Hong Kong law firms are advising companies active in the territory to take a close look at new Adminsitered Arbitration Rules (2018 Rules) introduced by the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) at the start of November. Baker McKenzie states that the 2018 Rules introduce a raft of important and useful amendments including rules facilitating complex arbitrations, a procedure for…
A year of natural disasters has left Japan’s top three property and casualty (P&C) insurers with a bill expected to top JPY1trn ($8.7bn) by the end of the fiscal year, raising the prospect of a hike in premiums for the first time in years. The payments are likely to total more than $3.51bn from MS&AD Insurance and $2.63bn from Tokio…
American International Group (AIG) is shuttering all underwriting activity in Iran due to the reimposition of US sanctions by the Trump administration. The majority of the US insurer’s Iranian activities were inherited from its acquisition of Bermuda-based reinsurer Validus Holdings for $5.56bn in July. Validus’s non-US subsidiaries provide marine hull, war and cargo insurance to shipping companies that transport cargo…
The risk of a cyberattack is the biggest concern among business leaders in east Asia and the Pacific, according to the Regional Risks for Doing Business report from the World Economic Forum (WEF). The prominence of cyber risk reflects the rapid pace of digitalisation and the increasing sophistication of the region’s economies, according to the report. Southeast Asia also boasts…
Mutual insurance association Standard Club Asia, managed by Charles Taylor Mutual Management, has teamed up with China’s Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance to jointly offer professional and indemnity (P&I) cover for Chinese shipowners. China is currently ranked as the world’s second-largest shipowning country, behind Greece, and has the largest share of general cargo ships. The partnership will focus on…
Danish toymaker Lego is celebrating the successful outcome of a copyright court case in China that could have repercussions for other international manufacturers that have struggled to protect their intellectual property (IP) from Chinese imitators. The decision, from a district court in Guangzhou Yuexiu, found that the four Chinese defendants had infringed Lego’s IP rights by copying the 3D artworks…
Delegates at the recent Pan-Asia Risk and Insurance Management Association (Parima) conference in Tokyo heard from the high priest of a Buddhist temple, as part of the risk management association’s drive to promote corporate sustainability. Mr Kojo Morimoto, high priest of the Todai-ji Temple in the Japanese city of Nara, addressed how the temple, which has stood for more than…
The preferential trade status granted to Myanmar by the European Union (EU) could be at risk pending an investigation into allegations of genocide. Such a move could be a serious setback for any Myanmar-based corporates exporting or importing goods to or from the EU. Myanmar is one of several countries that are included in the EU’s Everything But Arms (EBA)…
Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) is expanding its alternative risk transfer (ART) business with the launch of a new unit dedicated to Asia-Pacific. Former Marsh & McLennan managing director Richard Green will head up the new business. Mr Green has been based in Asia since 2005 and was previously regional head of ART and cyber insurance at Marsh, where…
Risk modelling firm RMS has compiled a list of ten ‘one in a 100-year’ natural catastrophes that could hit the Asia-Pacific region, highlighting the region’s vulnerability to environmental disasters. The region has already suffered a number of catastrophes in 2018, including Typhoons Jebi and Mangkhut, and the Palu earthquake in Indonesia. However, RMS believes there is a likely expectation of…