Insurance faces positive growth prospects

Commissioner of Insurance Annie Choi said the renminbi business is among the growth engines for Hong Kong’s insurance industry.

Other engines are the non-resident business and the accident and health business. Chio said the insurance industry reported growth in both long-term and general business despite uncertainty in the global financial arena in the past year.

In 2011, Hong Kong insurance brokers benefited from a further liberalised Mainland intermediary market. Supplement VIII to the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement allowed local insurance brokers to set up wholly owned insurance agency companies in Guangdong on a pilot basis.

The Anti-Money Laundering & Counter-Terrorist Financing (Financial Institutions) Ordinance took effect April 1, she said, adding her office would continue to work closely with the industry in combating both money laundering and terrorist financing.

Choi feels the industry will continue to benefit from the business opportunities in the region, particularly the Mainland, as well as the measures the industry has taken to strengthen consumer protection.

She noted her office maintained close dialogue with its international counterparts and had concluded a memorandum of understanding with The Central Bank of Ireland. It has also recently signed a multilateral memorandum of understanding under the International Association of Insurance Supervisors.

As of last December, there were 163 authorised insurers, 64,702 appointed insurance agents and 9,162 authorised brokers operating in Hong Kong.