Annual General Meeting (AGM)
The 2010/2011 AGM will be held on Friday, 29 April 2011 at 12:00 noon. Authorized Representatives of Member Companies are invited to attend (Circular Ref: Mv040/11).
HKFI Annual Cocktail Reception 2011
The HKFI Annual Cocktail Reception will be held on Thursday, 14 April 2011 at 6:00 pm at the Garden Lounge of the Hong Kong Club. The Honourable Anna Wu, SBS, JP, Chairman of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority, will be our principal Guest-of-Honour. We look forward to seeing you that evening.
Proposed Establishment of a Policyholders’ Protection Fund (PPF)
The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau released a public consultation paper on the setting up of a PPF. We welcome the detailed and comprehensive proposal and are pleased to see that the exercise is conducted in full transparency with input from the community. The Task Force on PPF will study the paper in-depth and consult Member Companies before we submit a consolidated industry response by the deadline on 24 June 2011.
Guidance Note on Gifts
The HKFI is about to issue a guidance note prohibiting the offering of financial or other incentives to clients when promoting investment-linked assurance schemes (ILAS) products. This is in line with similar guidance note issued by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). The note will be issued once it is cleared by the Insurance Authority (IA). This is part of our continued efforts to strengthen customer protection.
New Registration Portal for Insurance Agents
A briefing was held on 18 March 2011 to introduce and explain the operation of the above e-platform for registration renewal. More than 70 representatives from 30 Member Companies attended the briefing. The response from the floor was very positive. We are thankful for the constructive suggestions to improve the flow and operation of the new portal.
We are now fine-tuning the new registration portal, which is expected to be launched in the next month or two. An online demonstration will be available to help users to gain smooth access to this new registration channel.
New Appeals Tribunal Member
On behalf of the HKFI, I would like to welcome Mr Huen Wong, JP, President of the Law Society of Hong Kong, to join the Appeals Tribunal for a term of two years starting from 1 April 2011.
Educational and Publicity Programmes
The monthly mobile data usage in Hong Kong has surged to over 1,400 Terabytes in 2010, more than doubled the figure in 2009. In view of the popularity of the smart phones and tablet PCs and to increase their accessibility to our website, we will launch a HKFI mobile app this year. The app will facilitate direct and convenient access to HKFI’s consumer education information and checking on the insurance agents’ register.
In the coming months, we will also roll out in partnership with Commercial Radio 2 (FM903) and Metro Finance (FM104) series of infomercials carrying useful messages on consumer education and protection.
Our planned programmes will also include publication of a booklet on travel insurance and launching of the related website. We will also continue our biweekly column in the Apple Daily News to educate the public on the role and importance of insurance and provide more in-depth information on topical issues relating to insurance.
ICCP Media Conference
On 23 March 2011, the Insurance Claims Complaints Panel (ICCP) released the 2010 complaint statistics together with a review of some interesting cases. A special vote of thanks to Mr Michael Tsui, Chairman of the ICCP, and his team members for the remarkable work they have done for the insuring public and the industry.
Mission Well Community Project
On 19 March 2011, 14 teams formed by primary school students joined the final round of inter-school board game competition “Journey of Life of Risks and Adventures”.
This board game is part of the life plan curriculum now widely used by more than 100 primary and secondary schools. From the game, students learn the importance of and how to plan ahead and be prepared for any risks and mishaps which may occur during different stages of one’s life.
Visit of the Wuhan Delegation
A delegation formed by travel industry practitioners and regulators of the Wuhan city visited the HKFI on 11 March 2011. Our visitors were interested to learn the unique features of travel insurance being offered in Hong Kong and the related underwriting and claims handling procedures.
General Insurance
2011/2012 Council
General Insurance Members (GIMs) may wish to note that 11 nominations have been received for election to the 2011/2012 term of office. Authorized Representatives of GIMs are invited to send in their confirmation to PricewaterhouseCoopers by 15 April 2011 to accept the above candidates as elected Councillors (Circular Ref: Mv046/11).
Employees’ Compensation (EC) Insurance Residual Scheme
The Scheme received 30 applications for EC insurance during 2010. Twenty-three of them were able to obtain EC insurance cover offered by Scheme members. The remaining 7 cases are still being processed.
The Scheme has proved able to act as the market of last resort to meet the needs of employers seeking EC insurance cover.
Life Insurance
Election for 2011/2012 Council
Thirteen candidates are standing for election to the LIC for the coming term. We are now inviting Authorized Representatives to send in their votes to PricewaterhouseCoopers by 15 April 2011 (Circular Ref: Mv047/11).
Benefit Illustration of ILAS Products
The LIC's Actuarial Working Group (AWG) together with the Actuarial Society of Hong Kong have completed review of the above subject. Having consulted the SFC and the IA, it is agreed to propose adopting illustration rates at 9%, 6% and 3% where these rates are assumed to be after fund management charges (i.e. using current methodology). We will also introduce better disclosures and use some key principles to ensure that illustrations are a fair representation of the product being sold.
More than 60 representatives from 22 Member Companies attended the briefing held on 31 March 2011 on this subject. The AWG is now gathering views from Members Companies with regard to implementation.
Allan Yu HKFI ChairmanHKFI Membership
As at 1 April 2011, the HKFI has 86 General Insurance Members and 42 Life Insurance Members.
