Oct 2018
Issue No.260
IA’s Direct Licensing Regime for Insurance Intermediaries
Insurance Authority (IA) is conducting three public consultations on its draft guidelines (GLs) on Fit & Proper Criteria, CPD Requirements, Pecuniary Penalties and Maximum Number of Authorized Insurers. Based on input and comments from Members during the earlier stakeholders’ consultations, we are now preparing an industry submission to IA and will send members a copy of it for information.
Meanwhile, we met IA’s Market Conduct Division in early October and agreed to set up different working groups to manage and ensure a seamless handing over of IARB functions to IA next year.
Insurance Fraud Prevention Claims Database (IFPCD)
A townhall briefing will be held on 8 November 2018 for members to understand the onboarding procedures. We will
provide an update on the establishment of the IFPCD and explain to you the registration process and requirements, rights and obligations of participating insurers, fees and charges, etc. For registration, please refer to Circular Ref: Mv089/18. You may also contact the IFPCD Project Team at HKFI at 2861 9306 for any specific details of the onboarding arrangement.
We have reviewed the revised draft Company Registration Rules and provided our comments to the Food and Health Bureau (FHB). In essence, we reiterated the importance of defining clearly the respective regulatory oversight among FHB, IA and Insurance Complaints Bureau. We have also provided input on how to streamline the registration rules to ensure efficacy.
On 31 October 2018, the second reading of the VHIS – Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No.4) Bill 2018 was passed by the Legislative Council. FHB will soon circulate the finalized Product Compliance Rules, Company Registration Rules and FAQs to members, to be followed by a townhall scheduled for Mid-November.
Risk-based Capital (RBC) Framework
RBC Task Forces recently invited IA to exchange views
on the draft Guideline on Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) and the Second Round of Quantitative Impact Study (QIS 2) for RBC Framework. We have emphasized the importance of proper and timely communication with member insurers each step of the way particularly with regard to the implementation of ERM. We are pleased that the IA will announce the timeline for various projects under RBC and continue to consider all industry’s proposals on QIS 2 for proper moderation in QIS 3.
Life Insurance Members will wish to note that the IA has extended deadline for the voluntary exercise on “Own Assets with Guardrails” (OAG) approach later than the normal deadline of 30 November 2018 for QIS 2 submissions. On 8 October 2018, we organized a briefing for KPMG to walk through QIS 2 templates with General Insurance Members with a view to facilitating their understanding of the exercise and completion of the relevant templates.
Quality Training @ HKFI
We have f o r m e d a S te er ing
Committee chaired by former HKFI Chairman Mr Mike Lee to chart the way forward for HKFI to develop and introduce quality industry training. A Training Unit is also set up within the HKFI Secretariat to launch, promote and administer the future training programmes. Under the Steering Committee, Expert Panels will be established to build our capacity and capability in delivering quality training to meet the needs of our industry. A “Quality Training @ HKFI” e-bulletin will be published periodically to update members on a series of training programmes on various topics to be rolled out soon, including VHIS, Deferred Annuity, etc. We can partner with your training team to run courses for your agency force or incorporate them into part of your in-house training. Please contact our Senior Manager Lesley Cheung at 2861 9333 for details.