North Korea has established a number of insurance and reinsurance companies in the past few years, according to the Korea Times, which experts in the publication describe as a “gradual yet firm move toward an open market economy”. The re/insurance companies recently appeared on Naenara, North Korea’s state-run web portal, promoting their services. The web portal revealed that Future Re…
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…
The growth of the insurance industry in Korea is being driven down by a slowing economy and increasing market maturity, according to Korean Re in its Korean Insurance Market Outlook for 2019. The Korea Insurance Research Institute says that GDP growth is projected to slow to 2.7% in 2019 from 2.8% in 2018, putting pressure on insurance market growth. Premium…
AM Best has a stable outlook on Japan and South Korea’s non-life insurance sectors, despite the elevated risks of catastrophe losses and modest economic expansion in Japan, and operating and regulatory environments that remain challenging for insurance companies in South Korea. Best said private companies operating in Japan’s non-life insurance sector hold solid risk-adjusted capital positions and profitable underwriting results…
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)…
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…
Social fragilities and a proliferation of autocratic governance in Asia have led to a rise in political risk that could cloud the continent’s dynamic economic growth, according to credit insurer Coface. Asia scored 45% on Coface’s latest political risk ranking, which put the continent behind Sub Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, and Latin America, but well ahead…
South Korean non-life insurers will increasingly rely on issuing hybrid securities, subordinated debt or fresh equity to reinforce capital adequacy, because of progressive tightening in risk-based capital (RBC) measures and rising interest rates, according to Fitch ratings. The credit ratings agency said that higher interest rates would enhance insurers’ profitability but the increases, along with tougher capital requirements, could depress…
Global non-life premium growth has slowed, with an increase of 2.8% in 2017 to $2.23trn, compared to growth of 3.7% in 2016…
Despite the fact that 2017 was a severe year of natural catastrophes, the Asian insurance market has seen little impact in terms of rate changes, much to the disappointment of many insurers and reinsurers. Rates in the region have been deteriorating for several years, due to excess capacity and strong competition. This has led insurers to question whether certain commercial…