General Meetings 2020
As approved at the HKFI General Meeting held on 16 December 2020, the membership subscription fees next year for both General Insurance Members and Life Insurance Members will remain unchanged.
Incidentally, the Insurance Complaints Bureau also held its General Meeting on the same day and confirmed to freeze the 2021 membership subscription, the 2020 actual case fee and the 2021 estimated case fee.
MIDAS Named Winner Again at the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Fintech Initiative Award
HKFI and IA’s Joint Survey on InsurTech
The outbreak of COVID-19 has accelerated the digitization of our industry. Thanks to the vibrant InsurTech available, we are seeing a shift in insurance’s day-to-day operations.
In light of the technological advances, the Insurance Authority (IA) and HKFI jointly launched a survey earlier this month to identify key areas of interest of our Member Companies so as to chart our way forward.
The survey will help us better understand the overview of InsurTech adoption among insurers, which will be helpful for our work in facilitating the development of InsurTech in Hong Kong. For those Members who have yet to respond to this joint survey, please refer to Circular Ref: Mv128/20 and revert by 8 January 2021.
Protection-Linked Plan (PLP)
We are thrilled to report that our signature InsurTech project MIDAS (Motor Insurance DLT-based Authentication System) has been awarded the 3rd prize at the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Fintech Initiative Award, which is jointly organized by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Shenzhen Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau. Among the 14 winning entries, MIDAS is one of the only 3 from Hong Kong.
MIDAS is Asia’s first industry-wide blockchain solution in production for motor insurance which revolutionizes the way we combat fraud and embraces the privacy by design principle. It is also a platform of trust built among different stakeholders f – insurers, intermediaries, regulator, government agency, law enforcement body and the insuring public
To promote this platform to motor insurers, a briefing was held on 3 December 2020 to give them updates and facilitate their adoption of MIDAS for motor insurance authentication. We hope to see wider adoption of MIDAS in the near future and the extended application of this blockchain solution for other purposes.
With ‘protection’ being the core value, the LIC agreed to highlight this element by renaming the Investment-Linked Protection Plan (ILPP) as PLP. The Task Force and the IA have been working tirelessly in the past two months to clarify details surrounding the product chassis. Details on guaranteed minimum death benefit, fees and charges, and fund universe were clarified for transparency as well as for IA’s discussion with its peer regulators. We will keep Members abreast of the updates in due course.
Green Insurance
The Green and Sustainable Finance Cross-Agency Steering Group (Steering Group), which is co-chaired by HKMA and Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) with membership of IA and other regulators / government bureaus, has published on 17 December 2020 its Strategic Plan and five key action points. The Strategic Plan sets out six key focus areas for strengthening Hong Kong’s financial ecosystem to support a greener and more sustainable future in the longer term.
The HKFI is supportive of a green and sustainable finance strategy for Hong Kong and issued a media statement on the same day. We will work closely with the IA and other relevant bodies to help move the green initiatives forward and achieve the objectives of our dedicated Task Force on Green Insurance formed by HKFI this year.
In order to understand the green initiatives Members are currently undertaking and their views on green insurance and the above strategy, we are conducting a member survey on green insurance, which will provide some basis to guide and facilitate the work of the Task Force. Members are encouraged to fill out the questionnaire and return it to us by 21 January 2021 (Circular Ref: Mv143/20).
Multidisciplinary Orthopaedics Rehabilitation Empowerment (MORE) Programme 2.0
On 16 December 2020, representatives from the HKFI visited the soon-to-be-opened Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Medical Center to find ways to strengthen collaboration in the context of MORE 2.0. The discussion was fruitful and we are now working on the details with CUHK, including the cost indicator for each case and the preliminary framework. When the pandemic situation improves, we will arrange a site visit and workshop to help reinforce Members’ understanding of this meaningful and efficient programme.
Asian Insurance Forum (AIF) 2020
The IA’s annual event AIF 2020 was held on 8 December 2020 under the theme of “Spearheading Change for a Sustainable and Resilient Future”. This year, HKFI Chairman Mr Eric Hui joined the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Mr Christopher Hui, Executive Director (General Business) of IA Mr Simon Lam and two industry’s top executives at the panel discussion on “A Resilient Future through Collaborative Growth along the Belt and Road ” and shared with the participants their insights on the topic.
HKFI awarded Financial Education Champion (FEC) Award
We are elated to report that, for the third year in a row, the HKFI received the FEC Award from the Investor and Financial Education Council for our achievement in improving financial literacy of the public.
The award is due recognition of HKFI’s ongoing efforts in promoting public education on insurance, in particular our proactive move in launching the thematic website “ Insurance Dashboard on COVID-19 ” in February this year right after the outbreak of pandemic to provide the public with correct insurance information against the background of COVID-19. Looking forward, we will continue to raise public awareness of the value and benefits of insurance through diversified channels.
New Year Greetings
2020 has been a challenging year for us all. We are grateful for your support and guidance during this difficult time. With the new year just around the corner, we wish you all a Blessed and Healthy 2021! And we look forward to continuing working closely with you in the years ahead.
