World Finance Insurance Company of the Year – Hong Kong award for the second year running

Having received the World Finance Insurance Company of the Year – Hong Kong award for the second year running, HSBC Insurance has demonstrated its success in Asia. It is a measure of how fast the company has grown that, as of the first half of this year, the insurance arm contributed 17 percent to HSBC Group’s pre-tax earnings.

Senior executives believe it is time for HSBC Insurance to push out more aggressively from Asia, where most of its growth has been derived in recent years. According to David Fried, they are exploring more opportunities worldwide, crucially targeting other high growth, emerging markets in Latin America and the Middle East, and aims ultimately to establish HSBC Insurance as the world’s leading bancassurer.

Asia: Profitability and growth
HSBC Insurance has achieved remarkable growth in recent years. Behind this growth has been a strategic focus on Asia, where it has established itself as one of the leading insurers through a hugely successful bancassurance model and a series of canny acquisitions and strong strategic partnerships.

Underlining its success in Asia was a set of interim financial results which Mr Fried described as “robust”.

In Asia, HSBC Insurance grew its footprint from three to nine manufacturing sites during 2006 to 2009. The company reported that it remained the number one bancassurer in Hong Kong with a 26.7 percent market share in individual life new business, successfully defending its leading market position by rolling out new initiatives such as RMB insurance.

Meanwhile in mainland China, HSBC Life Insurance has grown rapidly within its first year of operation and ranked third in bancassurance business among 18 foreign or joint venture insurance companies in Shanghai in new business by annualised premium earnings (up to July 2010). HSBC Insurance’s 26 percent-owned Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance in India is one of the country’s fastest growing life insurers with access to over 60 million customers and over 5,500 branches.

Another highlight has been HSBC Insurance’s 50 percent-owned Hana HSBC Life Insurance in South Korea, which leapt from 21st to seventh in market share for initial premiums by leveraging local bank Hana Financial’s network of over 1,000 branches. And lastly, in Vietnam, HSBC Insurance increased its equity interest in insurer BaoViet from 10 to 18 percent, as it sets its sights on the country’s huge untapped market potential. “Our footprint around Asia Pacific has been growing rapidly and reinforces our strong standing”, says Fried.

The treaty has eliminated commercial barriers and taxes for the introduction of certain products

Six years ago the Central American Region and Dominican Republic signed the Free Trade Agreement with the US (DR-CAFTA). The treaty has eliminated commercial barriers and taxes for the introduction of certain products, which certainly has brought further economic development for the participant countries.
Despite the international financial crisis there has been a considerable increment in the regional exports to the US, especially regarding agricultural and manufactured products.

Last May 2010 the Central American Region including Panama signed an Association Agreement with the European Union. The agreement is focused on three basic pillars: commerce, political dialogue and cooperation. It is expected to increase the commercial relationships between both markets and reinforce the historical ties between both regions.
Regarding this historical event, Guatemala hosted the Euro Expo 2010, at which venue Luis Medina, partner at Rusconi, Valdez & Medina Central Law El Salvador and Alessandra Magalhaes, from the Spanish law firm Garrigues participated in the forum “Legal Aspects of trade with the European Union”.

Mario Búcaro, Managing Partner at Central Law, said that working together with Garrigues in such an important event had been an achievement considering that the recent signing of the agreement enabled Central Law and Garrigues the opportunity to provide their respective clients the best legal advice combining their expertise in both jurisdictions.
“There are a lot of business opportunities between these two markets and the Central American countries are moving forward to reach it”, expressed Jesús Humberto Medina Alva, Central Law’s chairman.