Hong Kong: Insurers could be encouraged to disclose their ESG policies
Source: Asia Insurance Review | Aug 2020
The Financial Services Development Council (FSDC) has recommended the Insurance Authority (IA) encourage authorised insurers to publish and explain their policies on the consideration of ESG risks in their investments as well as provide their boards with information on their exposure to financial risks arisen from climate change.
Such actions are expected to strengthen risk-management practices and ultimately bring the Asian ESG investment ecosystem on a par with its European counterparts according to the FSDC in a paper entitled ‘Hong Kong – Developing into the Global ESG Investment Hub of Asia’.
The council also said that how the IA responds to ESG can influence the behaviour – or at least the awareness – of insurers in Hong Kong toward the ESG agenda. A