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This episode of our podcast features an interview with Simon Lam, Executive Director, General Business at the Hong Kong Insurance Authority, who joined our latest event, ILS Asia 2021 to discuss Hong Kong's plans for its new insurance-linked securities platform.
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\\nHong Kong already has an established insurance and reinsurance market, while its legislative preparations for ILS were completed at the beginning of 2021.
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Since then the Insurance Authority has been building out its licensing and supervision infrastructure, with the support of an ILS working group, including notable ILS market players, Mr. Lam explained to the ILS Asia 2021 audience.
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\\u201cAs we all know, being efficient in licensing is very, very important for ILS issuers,\\u201d he explained. Saying that \\u201cWe also started an ILS capacity building exercise for staff of the Insurance Authority, through the engagement of a professional ILS consultant.\\u201d
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\\u201cThe final piece was when the pilot ILS grant scheme was launched by the Hong Kong government in May,\\u201d Lam continued, saying that, \\u201cIf you ask me where are we now, I would say that we are 99% ready for the first issuance.\\u201d
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At the same time Hong Kong has been engaging with potential sponsors of insurance-linked securities (ILS) arrangements, to generate initial deal-flow interest.
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Mr. Lam told our conference audience that, \\u201cIn parallel, we are soliciting support from potential sponsors and I\\u2019m pleased to advise that we are already working on the first cat bond and hopefully, if all things go well, we will have the first ILS issue out of Hong Kong within this year.\\u201d
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\\nThe panel session mentioned at the end will be included in a later podcast episode.