The Insurance Committee seeks to serve as a regional forum for insurance and commercial lawyers to share knowledge, experience and ideas, and to harness the insurance expertise in the Asia-Pacific region.

The idea of the Committee was tested in pilot sessions at the annual conferences in 1997 and 1998, and the Committee became a reality in 1999. Since then, the Committee has published newsletters and held sessions at the annual conference. The themes for these sessions are topical, and are also relevant to the general theme of the annual conference. These sessions serve to demonstrate the integral role of insurance in commercial life in the Asia-Pacific region, and the Committee always welcomes participation from all insurance and commercial lawyers.

Themes of past sessions organized or co-organized by the Committee have included

1. technological risks;
2. borderless insurance;
3. global reinsurance;
4. oil spills;
5. terrorism and civil unrest;
6. tourism accidents;
7. directors' and officers' liability insurance;
8. the film-making industry;
9. captive insurance;
10. regulatory and policyholder protection issues in free trade agreements;
11. insurance issues arising from a multi-jurisdictional listing exercise; and
12. regulatory and other issues pertaining to pension miss-selling in China.

The Committee has planned an exciting program for the annual conference to be held in Los Angeles in April 2008. The program consists of 2 sessions, respectively entitled “Getting Into Business in China – Legal Issues in Establishing Business Entities” and “Getting Out of Trouble in China – Developing Effective Legal Solutions to Disputes”.

The first session will deal with the establishment of business entities in China, with specific reference to insurance entities, and will focus on business structures and risks, licensing and regulatory issues. Eminent panelists from England, Hong Kong, China and the United States of America will discuss these important issues.

The second session is a joint session with the Dispute Resolution & Arbitration Committee. This session will complement the first session, and will deal with the critical issue of the management of major business disputes in China through court and arbitration proceedings, with specific reference to insurance claims and insured major business disputes. Renowned panelists from Australia, England, Hong Kong and the United States of America will tackle these tricky issues. The panelists will include industry experts who will relate first hand the difficulties that they face.

We look forward to seeing you in Los Angeles!

Documents

2008 Los Angeles Program

2007 Beijing Program

Chair

Dhinesh Bhaskaran
Shearn Delamore & Co.
7/F, Wisma Hamzah-Kwong Hing, No. 1, Leboh Ampang, 50100 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Tel. 60-3-2076-2897
Fax. 60-3-2034-2763
E-Mail:   dhinesh@shearndelamore.com

Vice-Chairs

Frederick Hawke
Clayton Utz
Melbourne
Tel. 61-3-9286-6356
Fax. 61-3-9629-8488
E-Mail:   fhawke@claytonutz.com

Tunku Farik
Azim, Tunku Farik & Wong
Kuala Lumpur
Tel. 60-3-2697-0355
Fax. 60-3-2693-8060
E-Mail:   tunkufarik@atfw.com.my

Angus Rodger
Steptoe & Johnson
London
Tel. 44-20-7367-8000
Fax. 44-20-7367-8001
E-Mail:   arodger@steptoe.com