2016 Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) & Christmas Cocktail Party
T he EGM will be held at 5:30 pm on Monday, 19 December 2016 at HKFI's conference room to consider and approve the subscription fee scales and a funding of HK$20M for the setting up of a centralised insurance claims database for the prevention of fraud (please refer to Circular Ref: Mv119/16 for details). This will be followed by our Christmas Cocktail Party. We look forward to seeing you all there.
FinTech / InsurTech
T he survey conducted by the Task Force on FinTech has shown Members’ keen interest in developing and applying new technology to upgrade their business operations. We have identified 11 key areas of priority including regulator support, digitization of fulfilment process and customer experience, etc. The Task Force will meet shortly to explore ways to address these issues.
Incidentally, about 100 industry members attended the first of the InsurTech Seminar Series held on 30 November 2016 at Science Park. A sincere vote of thanks to our speakers from the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI), Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and Innovation and Technology Commission. In light of the overwhelming response from Members, we are planning to line up more seminars in the months to come. Stay tuned!
Future Task Force of the Insurance Industry (FTF)
The Independent Insurance Authority (IIA) has set up the FTF to identify socio-economic and demographic factors that will shape the insurance industry in the future and draw up recommendations relating to the application of FinTech, upgrading of skills and expertise, promoting positive image of insurance and avoiding over-regulation without compromising the interests of policyholders.
In support of the IIA’s initiative, we have nominated a number of experts in the three areas of focus, i.e. FinTech, Risk-based Capital (RBC) and promoting industry image, to join the FTF. The Task Force will meet for the first time on 14 December 2016.
The Proposed Holistic Consumer Protection Framework
O n 21 November 2016, the Insurance Claims Complaints Bureau (ICCB) conducted a Townhall Meeting on the proposed Holistic Consumer Protection Framework. Representatives from 45 Member Companies, i.e. close to half of ICCB’s membership, attended the session. All attendees supported the idea of expanding the current ICCB service scope to provide mediation for suitable cases and enhancing the independence of the ICCB by restructuring its General Committee.
The ICCB will conduct a formal Members consultation before proceeding further. At the same time, we will engage all relevant stakeholders to explain to them the merits of the proposed Framework and related measures to strengthen consumer protection.
Issue No.239 Nov 2016
Training and Development for the Insurance Industry
O ne of HKFI’s key undertakings under Vision 2028 is to promote quality education in insurance and help nurture more insurance talent. To ascertain the training needs of the industry and identify the relevant missing links, we have conducted a brainstorming session involving a number of reputable training institutes and seasoned trainers / HR heads from Member Companies.
We will make good use of the discussion outcomes to develop suitable curriculums to fill the gaps so identified and, more importantly, uplift the overall standard of our professional training. As a next step, we are planning to develop an industry framework and curriculum on ethics management for industry practitioners. More discussion will take place in the coming weeks and we shall keep you updated on progress.
Seminar on Latest Major Legal Development in UK’s Marine Insurance Law
On 25 November 2016, the above seminar held in conjunction with the first Hong Kong Maritime Week attracted a full house. A special vote of thanks to Professor Robert Merkin for his superbly informative presentation and the interactive discussion among panelists Messrs Frank He, Edward Liu and Jon Zinke. This is HKFI’s first training programme recognised and subsidised by the HKSAR Government’s Financial Incentive Scheme for Professional Training - Insurance Sector. Going forward, we will organise more high level training programmes for the benefit of our practitioners.
Cross-strait, Hong Kong and Macau Insurance Business
T he above conference was successfully held in Harbin, China on 16 and 17 November 2016 with over 130 participants from the Greater China Region. We had a fruitful exchange on various industry issues such as risk management of non-life insurance and development of health insurance in the big data environment.
Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters (AEOI) and Common Reporting Standard (CRS)
The Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 3) Ordinance 2016, was enacted on 30 June 2016, thus providing a concrete legal framework for implementing AEOI. As such and in accordance with the relevant guidance issued by the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) to-date, financial institutions in Hong Kong (including insurers) are required to collect the Tax Identification Number (TIN) from their account holders via self-certification forms. However, financial institutions are not required to verify the TINs provided by the account holder against any tax returns / correspondence issued by the respective tax authorities.
For more detailed information, Members can visit the Automatic Exchange Portal of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development at: http://www.oecd.org/tax/ automatic-exchange/crs-implementation-and-assistance/taxidentification-numbers/.
Membership News
Change of Authorised Representative
● Friends Provident International Limited (Life Member) - Ms Margaret Chiu
● MetLife Limited (Life Member) - Mr Lee Wood
● Metropolitan Life Insurance Company of Hong Kong Limited (Life Member) - Mr Lee Wood
HKFI Membership
As at 30 November 2016, the HKFI has 91 General Insurance Members and 50 Life Insurance Members.
Ronnie Ng HKFI Chairman
Conference
The next conference will be hosted by Taiwan in 2017.
