2014 Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) & Christmas Cocktail Party
The EGM will be held at 5:30 pm on Monday, 15 December 2014 at HKFI's conference room (please refer to Circular Ref: Mv129/14 for details). This will be followed by our traditional Christmas Cocktail Party. We look forward to seeing you all there.
Independent Insurance Authority (IIA)
Thanks to the kind assistance of the Hon Bernard Chan and Hon K P Chan, we met Professor the Hon K C Chan, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, on 18 November 2014 to express our views and concerns on the major outstanding issues on IIA, i.e. the best interest issue and internal oversight of the disciplinary procedure.
We appreciate the candid exchange of views and stance at the meeting. As a follow-up, we are in the process of commissioning a senior counsel with international standing to provide an independent legal advice on the issue of best interest as well as the internal oversight of the disciplinary procedure for the consideration of the Administration.
Regarding the issue of salaried staff being regulated by the IIA, the Task Force on IIA has come up with a proposed alternative by referencing to international practices. Our suggested way forward will be further discussed with the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) and the Insurance Authority (IA) next month.
Risk-based Capital (RBC) Framework for Hong Kong
More than 300 representatives from 83 Member Companies attended the three briefings on RBC conducted in late October/early November. The overwhelming attendance reflected the level of importance insurers have attached to this topic.
The Task Force under the Governing Committee has examined the points of concerns and will construct a comprehensive response to the Administration based on its own analysis and the input from Member Companies. A formal submission will be made. Member Companies are urged to pass on their views direct to the FSTB before the consultation deadline on 15 December 2014.
2015 Budget
On behalf of the HKFI, General Insurance Council Chairman Mr Ronnie Ng met the Financial Secretary (FS) last week and relayed to the Administration the industry's concerns over the IIA, Policyholders Protection Fund, Health Care Reform and Risk-based Capital Framework. He also took the opportunity to seek the FS' support in strengthening co-operation between Hong Kong & Mainland on areas like fraud prevention, etc.
Media Conference on Medical Insurance Data
On 20 November 2014, we held a media conference to announce the medical insurance claims statistics for 2012. Special thanks to Mr Terry Tsang, Chairman of Medical Insurance Association, and Ms Elaine Chan, Deputy Chairman of Task Force on Health Care Reform, for their detailed presentation and elaboration on the medical insurance data, the trend of medical inflation and the effect it will have on insurance premium. At the request of the media, they also expressed the industry's concerns on certain practical aspects of the proposed Health Protection Scheme. The event attracted extensive coverage, highlighting the importance of medical insurance and the protection it offers to more than 3.6 million Hong Kong people.
A brand new educational booklet on smart tips on medical insurance has been published earlier this week through the Next Magazine. More than 160,000 copies were distributed to the community. The lively illustrations created by popular cartoonist Cuson Lo are meant to attract the attention of readers and make the information easier to be grasped. E-version of the booklet is available at the HKFI website (http://www.hkfi.org.hk/partials/smarttips/medical/).
On the other hand, the educational campaign we launched with the Next Media has received very positive response. Close to 170,000 people have visited the informative mini-site providing useful tips on various types of insurance products. Going forward, we will make fuller use of online media in our educational drive.
Updated Requirements Relating to the Sale of Investment Linked Assurance Scheme (ILAS) to Enhance Customer Protection (Updated Requirements)
In preparation for the enforcement of Guidance Note on Underwriting Class C Business (GN 15) on 1 January 2015, the IA has proposed changes to the Updated Requirements.
The LIC is now collecting Life Insurance Members' (LIMs) views and comments (Ref: Mv130/14). Should LIMs have any specific questions on the proposed changes with respect to their individual ILAS products, they are advised to contact their Case Officer at the IA.
I am glad to report that the Governing Committee has decided to donate part of the surplus from the IUMI 2014 Hong Kong Conference, i.e. HK$1.45million, to the HKFI Educational Trust. With this extra funding, the Educational Trust is able to expand its scholarship programme to the Young Insurance Executive Development Programme to be jointly launched by HKFI and VTC in 2015. A panel will be formed to select up to three winners each to receive a scholarship of $10,000.
Incidentally, the proposed pilot scheme of the Young Insurance Executive Development Programme has received staunch support from the industry. Thirty placements in underwriting, claims, policy/pensions administration, product development, actuarial support, sales/marketing and customer servicing have been confirmed. Open recruitment will be conducted in due course. Member Companies are also welcome to nominate their potential employees for this Programme (Circular Ref: Mv126/14).
Mission Well Community Project M
On 22 November 2014, Junior Financial Secretaries of Mission Well Community Project showed their care and concern for the community. Together with HKFI staff, they visited 20 singleton elders in the Sham Shui Po district and shared with them the festive seasons' warmth and joy.
East Asian Insurance Congress 2014
The above conference was successfully held in Taipei early this month with more than 1,300 delegates from around the world. I led the Hong Kong delegation of more than 100 and delivered the City Report at the Plenary Session. Ms Elaine Chan joined the panel discussion on "Future of life insurance in a rapidly ageing society with rising healthcare costs". The next conference will be held in Macau in 2016 and we look forward to your continued support.
Jimmy Poon HKFI ChairmanMEMBERSHIP NEWS
Change of Company Name
XL Insurance Company PLC (General Member) to XL Insurance Company SE
Change of Authorized Representatives
AIG Insurance Hong Kong Limited (General Member) – Mr Rudi H. Spaan
HKFI Membership
the
has 86 General Insurance Members and 43 Life Insurance Members.
