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The Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) is encouraged to see the good progress in promoting Hong Kong's risk management services and in pushing forward institutional reform, the Commissioner of Insurance, Ms Annie Choi, said today (September 16).
On the release of the OCI Annual Report 2012, Ms Choi noted that there were many good developments in a number of areas in the insurance industry and, in particular, a major milestone in captive insurance.
She pointed out that the Central People's Government announced its support for Mainland enterprises to set up captives in Hong Kong to further strengthen their risk management, and the Financial Secretary also proposed to reduce the profits tax rate for the offshore businesses of captives by 50 per cent.
"These will help encourage enterprises to set up captives in Hong Kong, and enhance Hong Kong's prime position in its risk management services and expertise," noted Ms Choi.
On regulatory reforms, Ms Choi said, "With a view to developing a new risk-based capital regime for Hong Kong in the next few years, we kick-started a review of our capital and solvency regime during the year."
Regarding another area of major progress, she said that a public consultation on the key legislative proposals for the establishment of the independent Insurance Authority was launched and the relevant draft legislation would be introduced in early 2014.
She also noted that the consultation conclusions on the proposed Policyholders' Protection Fund had been released and drafting of the relevant legislation was in good progress.
"In the light of the new anti-money laundering regime, we have stepped up inspections on life insurers to examine their compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (Financial Institutions) Ordinance and the related guideline," Ms Choi said.
"To enhance international co-operation, Hong Kong hosted a supervisory college for the first time in 2012 for an insurance group, as well as participating in other overseas supervisory colleges.
"On cross-sectoral matters, we continued our co-operation with fellow financial regulators, especially in the sale of Investment-linked Assurance Scheme products and Mandatory Provident Fund products," Ms Choi added.
Looking forward, Ms Choi believed that with the strenuous efforts of all stakeholders, the insurance industry in Hong Kong would continue its healthy growth amidst the global economic volatility.
As at December 31, 2012, there were 155 authorised insurers, 67 857 appointed insurance agents (including their responsible officers and technical representatives) and 9 402 authorised brokers (including their chief executives and technical representatives) operating in Hong Kong.
The OCI Annual Report 2012 provides summary analysis of insurance statistics and an overview of key activities undertaken by the OCI. Members of the public can download the annual report from the OCI website at www.oci.gov.hk.
Ends/Monday, September 16, 2013
Issued at HKT 15:18
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