulated activities. This marks the beginning of an important new chapter of our industry. The HKFI will continue to work closely with the IIA and all stakeholders in ensuring a seamless transition to the new regulatory framework. As regards the collection of policy levy for the IIA, the FSTB / IIA is now working on the second draft note to address industry’s concerns. Members will be invited to provide comments on the revised version of the proposed collection mechanism when it is available.
Impact Study (QIS) Proposals on Pillar I on General and Life Insurance issued by the OCI. The response is the result of consultations with over 70 representatives of 66 Member Companies through the Open Meetings on both Life and General Insurance organized by HKFI.
In our response, we reflected upon the overall direction of the relevant proposals and provided comments and suggestions on particular features of the proposed RBC regime as well as certain key aspects of the QIS and the proposed timetable. We have suggested OCI (with their consultant) to conduct briefing sessions for Member Companies as and when the QIS technical specifications are finalized. Anyhow, Members are urged to start preparing for the QIS which is expected to be conducted in Q3 and Q4 of 2017.
The Food and Health Bureau (FHB) has appointed a consultant to conduct three separate studies on
standardization of policy, drafting of guidelines for insurers and benchmarking pricing and benefit levels. The Task Force on Health Care Reform and the Medical Insurance Association have provided them with all the necessary information and input in support of the consultancy studies
The FHB has formed a Consultative Group on VHIS, which consists of industry representatives and stakeholders from different interest groups. The first meeting will be held in early May. We will keep you posted on the progress.