Policy and regulation
Mohammad Jainul Bari became the chairman of the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority of Bangladesh, New Age reported. The appointment follows the resignation of M Mosharraf Hossain amid allegations that include corruption, money laundering and abuse of power.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India introduced reforms that reduced the solvency margin requirement for insurers in the crop insurance business. The move would increase general insurers' capacity to underwrite more business, unlocking approximately 14 billion Indian rupees of capital.
The Financial Services Commission of South Korea said authorities would recognize the inclusion of the liability adequacy test surplus into the available capital for the calculation of insurers' risk-based capital ratios, a measure that would provide a buffer to insurers as losses on the valuation of bonds expand amid interest rate hikes, Asia Insurance Review reported.
Life and health
IndiaFirst Life Insurance Co. Ltd. initiated discussions with investment banks for a proposed initial public offering, which would mostly be a secondary sale of shares by existing investors, Mint reported, citing sources.
A group of minority investors that collectively own about a 49% stake in ABC Life Insurance Co. Ltd. is working with a financial adviser on a possible sale of their stake, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The transaction could value the insurer at about $3 billion to $4 billion.
Fubon Insurance Co. Ltd., Cathay Century Insurance Co. Ltd., Taiwan Life Insurance Co. Ltd. and CTBC Insurance Co. stopped selling overseas travel insurance policies covering medical expenses due to sudden illness in an attempt to curb potential losses from COVID-19 payouts, the Taipei Times reported. Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. Ltd. is among the few local insurers still offering the policy.
Property and casualty
Allianz Australia Insurance Ltd. and AWP Australia Pty. Ltd. pled guilty to making false or misleading statements about the characteristics and level of coverage of their travel insurance products between 2016 and 2018, according to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
OnePath Life (NZ) Ltd. and Cigna Life Insurance New Zealand Ltd. will jointly pay NZ$180,000 to New Zealand's Financial Markets Authority after admitting liability for breaches related to misleading representations made by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. when issuing monthly credit card statements to some of its customers with credit card repayment insurance policies from the two insurers.
BMS Group Ltd. acquired Australia-based corporate retail broker SRG Group for undisclosed financial terms.
Zhang Tao resigned as chairman of the board of supervisors of The People's Insurance Co. (Group) of China Ltd., effective June 13.
MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc. joined the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance, becoming the second Japanese insurer to join the initiative, which aims to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in insurance underwriting portfolios by 2050.
Reinsurance
Go Digit General Insurance Ltd.'s promoters, Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. and Kamlesh Goyal, are seeking approval from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India to form a private domestic reinsurance company in India, Asia Insurance Review reported.
The Earthquake Commission of New Zealand secured NZ$7.2 billion of reinsurance on the international market, a year-over-year increase of nearly NZ$470 million.
Asia Capital Reinsurance Group Pte. Ltd. appointed Wei-Lyn Loh CEO, Reinsurance News reported, citing a LinkedIn announcement.
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