The Insurance Commission (IC) is ratcheting up its effort in advancing the protection of the insuring public as one of the regulator’s key initiatives. Following the adoption of IC Circular Letter No. 2016-30 or the Bill of Rights of Policyholders in May 26, 2016, the IC is set to adopt a series of circular letters implementing the Bill of Rights of Policyholders. Insurance Commissioner Emmanuel F. Dooc said, “Having promulgated the Bill of Rights of Policyholders, we are moving forward with promulgating guidelines and initiatives, in addition to those already existing, to ensure that the Bill of Rights of Policyholders…
Author: Business News Asia
Business News Asia
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MACTAN, Cebu, Philippines – A female Chinese national that arrived from Hong Kong was arrested at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) Wednesday morning for carrying 11 packs of suspected metamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu. The suspect, identified as 27-year-old Liming Zhou, based on her Chinese passport, arrived at the MCIA at 11:30 am Wednesday from Hong Kong but was detained by airport customs personnel when X-ray machine noticed suspicious items inside the bag she was carrying.. Customs personnel called the attention of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to confirm its suspicion. A PDEA K9 unit dog, handled by Olibert Estillore,…
The International Monetary Fund cut its forecasts for global economic growth this year and next as the unexpected U.K. vote to leave the European Union creates a wave of uncertainty amid already-fragile business and consumer confidence. On Tuesday, the IMF released its World Economic Outlook, with the global growth forecast at 3.1% for this year. and 3.4% for 2017. The trimmed growth forecast is 0.1 percentage points down on the IMF’s April forecast, 0.3 percentage points lower than its January estimate, 0.5 percentage points below its estimate from October 2015 and 0.6 percentage points down on its forecast from July…
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company has teed up a second resort hotel on China’s only tropical island of Hainan, signing a management agreement with Hainan Golden Tide Tourism Development Co., Ltd. The luxury development underlines the provincial government’s drive to enhance the destination for international visitors with prestigious new projects, balancing cultural heritage and preserving the island’s natural beauty. Commanding a prized east coast location near the city of Wanning, the private oceanfront setting of The Ritz-Carlton resort with its two crescents of white sandy beach, will also include the debut of the first Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in China. The challenging…
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) surpassed the 8,000-point level on Friday, July 15 to post its highest close for the year at 8,030.06, up by 73.92 points or 0.9 percent. “While Asian markets, including ourselves, benefitted from positive news abroad, moving past the 8,000 level shows that investor confidence in our market remains high, and provides some early momentum as companies prepare to disclose their mid-year earnings results in the coming weeks,” PSE President and Chief Executive Officer Hans B. Sicat said. Year-to-date, the index is up by 15.5 percent. On Friday, All Shares closed at 4,841.30, p by…
Splash Corporation (PSE:PSH), a personal care and food company in the Philippines, has filed a petition for voluntary delisting of all its shares traded at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). In a letter to the Philippine bourse, Splash Corporation cited low trading volume of its shares the last 24 months, the response of the investing public to the ongoing share buy-back program, and the company’s desire to avoid telegraphing its business plans to its competitors as the main reasons for its petition. The petition for voluntary delisting with the PSE was unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of Splash…
Multi-channel outsourcing firm Teleserve has unveiled its new name and brand – Boomsourcing. The new name reflects what the company does, which is to help businesses go boom, Boomsourcing said. Current Teleserve CEO Jacob Munns will continue his role in the new firm. While Teleserve primarily focused on outbound and inbound calls, Boomsourcing is representative of all the different ways that the company can help other companies outsource beyond just phone calls. Read Also: Telus Sells Stake in Outsourcing Unit to Baring The rebranding resulted from the need for the demand to incorporate more than just phone calls, but also provide…
Vietnam’s insurance sector posted one of the highest growth rates in a decade as total investment capital from the sector to the national economy increased sharply by 500 percent in 2015-2016. Records from the Ministry of Finance’s Insurance Department show that the total investment capital from the insurance industry in that period increased from Vnd30.7 trillion (US$1.4 billion) in 2006 to Vnd150 trillion in recent years. Insurance penetration into the national economy was at 1.39 percent in 2006 and the figure has been rising steadily over the years. Last year, penetration rate was 1.7 percent. With more Vietnamese nearly approaching…
Australia’s tech firm Yojee Limited (ASX: YOJ) said it has entered into a collaborative partnership with Thailand’s largest media company, Nation Multimedia Group (NML) with the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU). The partnership opens up the Thailand e-commerce market to foreign companies and significantly enhances Yojee’s capabilities in the Southeast Asian country, where the e-commerce industry is worth an estimated AU$3.9 billion, Yojee said in a disclosure to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Yojee is a new platform technology company delivering powerful logistics and supply chain management capabilities via its’ proprietary block chain enabled software to the South…
Cedar Woods Properties Ltd (ASX:CWP) has acquired a 16.5 hectare site in Glenside, Adelaide for $25.8 million plus tax, the company said in a disclosure to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Cedar Woods Properties (ASX:CWP)’s stock was up 1.155% in early trading following the news about the acquisition. CWP was trading at 4.380 a share as of this posting. Cedar Woods received approval from the South Australian Government for the conditional sale of the Glenside site, which is located 2 kilometres south east of Adelaide CBD and adjacent to over 700 hectares of parkland, which surrounds the city. Cedar Woods…
Downer EDI Limited (Downer; ASX:DOW) announced today that the Downer-Soletanche Bachy joint venture had been awarded one of the first construction contracts for the City Rail Link project, an underground rail line linking Britomart and the Auckland city centre with the existing western line near Mt Eden. The Chief Executive Officer of Downer, Grant Fenn, said Downer looked forward to working closely with Auckland Transport and would use its extensive experience with complex engineering projects to help build a better connected Auckland. Fenn said the award of the City Rail Link contract was one of the highlights of a recent…
“The Tribunal concluded that there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within the sea areas falling within the ‘nine-dash line.’” the statement said. More details to follow.
Ding Sheng Xin Finance Co Ld (ASX:DXF), the ASX-listed parent company of the DXF Group, has informed the Australian Securities Exchange its intention to expand its operations into the Australian market, enabling Australia-based businesses and individuals to access the Company’s innovative portfolio of finance products. DXF Group provides financing and non-financing guarantee services to SMEs and individuals in China. In a disclosure to the ASX, Ding Sheng Xin Finance said it has selected Honourplus Funds Management Pty Ltd (‘Honourplus’) and FX Plus Trading Academy Pty Ltd (”FXPlus”) as its preferred partners for a collaborative entry into the Australian market. FXPlus is…
Analytica Ltd (ASX:ALT) announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted the company over-the-counter (OTC) clearance for the PeriCoach system, previously available in the US by prescription only. The PeriCoach is a unique medical device that assists women to exercise their pelvic floor muscles in order to reduce or eliminate Stress Urinary Incontinence, a condition that affects 1 in 3 women. “Women can use pelvic floor exercises or “Kegels” to reduce or eliminate urinary incontinence symptoms, and with PeriCoach now available over the counter, home training just got a lot more convenient,” said Leslie Rickey, MPH, MD,…
Geeks on a Beach (GOAB), an international tech and startup conference, will return for the fourth year in the scenic island of Panglao in Bohol this August 25-26. This year’s GOAB in Bohol will carry the theme “Empowering startups, leading change”. It will once more highlight communities of startups or innovation-driven enterprises based on software or apps, which have seen remarkable growth in the Philippines in the last few years. The 4th GOAB will be the first startup event to be held right after the signing of the bill creating the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), recently. Read…
SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SM Prime; PSE:SMPH) has set the interest rate for its Peso-denominated Series F, 10-year retail bonds at 4.2005% per annum. SM Prime will issue an aggregate principal amount of Php10.0 billion of the Series F bonds, which will be offered to investors through underwriters from July 13 to 19, 2016. The retail bonds will be issued on July 26, 2016. According to the underwriters, SM Prime received a strong demand for the retail bonds. The SM Prime bonds have been rated PRS Aaa by Philippine Rating Services Corporation (PhilRatings), the highest rating assigned by PhilRatings. Read…
The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC), China’s industry regulator, has ordered insurance firms in the country to strengthen disclosure on transactions. In a notice posted on its website, the CIRC said Chinese insurers should strengthen disclosures on transactions in response to new investment strategies they have developed. “In recent years, as the insurance market has developed quickly, the avenues for different uses of funds have continuously expanded,” the CIRC said. The commission said Chinese insurers need to increase the scope and standard of disclosures and strengthen legal responsibility. The CIRC stressed that the scale of related party transactions, information disclosures,…
Watpac Limited (ASX:WTP) announced that it has finalised a $47 million contract with property developer JSK Properties to deliver Melbourne’s newest inner-city residential tower development, Union Tower. Located on Little Lonsdale Street in the heart of the CBD, the new 35-storey development will offer 165 sophisticated one and two-bedroom apartments, with only five apartments per typical level to suit the building’s tall and slender design. The development also features a six-storey podium that will provide amenities including shared and private work spaces, gymnasium, bike storeroom, common workshop facilities and a retail precinct. Read Also: Shares of Watpac Limited (ASX:WTP) Up…
Hopes are high for Vietnamese insurers to post yet another stellar performance this year following a strong showing in 2015. The industry’s premium income last year hiked 21.4 percent to Vnd68 trillion (US$3 billion) and total assets grew 21.7 percent to Vnd201 trillion, according to data from the Finance Ministry’s Insurance Supervisory Authority. Non-life segment, which rose 14 percent on 2014, was the top sales generator, accounting for more than 45 percent of total sales. Life segment stretched at a rate of 29.5 percent, a record-high in a decade. Read Also: Vietnam’s Life Insurance Premium Grows 25 Percent in Jan-Feb Period…
Russian President Vladimir Putin has revealed that Russia and China are discussing the possible expansion of nuclear cooperation between the two countries in foreign markets. “We are now negotiating further joint operations in third country markets,” Putin said after a talk with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Putin also noted that two more units of China’s Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), built with Russian technology, will start operation in 2018. Earlier Atomstroyexport JSC (ASE JSC), a division of Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation (ROSATOM), announced that company plans to complete loading of first fuel into Unit 3 of Tianwan…