Recently the China
Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) brought out amended
measures for supervising China-based foreign insurance
organizations and announced that new measures will be officially
implemented from March 1 this year.
The existing measures for supervising China-based foreign
insurance organizations have been enacted since December 1999. To
make measures keep up with the pace of times and in accord with the
changing economy and policy surrounding China's insurance market,
the CIRC amended these measures, aiming to address new problems
appearing during the course of supervising and managing China-based
foreign insurance organizations.
Foreign insurance organizations in the amended measures refer to
insurance companies, reinsurance companies, insurance intermediary
institutions, insurance associations and other related
organizations. All are supposed to be registered overseas or
outside China.
The new measures specifically point out that the CIRC set up
regulatory bureaus in the provinces, autonomous regions,
municipalities and cities. And the regulatory bureaus should
shoulder the management of all agent offices stationed in various
localities. In addition, the annual report of every foreign
insurance organization should be handed into the CIRC and its
representative offices respectively within six months of the Fiscal
Year end.
In light of the promises given by China when it entered World
Trade Organization (WTO), the measures give a deadline for
examination and approval, with a limit of 20 days from completed
application materials being accepted. If undecided by the deadline,
and affirmed by the chairman of the CIRC, it may be extended by 10
days. The measures also regulate the extension of the such agency
offices is no longer subject to examination and approval. In case
of a change in address, staff replacement, agency offices need only
report afterwards instead of awaiting examination and approval.
At the same time, the amended measures set the details of
punishment rules from the CIRC. As follows: if an agency office
goes into insurance business with rule violations, they will be
investigated by the CIRC; warnings will be given out to offices
running business beyond insurance and serious cases will be fined a
minimum of 30,000 yuan. Meanwhile, according to the circumstances
of each case, the responsible staff members will be punished by the
CIRC.
These new measures also apply to the mainland agent offices of
Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan insurance organizations.
(China.org.cn by Wang Ruyue February 11, 2004)