The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has issued a warning to financial institutions of “critical vulnerabilities” in the Microsoft Windows operating system. The authority said vulnerabilities could allow malicious files or applications to bypass detection from security applications and gain control of computer systems. The MAS has told financial institutions that use the affected operating systems to take “immediate action”…
Cyber risk has perhaps unsurprisingly toppled business interruption (BI) as the number one risk for risk executives within the Asia-Pacific region, according to the Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) Risk Barometer 2020. The Risk Barometer is based on a survey of some 2,700 risk professionals worldwide and is now in its ninth year. BI has regularly topped the list…
AJ Gallagher, the global insurance broker, risk management services and consulting firm, has added to its global programme capabilities through the acquisition of a minority stake in specialist Malaysian broker SP&G Insurance Brokers for an undisclosed price. The US-based broking firm now has six operations in the Asia-Pacific region. The Malaysian investment adds to existing operations in Singapore, Australia and…
Peak Re, a Hong Kong-based reinsurance group, has announced that investors have backed increased investment in Lion Rock Re, the capacity vehicle it launched last year that was the first sidecar transaction in Asia. “Following on from last year’s groundbreaking placement of Lion Rock Re, Asia’s first reinsurance sidecar transaction, Peak Reinsurance Company is pleased to announce that investors have…
Workplace health and safety (WHS) could be the next big thing in the fast-growing Australian class action ‘market’ and could lead to payouts in the tens of millions of dollars, massive legal bills and the imprisonment of directors and officers for industrial manslaughter offences, according to a new note from law firm Norton Rose Fulbright. Australian directors and officers are…
FWD Group – a Hong Kong-based multi-line insurance group that spans Hong Kong & Macau, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan and Malaysia – has entered the Thai non-life market through the completion of its acquisition of Siam City Insurance (SCI), an insurer that was formed back in 1948. FWD was established in Asia in 2013 as the insurance business…
The Insurance Commission (IC) of the Philippines has decided to advise the government not to raise minimum capital requirements for the country’s insurance companies at the end of 2022 as originally planned, according to local newspaper reports. The IC reportedly intends to advise finance secretary Carlos Dominguez to cap the minimum capital requirement for local insurance companies at PHP900m. The…
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that recent action taken against a few corrupt entities should not be viewed as a targeted government crackdown on the corporate sector, the Economic Times of India reported. The news emerged as it was also reported that almost half the top 500 listed companies in India have still not complied with the Securities…
Insurance Australia Group (IAG), the biggest non-life insurer in Australia and New Zealand, has announced that it has finalised its catastrophe reinsurance programme for the 2020 calendar year, not surprisingly increasing its gross reinsurance protection to up to $10bn compared with $9bn for 2019, but at surprisingly stable costs. Rival insurer Suncorp Group has also revealed that it increased its…
Credit ratings agency Fitch Ratings has said that reinsurance protection and increased natural hazard allowances should help major non-life insurers contain their earnings volatility that may stem from the devastating bushfires in Australia. The agency added, however, that reinsurance protection for the fires will be subject to the inception dates and duration of the events. “Prolonged fires could exhaust insurers’…
