January 2014 Issue No. 208
New Members
On behalf of the Governing Committee, I would like to extend a warm welcome to Prudential General Insurance Hong Kong Limited as our General Insurance Member and Prudential Hong Kong Limited as our Life Insurance Member.
New LIC Councillor
In the by-election of the Life Insurance Council, Mr David Wong of FWD Life Insurance Company (Bermuda) Limited has been elected as councillor. A warm welcome to Mr Wong!
Independence of Insurance Authority (IIA)
In our letter dated 17 January 2014 to Professor K C Chan, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, we recapitulated the industry's stance on the outstanding issues, i.e. representation on the IIA Board, Industry Advisory Committees, conduct requirements (including acting in the best interests of policyholders), pecuniary penalties and appellate mechanism. In addition, we are awaiting reply from the IA on the role of the CEO as Responsible Officer. With the proposed establishment of the IIA in 2015, we hope to be able to resolve these critical issues as soon as practicable. Incidentally, we have issued a message to inform those registered persons with a valid email address that the Financial Services and the Treasury (FSTB) has set up a webpage on this subject. They may refer to this webpage for any update from the Government on the establishment of the IIA (www.fstb.gov.hk/fsb/iia/eng/ establishment/index.htm). We will continue communicating with all registered persons in the future to keep them abreast of the latest development.
Health Care Reform
Through various channels, we have been reiterating the insurance industry's serious concerns over, among other things, the lack of consumer choice, the sustainability of the High Risk Pool and the absence of Diagnosis-related Groups in the proposed Health Protection Scheme. Apart from these, we have opinions different from the consultant engaged by the Food & Health Bureau (FHB) as regards their premium assumptions. A meeting with the FHB and in the presence of the Honourable K P Chan was held earlier this week to express our concerns and make our stance clear. The Task Force on Health Care Reform will meet again shortly to decide the next step forward.
Asian Financial Forum Held between 13 and 14 January 2014, the 7th Asian Financial Forum 2014 attracted over 2,300 business leaders and senior government officials around the world. HKFI jointly organised a workshop with the FSTB on Captive Insurance. The workshop was a success with more than 120 local and overseas participants. We were deeply thankful to speakers/panelists including Permanent Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Ms Au King-chi, Assistant Commissioner of Insurance Mr Ros Lam, Mr James Wong from Aon Global Risk Consulting, Mr Franz Josef Hahn from Peak Re, Mr Nick Cousins of Jardine Lloyd Thompson and our Deputy Chairman Mr Jimmy Poon for their excellent presentations and insightful remarks. This workshop will be the beginning of our journey in promoting captive insurance as the must-have tool for self-managing corporate risks and Hong Kong as the most ideal place to start.