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The following is issued on behalf of the independent Insurance Authority:
The independent Insurance Authority (IIA) held its first meeting today (January 29) to discuss issues relating to the corporate governance of the IIA, including the drawing up of internal guidelines, its organisation structure, the establishment of committees to assist the IIA to discharge its statutory duties and its corporate plan for 2016-17.
The Chairman of the IIA, Dr Moses Cheng, said, "Our priority is to prepare for the smooth transition from the existing regulatory regime to the new regime. The whole process will be implemented by phases. We note the Government's target for the IIA to assume the regulatory functions currently undertaken by the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) by the end of 2016, and to take over the supervision of insurance intermediaries from the three Self-Regulatory Organisations in two to three years from now.
"The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and OCI have set up the Working Group on Transition to IIA to work with the insurance industry to lay the groundwork for the transition to the new regulatory regime. The IIA will build on the good work of the Working Group and continue the effective dialogue with the insurance industry," said Dr Cheng.
Three committees were set up at today's meeting, namely, the Corporate Services Committee, the External Relations Committee and the Audit Committee. The Corporate Services Committee will oversee and advise the IIA on staff recruitment, office accommodation and accounting issues. The External Relations Committee will focus on advising on matters related to the publicity programme and stakeholder engagement strategies, while the Audit Committee will advise on matters relating to auditing. An Investment Committee will also be formed later to advise on the investment strategy of the IIA's funds.
In addition, the meeting discussed the Government's proposal regarding appointments to the two Industry Advisory Committees (IACs) on long-term business and general business respectively. The IACs, which will be appointed by the Financial Secretary to advise the IIA on industry related issues, will comprise practitioners from different lines of insurance business and experts from related fields such as consumer protection, compliance and accountancy.
The meeting also discussed the organisation structure of its executive arm and noted the initial establishment of 299 staff as recommended by a consultancy commissioned earlier by the Government. The IIA will proceed with the recruitment exercise to build up its executive team.
Ends/Friday, January 29, 2016
Issued at HKT 15:50
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