The Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry has exposed systemic issues in the life insurance market and its code of practice. The commission’s interim report released late in September questions the adequacy of the current regulatory regime to protect consumers from detriment.
The profile of China’s 8m insurance salespersons can be summarised as ‘female’ and ‘young’ whose customer base comprises people close to them, according to the ‘2018 China Insurance Intermediary Market White Paper’.
Indonesia has launched a new strategy to fund disaster recovery, which includes selling catastrophe bonds and insuring state assets against major disasters.
The total gross premiums in the Hong Kong insurance market reached HK$489.2bn ($62.4bn) in 2017, representing a y-o-y increase of 8.3%, according to data released by the Insurance Authority.
The government’s ambitious social health insurance programme, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) or Modicare as it is dubbed, will transform the Indian health insurance landscape Bajaj Allianz General Insurance CEO Tapan Singhel, has said.
Over 40% of the 1,394 health insurance societies catering to employees of large companies and their families are estimated to have reported losses for the financial year ended 31 March 2018 (FY2017). In the previous year, the proportion was 38.7%.
The government is looking to review the current retirement age of 60, in view of the high number of retirees who lack enough money to see them through their golden years, said human resources minister M Kula Segaran.
Philippine government officials are talking with representatives of Lloyd’s of London and the World Bank to discuss possible insurance structures for government assets.
South Korea’s financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), and the health ministry have said that limits will be placed next year on increases in premiums in reimbursement-backed private medical insurance (also called indemnity insurance).
Four leading insurance companies – Great Eastern, LumenLab-MetLife’s Innovation centre in Asia, NTUC Income and Prudential Singapore – have signed a Memorandum of Intent (MOI) with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), to accelerate the insurance sector’s digital transformation.
The financial regulator has urged Taiwanese to examine whether the insurance products they purchase meet their actual needs, as each person pays an average $4,998 on premiums per year.
Differences in statistics on motor accidents released by various agencies have hindered road safety efforts.
Global
Aon’s Impact Forecasting team evaluated the impact of the natural disaster events that occurred worldwide during September 2018 in the latest edition of its monthly Global Catastrophe Recap report.
Risk
Six out of 10 insurers are expecting increased cyber-related losses across all business lines over the next 12 months, driven by increasing reliance on technology and high-profile cyber attacks, according to a report from Willis Re.