Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Policyholder protection

Legal area

Court

25 Nov 2024

RE CHUBB LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY LTD AND ANOTHER

Citation

[2024] HKCFI 3347
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCMP1217/2023

The court was satisfied all mandatory requirements of s24 and court directions were complied with, the independent actuary concluded the Scheme would not materially adversely affect policyholders' contractual rights, expectations, solvency or service levels, and the Insurance Authority raised no objection; consequently the court exercised its discretion to sanction the Scheme as fair and binding under s24.
14 Dec 2020

RE FWD LIFE INSURANCE CO (BERMUDA) LTD AND ANOTHER

Citation

[2020] HKCFI 3049
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCMP1440/2020

The scheme was sanctioned because the statutory conditions under section 24 were satisfied, the Independent Actuary and appointed actuaries concluded there would be no material adverse effect on policyholders' reasonable benefit expectations or financial security, the Insurance Authority had no objection, regulatory approvals were in place and the scheme as a whole was fair between affected classes; accordingly ancillary relief under section 25 was appropriate to give full effect to the transfer.
13 Aug 2015

RE AXA CHINA REGION INSURANCE CO (BERMUDA) LTD AND ANOTHER

Citation

RE AXA CHINA REGION INSURANCE CO (BERMUDA) LTD AND ANOTHER
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCMP1271/2015

The Court sanctioned the Scheme because statutory requirements were met: the transferee (PIC) is authorized to carry on the transferred long-term business, the independent actuary concluded no adverse or no material adverse effects on policyholders, statutory notices and disclosures were properly made, the Insurance Authority had no objection, and the Scheme is fair between affected classes.
27 Mar 2013

RE TRANSAMERICA LIFE INSURANCE CO

Citation

RE TRANSAMERICA LIFE INSURANCE CO
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCMP2872/2012

The court will sanction the s.24 transfer only if statutory notices, independent actuary's report and regulatory authorizations are satisfactory and no class of policyholders will be materially adversely affected; here the independent actuary and Insurance Authority found no material adverse effect and the transferee has sufficient assets and contractual supports, but sanction is conditional on the Companies providing a limited indemnity/undertaking in respect of excise tax and any additional tax liability arising solely from the change to a non-U.S. issuer and undertakings on conversion pric…
16 Oct 2012

RE AXA (HONG KONG) LIFE INSURANCE CO LTD

Citation

RE AXA (HONG KONG) LIFE INSURANCE CO LTD
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCMP1647/2012

The court sanctioned the transfer scheme because the transferee was authorised to carry the business, statutory notice and procedural requirements were complied with, the independent actuary and the Insurance Authority concluded there would be no significant adverse effect on policyholders reasonable expectations or financial security, and the objections raised were insufficient to render the Scheme unfair.
8 Oct 2008

RE TRANSAMERICA OCCIDENTAL LIFE INSURANCE CO

Citation

RE TRANSAMERICA OCCIDENTAL LIFE INSURANCE CO
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCMP1354/2008

The court held that the statutory conditions of s.24 were satisfied: the Insurance Authority's approval in principle and undertaking to issue formal authorisation upon receipt of a sealed order satisfied s.24(6)'s immediacy requirement; the independent actuary's report was not shown to be tainted and supported that no group of policyholders would be materially adversely affected; the scheme was fair as a whole and provided adequate protections, and therefore the court exercised its discretion to sanction the scheme and made the order in the terms submitted.
3 Jan 2007

RE TRANSAMERICA OCCIDENTAL LIFE INSURANCE CO AND ANOTHER

Citation

RE TRANSAMERICA OCCIDENTAL LIFE INSURANCE CO AND ANOTHER
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCMP2132/2006

The court sanctioned the transfer because, on the evidence (notably the independent actuary's report and HKIA's non‑opposition), the contractual rights and reasonable expectations of the transferring policyholders would not be materially adversely affected as a group given the Claims Payment Guarantee, Tangible Net Worth Maintenance Agreement, continuity of discretionary benefits and reinsurance arrangements, and therefore the scheme is fair as between affected classes.
8 Sept 2006

RE CIGNA WORLDWIDE INSURANCE CO AND ANOTHER

Citation

RE CIGNA WORLDWIDE INSURANCE CO AND ANOTHER
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCMP1039/2006

The court sanctioned the scheme because the statutory requirements of s24(3) were complied with, the independent actuary's report was favourable, the Insurance Authority had been consulted and indicated conditional approval, policyholder enquiries and objections were addressed and no substantive opposition was before the court, and on balance the scheme was fair to policyholders.
24 Jun 2005

RE WINTERTHUR LIFE

Citation

RE WINTERTHUR LIFE
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCMP734/2005

The court sanctioned the Scheme because statutory procedures under section 24 were complied with, the independent actuary concluded no material adverse effect on policyholder security or expectations, the Insurance Authority raised no objection and imposed solvency and governance conditions, and the Scheme was overall fair to the classes of affected persons.