The Ministry of Finance has issued two separate Notifications, published yesterday, with immediate effect, in the Government Gazette, that will relax the foreign shareholding and board limits for life and non-life insurance companies, for the purpose of promoting stability for insurance companies and the insurance industry.

On November 29, the Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) in Thailand announced that it had approved, in principle, draft notifications that set out the criteria, procedures, and conditions for the issuing and offering for sale of both life and general insurance products through online channels.The key features of the draft notifications are as follows:   

Many people are approached by “investment consultants” selling various investment products and/or life insurance. One of the products they commonly offer is life insurance that is written to pay a benefit based on the performance of particular investments. They may refer to this as an “insurance wrapper,” or explain that the investments (stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc.) are held “inside” the insurance. Whatever the informal description, it is important to understand that activities involving these types of products are subject to strict regulation under Thai law.

On July 1, 2016, the Vietnam government enacted with immediate effect Decree No. 73/2016/ND-CP guiding the Law on Insurance Business 2000, as amended in 2010 (Decree 73). Decree 73 replaces Decree No. 45/2007/ND-CP (and its amendments) and Decree No. 46/2007/ND-CP.Decree 73 introduces the following key changes to the reinsurance business in Vietnam: