The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) has announced a three-year plan that is designed to improve the way the P&C insurance sector is regulated in the country. This follows the announcement in mid-July that the regulator would take control of struggling firms Tianan Property Insurance, Huaxia Life Insurance Co, Tianan Life Insurance Co, Yi An Property & Casualty…
The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) and the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) have agreed to file a test case considering the application of infectious diseases cover in business interruption (BI) policies. The news comes as the High Court test case in the UK brought by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) against a group of leading insurers nears its conclusion.…
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has called on locally incorporated banks headquartered in Singapore to cap their total dividends per share (DPS) for full-year 2020 at 60% of 2019’s DPS, and offer shareholders the option of receiving the dividends to be paid for 2020 ‘in scrip’ in lieu of cash. The announcement follows the recent news issued by the…
Global trade credit insurer Atradius has published four new reports, on the markets of China, India, Indonesia and South Korea, and expects rising insolvencies across the region as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic continues to bite. Atradius points out that the coronavirus outbreak severely hit the Chinese economy in the first quarter of this year, immediately impacting retail and…
International SOS and Singapore company Energy Drilling Management have announced a successful pilot of its ICC AOKpass mobile app, which provides trusted recognition of individuals’ Covid-19 compliance status from Singapore to Thailand. Following the pilot launch of the tool in May, Energy Drilling worked with International SOS to test the app for a ten-strong crew that needed to travel aboard an…
Recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and preparation for a potential second wave is clearly top of the agenda currently for business leaders across the Asia-Pacific region and worldwide. But leaders in the Asia-Pacific region in particular must continue to focus on the impact of climate change and invest in loss prevention, business continuity and risk management and mitigation measures to…
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has updated its capital management guidance for banks and insurers, easing restrictions around paying dividends as institutions continue to manage the disruption caused by Covid-19. APRA’s updated guidance replaces its previous recommendations issued, which stated that banks and insurers should “seriously consider deferring decisions on the appropriate level of dividends until the outlook is…
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has called for an investment from governments across the region in post-Covid-19 agriculture sector reforms, to support a transition from a labour-intensive supply chain to a more resilient and efficient agriculture system, including smart agriculture and mechanisation. The ADB’s recent report, Food Security in Asia and the Pacific amid the Covid-19 Pandemic, concludes that the…
Central and eastern European (CEE) countries are looking increasingly like beneficiaries of the impact of Covid-19 on global trade and supply chains, as European Union companies seek to bring their sources of supply closer to home. But companies in the CEE cannot rely on cheaper labour alone to take advantage of any post-pandemic supply chain shift. They will need to…
AM Best has affirmed its financial strength credit rating on Lloyd’s despite the market’s estimated loss of up to £3.5bn from the Covid-19 pandemic, its higher-than-average catastrophic losses in recent years and dwindling favourable prior-year reserve releases. One of the main reasons for the credit rating agency’s positive outlook on Lloyd’s is at the same time bad news for UK and…