Think Tank Wrap Up Meeting and the Next Steps
TheThink Tank on Reinventing Hong Kong’s International Insurance Hub met on 17 March 2023 to finalize the detailed industry proposal. Thanks to the Think Tank members’ valuable insights from diverse perspectives, the proposal will define a path forward to address the most pressing challenges facing our industry today.
It will recommend short-, medium- and long-term initiatives to support the industry development goals outlined in the Budget Speech 2023-24 and the Development Roadmap for the Insurance Sector in Hong Kong. We will suitably engage the Administration, our regulator and the relevant stakeholders to create a strategy for reinforcing Hong Kong’s role as an international insurance and risk management centre.
CIES – Proposal to Include More Insurance Products
In the Budget 2023-24, the Financial Secretary announced the revival of the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (CIES), aiming to attract more new capital to Hong Kong and improve the talent pool. We fully support this initiative, which enables Hong Kong to keep pace with international development and bring great benefits to the economy. To enrich the product offerings of the CIES, the Life Insurance Council (LIC) has submitted a proposal to recommend retaining ILAS as the permissible investment asset and suggest a wider array of insurance products denominated in both HKD and RMB for the consideration of the Government
On 24 March 2023, the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) announced that ILAS will continue to be one of the eligible collective investment schemes under the CIES and assets denominated in RMB will also be considered. We welcome the announcement and stand ready to discuss with the Administration on the implementation details of the CIES to provide more viable options for all CIES entrants to plan their investments in Hong Kong.
Gender Equality and Inclusion
Sustainability Reporting and SME Questionnaire
On13 March 2023, at the above joint seminar, the Chairman of Task Force on Green Insurance Mr Eric Hui joined the panel discussion to share the benefits of sustainability reporting and how the insurance industry has proactively addressed the climate disclosure.
In addition to the joint seminar, our HKFI Members were also invited to join two workshops on SME questionnaire organized by the Green and Sustainable Finance Cross-Agency Steering Group (CASG) for technical guidance and case demonstration in responding to the questionnaire. We will keep track of the development of the questionnaire, which serves as one of the tools to support disclosure requirements in the financial sector.
To focus on the social aspect on the ESG agenda, we conducted a survey on gender equality among all Members in January 2023 and issued a media release on 8 March 2023 to announce the findings – 21% of insurance companies’ CEO are female, which exceeds the percentage of female C-suite and senior leadership in other financial sectors in Hong Kong and is very much on par with the more developed countries. HKFI’s Governing Committee (GC) and Secretariat also set an example of gender inclusion of female C-suite and senior leadership
While we are proud to embrace gender equality and celebrate more women in leadership positions, we are also aware of the room for improvement in the space of gender diversity. In this light, we have recommended some possible measures to ensure sustainable progress towards gender equality. For details, please check out the media release at our website.
Hong Kong is ready to welcome visitors from the Mainland and overseas to explore this wonderful city of ours!
Supporting the ‘Hello Hong Kong’ publicity campaign, the HKFI is launching a video from an insurance perspective. Featuring a series of selfie clips from our councilors and friends of the industry, we hope to showcase the vibrancy and uniqueness of Hong Kong to our friends and business associates from close and afar and invite them to come and experience Hong Kong's unique blend of culture, business-friendly environment and world-class amenities for business development. Help spread the message and share this video with your friends and associates through your networks!
To put our words into action, the HKFI is hosting the East Asian Insurance Congress 2024 Conference in Hong Kong between 24 and 27 September 2024. Mark this in your diary now as this will be the event you do not want to miss. If you are interested in supporting this biennial event as sponsor, please contact Ms Cristal Tam, Project Director of the EAIC 2024 Conference, at info@eaic24.hk
Hong Kong, as The International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) Asia Hub, formed a delegation of six to join the conference in Hamburg and actively participated in various technical committees and forums. Taking the chance, we also held a breakfast meeting to deepen our engagement with the IUMI President Mr Frédéric Denèfle and Secretary-General Mr Lars Lange.
TheInsurance Claims Complaints Panel (ICCP) held a media conference on 21 March 2023 to announce the claims complaints statistics for 2022 and highlight the deliberation results of some cases. In total, 607 cases were received during 2022, accounting for 18.6% increase compared with 2021. Amongst the 359 claim-related cases closed, 89 complainants received from insurers a total claims compensation of HK$8.16m.
One of the key focuses of the media coverage relates to the Covid-19 related claims. A survey conducted among insurers showed that the industry had paid for about 50,000 Covid-19 related claims in the past 3 years and the compensation amount was approximately HK$800 million.
A special vote of thanks to the ICCP Chairman Mr Michael Tsui and his fellow Members Ms Vanessa Lau, Ms Orchis Li, Mr Lars Nielsen and Mr Jonathan Yau for serving the industry and the insuring public over the years.
LIC InsurTech Task Force Chairman Mr Alfred Cheung was invited to deliver an Opening Remarks on ‘How to Build an Insurer Ready for the Future’ at the InsureTech Connect (ITC) Asia RoadshowHong Kong on 30 March 2023. His sharing on the upcoming trend on embracing new technologies and building new ecosystem was well received.
“Hello Hong Kong”EAIC 2024 Hong Kong Conference IUMI Spring Conference 2023 Hello from the HKFI! Media Conference of the ICCP Speaking at the ITC Asia Roadshow - Hong Kong
University Graduates Job Referral Initiative