Insurance is one of the oldest industries in Hong Kong. And it has a significant role in the economic development of Hong Kong. The history of insurance can separated for five periods. And the following will show the details of this five periods. Period 1 – From 1841 until to start of the Japanese Occupation in 1941 During this period, insurance much like banking and shipping become an important department in most foreign firm then investing an insurance arm was all the rage among them. On the early 1940s, Hong Kong had about 100 insurers in the colony period.
Those insurers nearly all were British-Controlled subsidiaries that acted as agents and offered a single line of products related to the shipping and trading, which were severed foreign traders. 1 Period 2 – From the end of World War II until the late 1960s During this period, there are marking a transition within the industry and the economic base was evolved, so did the insurance industry. Although marine products saw further growth, the competition became more cut-throat than ever. And the fire products were thriving while accident products especially auto and the compensation of employee were beginning to grow. That means the postwar insurance sector was gradually diversifying.
On the other hand, the insurance market also remained dominated by British insurers, with only a few foreign-funded agencies, locally registered limited liability companies and subsidiaries of large foreign insurers getting slices of the growing pie. 2 Period 3 – From late 1960s until the late early 1980s During this period, the industry was occurred globalization and diversification this situation.
In the 1970s, with the rise of stock exchange and continued economic growth then the international financial institution flocked to Hong Kong. As this favorable macro economic developments gave rise to many more upstart. That provides a chance to the local trading firms, real estate developers and bank to enter the fray with their own insurance operations. Meanwhile, Hong Kong had already been established itself as an insurance centre in the Asian-Pacific Region. Period 4 – Bracketed by the 1980s – 1997 By the 1980s, return the sovereignty of Hong Kong to China in 1997.
In an effort to build Hong Kong into an international insurance centre and protect the interest of the investors then the government issued the ‘Insurance Companies Ordinance’ which also required the establishment of the HKFI in August 1988. Under growing pressure in 1990s, government regulators and the public, the HKFI pro-actively promoted self- regulatory measures such as managing intermediaries and introducing legal sanctions and cemented the institutionalization of the industry. 3 Later, as more manufacturers relocated their operation to the Mainland China and the
1 BANGYAN, FENG NYAW, MEE KAU, <ENRICHING LIVES : A HISTORY OF INSURANCE IN HONG KONG, 1841-2010> 12/2010 P. 14 2 BANGYAN, FENG NYAW, MEE KAU, <ENRICHING LIVES : A HISTORY OF INSURANCE IN HONG KONG, 1841-2010> 12/2010 P.
15 3 Bangyan, Feng Nyaw, Mee Kau, <Enriching Lives : A History of Insurance in Hong Kong, 1841-2010> 12/2010 P. 15 demand for the fire insurance and the employee insurance was decrease. Meanwhile, the life insurance products had began to dominate the insurance market. This motivated the industry to offer new products and broaden the scope of service to satisfy growing demand of insurance for quantity and quality. 4
Period 5 – After the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 until Present After the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997, many large and mid-sized bank tapping their expertise and customer pools, began to enter the life insurance market either through their own insurance subsidiaries or joint ventures. As insurance has become the most important non-interest-generating business for many bank. In other hand, the broker acts as a financial adviser to the client. That situation is create a competitive marketplace of the insurance industry.
5 Nowadays, Hong Kong currently has 159 authorized insurers and over 80,000 corporate or individual intermediaries providing a wide range of insurance and risk management services. 6 4 Bangyan, Feng Nyaw, Mee Kau, <Enriching Lives : A History of Insurance in Hong Kong, 1841-2010> 12/2010 P. 16 5 BANGYAN, FENG NYAW, MEE KAU,<ENRICHING LIVES :
A HISTORY OF INSURANCE IN HONG KONG, 1841-2010> 12/2010 P. 16 6 http://www. oci. gov. hk/chi/about/index. html The Historical Background of Macau Insurance Industry The reform policy stared in China since the end of the 1970s has contributed to the economic development of Macau.
Macau could capitalize on the conditions and rapid pace of the regional because of the favorable economic situation and the political stability of Portugal. And the government realizes the need to set up an appropriate and regulatory framework to catch the opportunity to develop their financial sector, the administration of Macau created in 1980 as the regulator, which called Issuing Institute of Macao (IEM). The duties of this regulator, which are monitor the banking, insurance and other credit related activities.
The purpose of this regulator, which are ensure sound growth of the financial sector and protect the interest of those involved as allowed by law. And on the insurance side, the regulator was legislation effected on December 28, 1989, February 20, 1989 and June 30, 1997 in order to cope with the pace of the development of the insurance industry. 7 Besides, Macau also has a self-regulator of the insurance. First is the Macau Insurers’ Association (MIA), which founded in December 1987 with 18 insurance companies and gained fully recognition by the Macau Government.
Then the objectives of the MIA are enhanced and promoted the insurance industry of Macau. MIA has maintained a harmonious working relationship with the government regulator, the Monetary Authority of Macau. MIA has also been diligently cultivating contact and exchanging with the international counterparty. At present, there are 22 members which are 10 of conducting solely life business while the remaining 12 transaction non-life insurance business. 8 7 Monetary Authority of Macau – http://www. amcm. gov. mo/history/History. htm 8 Macau Insurers’ Association – http://www. mia-macau. com/about/index. htm.