India’s planned new data protection bill, which is based on the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), is likely to be set before parliament in February or March. The updated bill that was originally proposed in 2018 has recently been updated and contains a number of controversial additions. These include criminal liability for directors and officers who are found responsible…
The Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC) has announced a one-month delay until 1 February for the introduction of its new defined benefit system, which offers employers the opportunity to opt out and develop flexible cross-border schemes that are compliant for employees in multiple jurisdictions and ideal for global insurance programmes. Experts in Dubai say this is just the start. It…
South Korea has become the latest member of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors’ (IAIS) Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MMoU). The MMoU was signed by the Korea Financial Services Commission (FSC) and Korea Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). The MMoU is an international supervisory cooperation and information exchange agreement that promotes enhanced consumer protection. It sets minimum standards to which signatories…
Insurance market liberalisation continues to accelerate across Asia-Pacific, with cross-jurisdiction collaboration further developing and solvency requirements being enhanced across the region. This is according to a new report from Aon, which summarises the key global ratings agency criteria developments and regulatory changes across Asia-Pacific during the past 12 months. Aon said that as the insurance and reinsurance industry continues to…
Water crises, terrorist attacks and man-made environmental catastrophes were the top three risks identified by executives across south Asia who took part in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) recently published Regional Risks for Doing Business 2019 report. The report, published in partnership with Marsh and Zurich, shows a big difference between the top risks identified by south Asian executives and…
More than 50 risk managers from across Asia attended the latest Lloyd’s-Parima Professional Development Programme at the end of last month in Manila, reports the Asia-Pacific risk management association. Parima executive director Stacey Huang kicked off the session with an interactive risk management game designed to help the participants see how organisations, teams and individuals handle risk. Participants then pinned…
Investors and analysts are putting pressure on Aviva, the UK multi-line insurer, to provide confirmation during its quarterly results statement on 8 August that it is planning to sell its Asian business. The insurer has allegedly valued the business at more than $2bn, according to news agency Reuters. Aviva has six Asian businesses – based in China, Hong Kong, India,…
Brokerslink has partnered with three new affiliates in Asia to boost its local expertise in the region. The affiliates are LK Insurance Services in South Korea, Malaysia’s State Insurance Services and John Foord in Singapore. LK Insurance Services specialises in oil and gas, telecommunications, chemicals and logistics. John Foord is a global specialist valuation and appraisal practice headquartered in Singapore,…
Following a disappointing 2018, Allianz is predicting that Asia’s insurance market will rebound in 2019 and be a primary driver of global insurance growth over the next decade. Industry projections have repeatedly forecast a strong improvement in Asia’s insurance industry given the strong growth rates of many of its economies and the relatively low level of insurance penetration to date.…
Singapore has emerged as the leading country for corporate governance according to the 2019 edition of the FM Global Resilience Index. The insurer’s index has been running for several years now but this is the first time that corporate governance has been added as one of the 12 economic, risk and supply chain-related metrics used to rank countries. Singapore ranked…