The latest update to the Laos chapter of Thomson Reuters’ Practical Law guide to insurance and reinsurance has been published, written by legal practitioners from Tilleke & Gibbins’ Vientiane office. The guide presents a Q&A-style overview of insurance and reinsurance laws and practices in major jurisdictions around the world. The Laos chapter of the guide was written by Dino Santaniello, head of the Vientiane office, and Saithong Rattana, an attorney-at-law in the same office. The chapter provides details on the following subjects:

• Market trends and regulatory framework: Trends in the insurance and reinsurance markets over the last 12 months and the regulatory framework for insurance and reinsurance activities.
• Regulation of contracts: Contracts of insurance, contracts of reinsurance, and regulations.
• Corporate structure: Forms of corporate organizations insurers can take.
• Regulation of insurers and reinsurers: Regulated insurers, non-insurance business and restrictions, and statutory limits and restrictions on transferring risk.
• Operating restrictions: Authorization and licensing, restrictions on ownership or control, key ongoing requirements for authorized or licensed entities, penalties for noncompliance, and restrictions on persons to whom services can be marketed or sold.
• Reinsurance monitoring and disclosure requirements: Extent to which reinsurance company must monitor claims, settlements, and underwriting of a cedant company, and disclosure/notification obligations of a cedant company to a reinsurance company.
• Policies: Form and content requirements for insurance policies, commonly found clauses, facultative and treaty reinsurance, implied terms, customer protections, and standard policies and terms.
• Policy claims: Establishing an insurance claim, third-party insurance claims, time limits, enforcement, remedies, and punitive damage claims.
• Insolvency: Regulatory framework to dealing with distressed insurers or reinsurers, protection measures, “drop down coverage” in insurance policies, and setting-off mutual debts and creditors.
• Taxation: Tax treatment for insurers, reinsurers, and other entities.
• Dispute resolution: Special procedures and venues for dealing with complaints or disputes, enforceability of arbitration clauses, and choice of forum, venue, and applicable law clauses.
• Reform: Proposed reforms relating to the provision of insurance or reinsurance services.

Practical Law brings together guides to key legal practice areas around the world for business lawyers. Tilleke & Gibbins contributes many overviews on various legal practice areas in Southeast Asia, including regular updates to the Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam chapters of the Practical Law guide to insurance and reinsurance law.

The full Laos Q&A chapter is available below as a PDF.