Magazine

Read the latest edition of AIR and MEIR as an Interactive e-book

Feb 2013

News


Asia - New reinsurer aims for peak of underserved APAC markets

Peak Reinsurance Company is a new player on the regional scene. But it comes onto the exciting Asia Pacific region with big aims, big funds and big names, and hopes to take advantage of the vastly underinsured markets to grow its business. By Al R Dizon

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Asia - Life and non-life will grow further in 2013 - Swiss Re

Life insurance premiums in emerging Asia will rebound in 2013, growing by about 10% in real terms, according to the Swiss Re study "Global re/insurance review 2012 and outlook 2013/14".

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ASEAN: Insurance industry called to be ready for AEC by 2015

Insurance companies and ASEAN regulators should step up co-operation to be ready for the coming ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015, said Mr Kittiratt Na-Ranong, Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, at the joint opening of the 15th ASEAN Insurance Regulators (AIR) and 38th ASEAN Insurance Council (AIC) meetings in Bangkok.

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Australia: Insured losses from Tasmanian bushfires reach US$73 mln

As of mid January, Insurance Council of Australia (ICA)'s CEO Rob Whelan said that insurers have received 725 claims from the Tasmanian bushfires, with insurance losses estimated at AUD69 million (US$72.8 million).

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Australia: BMS opens Sydney office

BMS Group, an independent global broker, has opened its Sydney office last month, its first office in the Asia-Pacific region.

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China: CIRC warns insurers against regulatory breach

Nineteen insurers including China Life and Ping An were sent notices by CIRC last month, warning them to stop breaching regulations and to carry out internal checks and report back to the regulator by 15 March. Five of the insurers were also banned from conducting new business.

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Carlyle Group expects US$4 bln profit on China exit

American private equity firm Carlyle Group is ending its lucrative presence in China with the sale of its remaining stake in the country's third-largest insurer, China Pacific Insurance Co (CPIC), for US$792 million, according to the media.

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China: Guangzhou mulling over insurance exchange proposal

The Guangzhou Municipal Committee is mulling over numerous proposals urging for the setting up of an insurance exchange in the province. Presently, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing are all planning their own insurance exchanges.

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Japan: ITOCHU enters Lloyd's of London

ITOCHU Corporation has announced that it has formed a business alliance with Antares Managing Agency Ltd (AMAL), which runs a syndicate in Lloyd's of London, to underwrite reinsurance from the syndicate. This is the first launch of an insurance underwriting business at Lloyd's in London by a non-financial sector company in Japan.

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Japan: Marnix co-operates with Cooper Gay to enhance broking services

Marubeni, an insurance and reinsurance broking and risk consulting company in Japan, through its 100% owned subsidiary, Marnix Corporation, has concluded a business cooperation agreement with London's Cooper Gay & Co Ltd to enhance and expand the field of broking service of both Marnix and Cooper Gay in treaty reinsurance business.

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Japan: Top Japanese insurers to cover World Bank disaster policies

Three top casualty insurers from Japan will underwrite policies created by the World Bank and Japan that will protect southern Pacific island countries against Nat CATs, according to Nikkei.

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Malaysia: MS Frontier Re opens new underwriting branch

MS Frontier Reinsurance Ltd has begun writing business from a new branch operation in Malaysia from 1 January 2013, after having received all the necessary regulatory approvals and licenses from Labuan Financial Services Authority.

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Malaysia: More M&A deals on the way

After buying back its 30% stake in AmLife and AmFamily Takaful from its JV partner, Resolution Ltd, AMMB Holdings Bhd, the sixth largest Malaysian bank by assets, said it intends to sell stakes in both its conventional and Islamic insurance arms by June this year.

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Singapore: FAIR recommends use of web aggregator and direct channel to lower costs

The Financial Advisory Industry Review Panel (FAIR) will not be recommending a cap or ban on commissions or switching to fees for the financial advisory industry.

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Singapore: EQI's operation performance sound since 2009 - Fitch Ratings

EQ Insurance Company Ltd (EQI) has maintained a sound operating performance since it first registered a profit in 2009 and its business performance for the first nine months of 2012 was in line with its projections, said Fitch Ratings in a recent report on the Singapore insurer as it upgraded the company's Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) Rating from "BBB" to "BBB+".

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Singapore: MSIG research grant recipient achieves considerable results

The 2010 awardee of the Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Welfare Foundation (MSIWF) Research Grant to Singapore, Dr Tan Kok Kiong (Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore) has developed e-Guardian, a home-based health monitoring and notification system that is low-cost, energy efficient, simple in operation and robust in performance.

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Taiwan: FSC raises concerns over sales of insurance at convenience stores

The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) has expressed concern over the nation's largest convenience store chain, President Chain Store Corp's foray into the insurance business.

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Thailand: Policy wordings need review, say experts

There are important issues in underinsurance and policy wordings in the Thai market that need to be addressed following the 2011 floods in Thailand, said speakers at an industry seminar last month.

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