Eye on 2016: The Hong Kong Insurance Companies Amendment Bill and Asia-Pacific's growing culture of compliance

The signing of the Hong Kong Insurance Companies (Amendment) Bill 2014 (Bill) in June 2015 heralded fundamental changes to regulation of the insurance industry, laying the legislative foundation for a new, independent insurance authority for industry oversight (IIA), as well as other industry regulatory changes.

 

Seen within a broader context, the Bill is one example of the Hong Kong government’s increasing moves to boost compliance requirements to bring regional economies more in line with their European and USA counterparts, and protect consumers. With the regulations carrying increasingly heavy penalties, the time for compliance action is now.

 

Despite the substantial regulatory function of the Bill not expected to come into force until 2017 or 2018, savvy business leaders in Hong Kong and across the Asia-Pacific region are taking note. To ensure compliance with new regulations, and reduce the risk of  penalty (up to  HK$10 million in the case of breaches of the Bill) proactive businesses are already investigating and implementing robust compliance and risk management systems to take them into the future.

 

With increasing regulatory complexity, the need to keep implementation and communication simple to avoid employees becoming overwhelmed becomes even more important. More and more business leaders are discovering, and putting into place systems based on business process management (BPM) and business decision management (BDM) - two solutions which expedite adaption to an ever-changing regulatory environment, and boost compliance. With Signavio recognized as one of the most promising risk and compliance solution providers of 2015 by Banking CIO Outlook, providing Hong Kong and Asia-Pacific businesses  with systemic adaptability, as well as a strong basis for competitive advantage is a top priority.

 

For more information about how Signavio can help your business better manage its risk, click here. To read about how other insurance industry businesses are making their businesses more efficient and compliant, click here, or try Signavio free for 30 days .