Consumer interests and business resilience central themes in first set of guidelines published by the Insurance Culture and Conduct Steering Committee (ICCSC)
SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 22 March 2022 – The Insurance Culture and Conduct Steering Committee (ICCSC) today released its first two papers providing best practice guidelines and recommended initiatives for stakeholders within the insurance ecosystem to elevate the culture and conduct standards of insurance companies, intermediaries (e.g. Financial Advisory Firms), employees, and the insurance ecosystem.
The two Papers[1] are:
Human Resources Culture and Conduct Best Practices – Promoting Ethical Culture and Conduct Across the Employee Life Cycle: Outlining best practices in Hiring, Enterprise Training, Consequence Management, and Exit Management
Corporate Governance Culture and Conduct Best Practices – Promoting Ethical Culture and Conduct Through Corporate Governance and Systems: Putting forth recommendations on the role of Leadership, Governance & Systems, Capability & Capacity, and Performance Management & Remuneration
Mr Marcus Lim, Assistant Managing Director (Banking & Insurance), Monetary Authority of Singapore, said, “The ICCSC has demonstrated its commitment to promote good culture and conduct within the insurance sector through the publication of these best practices and recommendations. By continually serving the best interests of their customers, insurers and intermediaries reinforce the foundation of trust upon which the industry is built. MAS encourages all firms to take reference from this set of papers and consider how best to apply them to their business so as to better serve their customers.”
Dr Khoo Kah Siang, Chairperson of the Insurance Culture and Conduct Steering Committee (ICCSC) said, “The papers are developed based on extensive research carried out on best practices observed internationally, and inputs from senior practitioners within the industry. We hope that these papers will provide timely and practical guidance to the insurance companies in Singapore to apply and elevate their standards of culture and conduct over time, to maintain public trust and confidence in the insurers.”
“ICCSC will continue to work with the various insurance associations in Singapore to adopt these guidelines as appropriate for their segment. These best practices papers will be reviewed in 12 months to assess the effectiveness of the recommendations for the industry.”
These Papers focus on people, performance, and processes:
People: From the leadership team to employees and Financial Adviser (FA) Representatives – every individual has a critical role to play in creating a strong culture of good conduct for the benefit of insurance customers. The best practice guidelines and recommendations put forth clear roles and responsibilities of the respective parties in promoting the right culture and conduct in the organisation.
Performance: Assessment criteria – whether for hiring, reward, or recognition – can be enhanced to include financial and non-financial measures. The performance of the management team, employees, FA representatives and partners in the ecosystem can be raised by having the right training programs and consequence management framework.
Processes: Recommended enhancements to the governance and ways of working to establish and enforce more robust practices to promote good conduct and the right culture within organisations and the insurance eco-system at large.
“I would also personally like to thank all the ICCSC members as well as contributors in the subcommittees who had volunteered their valuable time towards this important initiative for the industry amidst this challenging COVID-19 period,” Dr Khoo added.
The committee, consisting of senior leaders in the industry, was established in December 2019 to foster sound culture and strengthen standards of conduct among insurers in Singapore.[2] They are supported by the General Insurance Association of Singapore (GIA), the Life Insurance Association (LIA) and the Singapore Reinsurers’ Association (SRA).
The ICCSC is currently working on the next best practice paper which will bring a new focus on the conduct of life insurance intermediaries. The aim is to provide practical recommendations on the role of supervisors in setting the right tone from the top and putting in place key performance measures to incentivise FA Representatives to provide customers with high quality financial advisory services. The paper also sets out recommendations to enhance disclosures to customers and information sharing between insurers and non-tied Financial Advisory Firms (FAFs) in order to raise overall standards in the financial advisory industry. This paper is targeted for an April 2022 release.
Appendix 1: Infographic on Human Resources Culture and Conduct Best Practices – Promoting Ethical Culture and Conduct Across the Employee Life Cycle
Appendix 2: Infographic on Corporate Governance Culture and Conduct Best Practices – Promoting Ethical Culture and Conduct Through Corporate Governance and Systems
Stakeholder mapping, analysis, engagement and communication needs to be detailed to avoid business losses or even worse, a crisis. How can you do this effectively to prevent failure? ...
Data-driven business decisions have never been as crucial, especially in this era. MGBF leverages off, technology, experience and market presence to aid businesses in making accurate decisions. ...
MGBF provides comprehensive strategic advice and results-focused solutions to solve clients' problems in business-government relations so they can focus on their core business. ...
A critical business challenge is meeting the right decision-makers and potential buyers through the best channel and platform. How will you improve your business competency? ...
In this episode of 'A Working Lunch with Nordin', MGBF's Nordin Abdullah and regional commentator Eddin Khoo will discuss the biggest threats and opportunities for businesses as we look to manage change in the South China Sea.
This MGBF Roundtable will feature thought leaders form Japan, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia dealing with the critical issues of manipulation of public listed companies and government and their financial impacts.
A series of networking sessions with various business associations and trade organisations exploring high-value opportunities for business leaders and entrepreneurs looking to build the relationships that matter.
This integrated event will include a forum, dedicated business matching, site visits, a gala dinner and a round of golf. Aptly themed, the focus will be on regional food security issues and trends in the context of the supply chain, agriculture technology and trade regulations and policies.
Planet QEOS and China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) are interested in investing RM10 billion to co-develop advanced Megawatt peak (MWp) agrovoltaic in Baram, to further boost Sarawak’s green energy initiative and food security. Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg was briefed on Friday by both the […]
Last week SPM results came out, 373,974 aspirants who have been waiting patiently over the last few months would now know their fate. Some 10,109 have received all A’s, the golden standard of academic success and the ticket to those looking to study the “more advanced” subjects in university. Proudly, […]
The classic knee-jerk reaction is to say, fire the coach, change the leadership of associations, and reduce the funding till they start performing better. This kind of negative reinforcement may work for kindergarten children, but we are dealing with high-performance adults – individuals much further along in their psychological and […]
Since its earliest tea plantations in 1929, Cameron Highlands has grown to become a key player in the agricultural landscape of Malaysia, producing 40 per cent of all vegetables grown. Despite Malaysia shifting its economic focus away from agriculture, the industry remains imperative for food security and the livelihoods of […]
Although at first glance the travel industry and the agricultural sector appear to have nothing in common, they actually share more than meets the eye. The economic benefits of tourism to the agricultural sector can be multiplied several times over. “Tourism brings the end consumers closer to the source, which […]
The Malaysia Global Business Forum (MGBF) recently held a high-level roundtable themed ‘Designing the Future of the Digital Economy’, attended by industry leaders and business associations. The guest of honour was Yang Berhormat Syerleena Abdul Rashid, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bukit Bendera in Penang. The MP’s Special Session […]
The Malaysia Global Business Forum (MGBF) will be hosting a roundtable on ‘Designing the Future of the Digital Economy’ on 23 February 2023. It is the culmination of the first three MGBF Exclusive Roundtable Series titled ‘The Evolving Threat Matrix in the Digital Economy’ held throughout 2022. According to the […]
The Founding Chairman of the Malaysia Global Business Forum (MGBF), Nordin Abdullah, today spoke on Bernama TV’s leading English talk show, The Brief, hosted by Jessy Chahal, on the topic of a stable political reality and what that means for the Malaysian economy. Nordin said, “The first thing that it […]
More than 1,100 years ago, Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi was developing the mathematical formulas that we know today as algorithms which now have become so intertwined with the business fortunes of global media giants and the very fabric of geopolitics. A series of recent high level international reports have revealed […]
KSK Land has been recognised by the Malaysia Global Business Forum (MGBF) for its role in attracting high net-worth individuals to Malaysia post-pandemic. The first challenge in investor attraction is “selling” the country. In the context of Asia, Malaysia is competing with some very established investment destinations. The second […]
Malaysia, in particular Kuala Lumpur, continues to position itself as a regional centre to do business, educate a family and enjoy a global lifestyle. One company, KSK Land, has taken the lead in positioning itself and the city of Kuala Lumpur as a property investment destination for the global citizen […]
The upcoming budget represents an opportunity to build resilience in the critical sectors that will form the backbone of the country’s future-facing economic ambitions. This however needs to be achieved in the context of managing the community sectors most impacted by COVID-19 over the past two years. The Keluarga Malaysia (Malaysian Family) […]
Malaysia Global Business Forum (MGBF) has moved to support the creative economy as the overall economy moves into a recovery phase following the COVID19 pandemic. As a step in the direction of normalcy, the MGBF has agreed to host the art exhibition “I Know You’re Somewhere So Far” by one […]
Congratulations to Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob for taking up the mantle of the ninth prime minister of Malaysia. There is nothing normal about the situation; it could not have been scripted but it has kept the spectrum of media, mainstream and social, gripped. The first order of business for […]
In a stirring speech to the nation, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. stamped his brand of leadership on the presidency, in his first act as the 46th president of the United State of America, it signaled several shifts. Perhaps the weather was foreboding with snow falling before the ceremony that […]
KUALA LUMPUR, 6 July 2022 – As the global economy continues to deal with unprecedented levels of disruption caused by the pandemic and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the convergence of energy security and food security issues has become a front-of-mind issue faced by policy makers and consumers alike. […]
KUALA LUMPUR, 23 June 2022 — Malaysia Global Business Forum (MGBF) ties up with scoutAsia to ensure that businesses are equipped with deeper regional insights. The past two years has seen a massive shift in the way businesses are conducted with digitisation, digitalisation and automation continuously being adopted to improve […]
KUALA LUMPUR, 25 May 2022 – The Malaysia Global Business Forum (MGBF)’s exclusive roundtable on ‘Security Concerns in Critical Value Chains’ was held in a hybrid setting yesterday at the Eastin Hotel Kuala Lumpur. The guest of honour was Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Rafidah Aziz, former minister of […]
We live in the age of crisis. At the heart of any crisis is the threat of rapid change. Change too deep or too wide that the current coping mechanisms for an individual, corporation or government are unable to remain resilient. An unwelcome paradigm shift, like the proverbial spider, that […]