HK to bolster risk hub status with talent and captive insurers: Christopher Hui

The Hong Kong government will continue to strengthen the city's role as a regional risk-management hub by attracting more captive insurers, expanding the insurance-linked securities market and nurturing industry talent, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui Ching-yu said at the International Association of Insurance Supervisors Annual Conference on Thursday.

To expand its 120,000-strong industry workforce, the city has approved over 100 applications for specialty insurance professionals and actuaries under the Talent List, Hui said.

Calling on global experts to move to Hong Kong, he noted the approvals reflect confidence in the city's status as an international risk management center. The government is also deepening local expertise, having subsidized training for some 22,000 practitioners since 2016, he added.

Grant scheme extended

Hong Kong has extended its subsidy scheme for insurance-linked securities to 2028.

The extension of the Pilot ILS Grant Scheme aims to broaden market participation and build an ecosystem for catastrophe bonds and sidecars, Hui said.

"The value goes beyond individual transactions: we want to build an ecosystem in which issuers, investors and service providers can develop viable risk-transfer solutions with global impact," he told global regulators and industry executives.

AI governance

Hui urged insurers to maintain strict human oversight and ensure systems produce reliable results rather than just appearing sophisticated.

Institutions must understand the limitations of their systems and be able to explain decisions affecting customers, he said.

Hui also highlighted the city's new risk-based capital regime, launched in July, which aligns capital requirements more closely with insurers' actual risk profiles and encourages efficient capital use.

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓