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Aug 2018

News


Asian

Asia Insurance Industry Awards 2018 - 45 finalists named

Some 45 insurers, brokers, risk managers, service providers and industry leaders made it to the list of the finalists for the 22nd Asia Insurance Industry Awards (AIIA).
 


Asia: Mixed industry performance across advanced markets

Life insurance premiums in advanced Asian markets continued to weaken, falling 2.1% in 2017 (2016: ?3.8%), according to the latest Swiss Re Institute sigma study, World Insurance in 2017.
 


Australia: Retirement income framework being developed

Further development of retirement income strategies will improve retirement income outcomes for superannuation fund members, said Rice Warner, an independent consultancy and research house in financial services, in a submission to the Department of Treasury regarding the Retirement Income Covenant Paper released by the government in May.
 


China: Health insurance grows at sedate pace in Jan-May

Health insurance premiums increased by 9.32% to CNY244.9bn ($36.6bn) in the first five months of this year, compared to the corresponding period last year, data from the CBIRC show.
 


Hong Kong: Regulator plans to introduce ERM rules in 2020

The Hong Kong Insurance Authority (IA) recently released a draft guideline on enterprise risk management (ERM) as part of Hong Kong’s move towards a risk-based capital regime.
 


India: Future Generali delivers policies via WhatsApp

Future Generali India Insurance (FGII) said that it has begun to deliver insurance policies via WhatsApp, becoming the first general insurer in India to adopt this channel.
 


Indonesia: Pick up in car sales a boon for motor insurers

Vehicle insurance premiums increased by 16.9% to IDR4.79tn ($333bn) in 1Q2018 compared to the corresponding quarter last year, the General Insurance Association of Indonesia (AAUI) has disclosed.
 


Japan: Mitsui Sumitomo taps AI to analyse creditworthiness

Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance will analyse companies’ financial statements with artificial intelligence (AI) in tests aiming to reduce the time it takes its employees to assess firms’ creditworthiness, reported The Mainchi.
 


Nepal: Fraudsters hit insurers with costly helicopter evacuations

Dodgy operators are scamming tens of thousands of dollars from insurance companies by making multiple claims for a single chopper ride or pushing climbers to accept airlifts for minor illnesses, an investigation by the news agency AFP has revealed.
 


Pakistan: Insurers urged to ensure overseas units meet AML/CFT rules

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has made it mandatory for insurers, takaful operators, securities brokers, commodities brokers and other nonbank financial companies to pay special attention to their overseas branches or subsidiaries located in countries which do not or insufficiently comply with Financial Action Task Force recommendations.
 


Philippines: Agri insurance is a national issue, says insurance commissioner

Agricultural insurance is no longer only a problem for farmers but has become a national issue that needs to be addressed, insurance commissioner Dennis Funa has said.
 


Singapore: Moves announced to boost Asian infrastructure financing

Singapore is developing two significant initiatives to facilitate the take-off of Asian infrastructure financing, MAS managing director Ravi Menon has said.
 


South Korea: Insurers wary of providing coverage for crypto exchanges

Insurers in South Korea are not very forthcoming in providing insurance for crypto exchanges in the country, despite the country being the nation with the most prolific cryptocurrency users, exchanges and thriving digital assets business. The spate of crypto crimes in exchanges appears to have pushed insurance companies onto the back foot, according to a report on ZyCrypto, a cryptocurrency website.
 


Taiwan: US trade body publishes blueprint for insurance sector

The American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei has proposed several long-term goals and short-term objectives for the island’s insurance market so as to cover protection gaps.
 


Thailand: Insurance to be promoted to foreign migrant workers

The Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) is working with other government agencies to promote insurance for foreign workers in Thailand.
 


Vietnam: Insurers battle stubbornly high medical inflation

With the annual medical inflation rate in Vietnam hovering near 20% for the past several years, given the imbalance in supply and demand in the private healthcare system, insurers are pessimistic about it improving any time soon. This is imposing significant pressure on underwriting margins and putting benefits sustainability at risk.
 


Events Page

Dealing with Construction All Risks policy claims

The Australasian Institute of Chartered Loss Adjusters (AICLA) kicked off its 2018 international seminar series with a two-day construction insurance workshop held in Hong Kong from 4-5 June 2018, attended by insurers, brokers and loss adjusters Australia, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Thailand.
 


Global

US cyber insurance premiums see 37% increase to $1.84bn - Aon

Aon launched the third edition of its US Cyber Market Update report, which revealed that in an ‘unprecedented year’ for ransomware attacks, the US cyber insurance market continued to grow, with a total of 170 US insurers reporting writing cyber insurance – compared to 140 in 2016, and 119 in 2015.
 


Earnings volatility concerns drive reinsurance buying - Willis Towers Watson

According to a recent international survey of insurers by Willis Towers Watson, pressure from investors are causing insurers to become less tolerant of missed earnings targets. They are moving to more sophisticated metrics such as return on equity and economic capital as a result.
 


Risk

Insurance industry's first standard for global cyber data breach released

ACORD, the global standards-setting body for the insurance industry, has announced what is said to be an industry-first standard for cyber data breach. The new ACORD cyber data breach standard was developed in collaboration with Aon and specialist insurer Beazley.
 


Environmental risks may not be covered by general liability insurance: Chubb

Risk managers operating without a specific environmental risk policy should not assume that their environmental exposures would be picked up by general liability insurance, warns a new report.