CBIRC Pledges Tougher Management of Insurance Companies' Intermediary Channel Business

The General Office of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission ("CBIRC") has recently issued the Circular on Tightening Management of Intermediary Channel Business of Insurance Companies (the "Circular").

The Circular proposes a core principle under which insurance companies are required to ensure that responsibilities for managing intermediary channel business must be assigned to specific individuals and that their own management bylaws and information systems are adequate and thorough, establish the internal compliance audit and supervision, and shoulder heavier responsibilities for business compliance management of partners involved in such intermediary channel business. The Circular requires that an insurance company shall form a framework of management bylaws for its intermediary channel business and specify who will be held responsible for the business management; fulfill its duties to manage and control subjects involved in its intermediary channel business, step up the qualification management, business management and archive management, and timely report violations and illegal conduct of such subjects it detects; not take advantage of subjects involved in the intermediary channel business to carry out unlawful activities; improve oversight of compliance, and attach importance to internal audit to look into the compliance of its intermediary channels. Moreover, through tougher supervision of all business lines of intermediary channel business conducted by insurance companies, the Circular intensifies the whole-process oversight of relevant subjects involved in intermediary channels and brings both insurance intermediaries and their practitioners under the oversight.



(Source: http://www.cbrc.gov.cn/chinese/newShouDoc/4A01FFE48B87431EAFF28A33D2BA4A16.html)

Note: The link to the Chinese official website of the document is for your reference.