Opening remarks by SFST at International Association of Insurance Supervisors Annual Conference 2026 (English only)
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Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning, and a very warm welcome to Hong Kong, and to the Annual Conference of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors.
We have numerous exciting events these two months, such as the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Finance Ministers' Meeting, the Hong Kong FinTech Week, the Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit, the Regional Regulatory Forum hosted by the Accounting and Financial Reporting Council, as well as the Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival held last week, and there will be Hong Kong WinterFest and many other international sports events, showcasing our city's vibrancy and diversity. The IAIS Annual Conference is of course one of the major events as we have the honour to host it for the very first time. On behalf of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, I thank the IAIS members and its Executive Committee for having confidence in us, and the Insurance Authority for its sterling work in bringing this flagship global gathering to our home city.
To the supervisors, policymakers and industry leaders who have travelled from afar: welcome. I know for some of you, this is your first visit to Hong Kong, and I am confident it will not be your last.
An age of interconnected risks
The theme of this year's Conference, "Towards better outcomes: Insurance in the age of interconnected risks", could not be more timely. The risks before us are interconnected as never before. Geopolitical shifts ripple through supply chains and financial markets. Climate change is intensifying weather-related risks. Artificial intelligence is transforming how insurers underwrite, price and serve their customers. Ageing populations are reshaping demand for protection and long-term savings. Risks such as these know no borders, and no supervisor, market or industry can meet them alone.
That is precisely why IAIS matters. It is the global standard-setter for insurance supervision, and also as a platform where supervisors from around the world work together in pursuit of a strong, stable and trusted insurance sector. Your discussions over these two days, from the Global Monitoring Exercise, to regulatory modernisation, to the transformative impact of artificial intelligence, will all help shape the resilience of the global economy.
Hong Kong is honoured to host that conversation. By bringing this gathering to our city, we hope to foster lasting partnerships across markets. Let us use this opportunity to share practical experience and turn common challenges into opportunities for closer collaboration.
The value of international collaboration lies in what follows these exchanges. A shared understanding of emerging risks can help supervisors ask better questions and identify vulnerabilities earlier. While markets differ in their stages of development, we can learn from one another and adapt useful experience to local circumstances. That is how dialogue can translate into practical progress.
Hong Kong: an international risk management centre
Under the "one country, two systems" principle, Hong Kong is best positioned to bring together the talents, capital, information and opportunities of the Chinese Mainland and the rest of the world. We are one of the world's leading international financial centres and we are committed to strengthening our role as an international risk management centre.
As a "super connector", Hong Kong brings together insurers, reinsurers and capital-market expertise, supported by a robust regulatory framework and close connections with the Chinese Mainland and international markets. These strengths position Hong Kong to help the insurance sector respond to emerging risks and deliver better protection for people and businesses.
We will continue to strengthen Hong Kong's role as a regional risk-management hub by attracting more captive insurers, expanding our insurance-linked securities market and nurturing industry talent. In doing so, we aim to support enterprises across Asia and Mainland companies expanding overseas, helping them manage risks and pursue new opportunities with confidence.
Supporting enterprise growth
For enterprises expanding into new markets, risk management should be part of their business planning from the outset. Their exposures may extend across assets, operations and supply chains in several jurisdictions. Captive insurance can complement commercial cover and other arrangements, giving enterprises another tool with which to manage these risks.
Hong Kong can support that process by bringing insurance expertise together with legal, accounting and financial services. We aspire to be a place where enterprises can find the professional support they need to assess their exposures, structure appropriate solutions and pursue opportunities beyond their home markets with greater confidence and convenience.
Connecting insurance and capital markets
Alongside enterprise risk management, Hong Kong is strengthening the connection between insurance and capital markets. Insurance-linked securities, for example catastrophe bonds and "sidecars", connect insurance risks with capital-market investors, broadening the sources of financial capacity available to meet losses.
To support this development, we have extended the Pilot Insurance-linked Securities Grant Scheme to 2028. Our objective is to encourage market development and wider participation. The value goes beyond individual transactions: we want to build an ecosystem in which issuers, investors and service providers can develop viable risk-transfer solutions with global impact.
Responsible innovation and talent
Hong Kong's risk-based capital regime, implemented in July 2024, supports market development through sound supervision. It aligns capital requirements more closely with insurers' risk profiles, encouraging prudent risk management and more efficient capital deployment. Together with requirements on governance and public disclosure, it strengthens financial soundness and market discipline. This provides a firm foundation for insurers to innovate, invest for the long term and honour their commitments.
The same balance is needed as insurers adopt new technologies. Artificial intelligence can help insurers analyse information, improve service and make their operations more efficient. But the test of innovation is not how sophisticated a system appears. It is whether that system produces useful, reliable results for the people and businesses it serves.
As insurers adopt these tools, governance and accountability must keep pace. Institutions should understand the limitations of the systems they use, maintain appropriate human oversight and be able to explain decisions affecting their customers. Clear expectations should provide a firm foundation for responsible innovation, rather than discourage it.
Technology alone is not enough. We will continue to support talent development. An international insurance centre needs expertise in underwriting, actuarial science, risk modelling and technology transfer, together with professionals who understand business across markets. Our insurance sector today is served by more than 120 000 licensed insurance intermediaries, and we are stepping up effort in expanding this talent pool. Since 2016, we have implemented the Programme to Enhance Talent Training for the Insurance Sector, under which some 22 000 insurance practitioners have participated in subsidised professional training courses to deepen their expertise and keep pace with evolving risks and conduct requirements, product innovation, and technological advancement.
We are also equally committed to attracting global talents. We have received and approved over 100 applications under the categories of specialty insurance professionals and actuaries on the Talent List, reflecting the talents' confidence in Hong Kong's promising development and remarkable achievements as an international risk management centre. Together, we believe these measures can ensure that the industry has the expertise to seize the opportunities I have described and to deliver better outcomes for the people and businesses it serves. I hereby call upon interested talents from all over the world to come to Hong Kong and share the fruits of the stable growth of our insurance market.
People, trust and better outcomes
Ladies and gentlemen, at the heart of your work are people: the policyholders who look to insurance for security, for their families, their businesses and their futures. Every standard you set, every exchange of insight and experience, strengthens public trust in insurance.
Hong Kong is ready. Ready to host, to connect and to contribute. I wish you a productive and rewarding Conference, and please do take some time to be a part of our wonderful events and enjoy our city, our harbour, our cuisine and the energy of a place where East meets West. Thank you.
Ends/Thursday, November 12, 2026
Issued at HKT 10:23
Issued at HKT 10:23
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