There is an increasing number of reports that the Government of Malaysia is preparing to relax rules on the involvement of international insurers and reinsurers in its market, and thus make life easier for risk and insurance managers with multinationals active in this large and growing Asian market. Local newspapers and Reuters report that the government is preparing to review…
Non-life insurance companies that operate in Vietnam are still struggling to make decent profits because of high competition and falling interest rates, despite strong-to-moderate growth, solid balance sheet strength and improving profitability, according to credit ratings agency AM Best. In 2017, total direct premium underwritten by Vietnamese non-life insurers reached VND41trn (roughly $1.8bn), according to the credit ratings agency. The…
Hong Kong will step up its efforts to foster the creation of an insurance-linked securities (ILS) market through the introduction of legislation to allow the formation of special purpose vehicles to issue the securities, according to Clement Cheung, chief executive of the Insurance Authority (IA), the territory’s new regulatory body. The IA reports that Mr Cheung also revealed during his…
Pressure is mounting on the Indian Government to expand the insurance cover available for nuclear power risks, as the country continues an aggressive expansion plan for its nuclear industry. The local insurance and reinsurance industry that supports India’s limited nuclear insurance pool is reportedly, however, not keen to open up the market to international insurers and reinsurers and see the…
Swiss Re Corporate Solutions has launched a parametric trigger-based, standalone, haze insurance solution for businesses operating in Singapore. The coverage protects companies from a potential loss of income and reduced trade if a haze event hits Singapore. Southeast Asia has suffered badly from haze outbreaks during the past two decades, mainly because of the burning of peat forests in the…
The US-based Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers (CIAB) has released its biannual Cyber Market Watch Survey, which showed that the cyber insurance take-up rate among US insurance managers remained low at 32%, despite rising awareness of the risk within the c-suite. Some 89% of survey respondents also said that premium pricing remained flat or fell during the past six months.…
Thomas Lillelund will join AIG as chief executive officer of AIG Europe SA, from Aspen, as part of the US-based insurance group’s strategic response to Brexit…
Bermuda-based Nephila Capital has confirmed that the Lloyd’s board has given in-principle approval to its plan to form its own managing agency, subject to regulatory authorisation. Nephila is the largest institutional asset manager of vehicles dedicated to investing in natural catastrophe and weather risk. Nephila’s Syndicate 2357, which is backed by funds managed by Nephila, has been managed by Asta,…
The Chinese government has continued its crackdown on market confusion acts, trade secret infringement and internet-related misconduct, and is focusing its efforts particularly on the online and pharmaceutical industries. Experts advise risk managers with companies that procure products from China to make doubly sure that they are asking the right questions of suppliers to ensure that they are compliant. The latest…
FWD Group, the fast-growing Asian multi-line insurance group that is owned by Pacific Century Investment group (PCI), has hired Robert Schimek as managing director and group chief operating officer. Mr Schimek’s appointment came days after news agency Bloomberg reported that the founder and chairman of PCI and FWD – Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li – is planning a potential initial public…