|
|
[Home]
[Databases]
[WorldLII]
[Search]
[Feedback]
Laws of the People's Republic of China |
[Database Search] [Name Search] [Noteup] [Help]
| 2004011520040301China Insurance Regulatory Commissionepdf/e03340.pdfJforeign insurance institutions, representative offices in China, application, establishment, supervision and administratione03340Measures for the Administration of Foreign Insurance Institutions' Representative Offices in ChinaBaoJianHuiLing [2004] No. 1January 15th, 2004Chapter I General ProvisionsArticle 1 With a view to strengthening the administration of foreign insurance institutions' representative offices in China (hereinafter referred to as "representative offices"), and meeting the needs for the opening of China's insurance market to the outside world, the present Measures are formulated in accordance with the "Insurance Law of the People's Republic of China".Article 2 Foreign insurance institutions mentioned in the present Measures refer to the insurance companies, reinsurance companies, insurance intermediary institutions, insurance associations and other insurance organizations, which are registered outside the territory of China.Representative offices mentioned in the present Measures refer to the representative offices and general representative offices established by foreign insurance institutions inside the territory of China upon approval, engaging in liaison, market investigations and/or other similar non-business activities.The chief representative mentioned in the present Measures refers to the principal responsible person of a representative office; the general representative mentioned in the present Measures refers to the principal responsible person of a general representative office.Article 3 The representative offices must abide by the laws and regulations of China and the relevant provisions of China Insurance Regulatory Commission (hereinafter referred to as CIRC).The legal rights and interests of the representative offices are under the protection of China law.Article 4 CIRC shall, in accordance with the law and upon authorization of the State Council, perform its supervisory duties towards representative offices.The dispatched offices of CIRC shall, within the scope of authorization of CIRC, conduct daily supervision on the representative offices within their respective jurisdictions on behalf of CIRC.Chapter II Application and EstablishmentArticle 5 A foreign insurance institution that applies for establishing a representative office (hereinafter referred to as the "applicant") shall meet the following conditions:(1)It is in good business condition;(2)It has no records of major violation of laws or rules within 3 years prior to the application date;(3)Other prudential conditions prescribed by CIRC.Article 6 The formal application form for planned establishment of a representative office shall be provided by CIRC.Article 7 An applicant shall submit the following documents:(1)a formal application form;(2)an application letter to the chairman of CIRC, which is signed by the board chairman or general manager;(3)a photocopy of the business license or lawful certificate for opening the business or registration certificate, which was checked and issued by the relevant competent authority of the country or region of the locality;(4)the articles of association of the office, a name list of the board members, and a name list of the management staff or main partners;(5)the annual reports of the 3 years prior to the application date;(6)the opinions issued by the relevant competent authority of the country or region of the locality on the applicant's establishment of the representative office inside the territory of China, or a recommendation letter issued by the industrial association of the involved industry. The opinions or recommendation letter shall state the records of penalties imposed upon the applicant during the 3 years prior to their/its issuance;(7)a power of attorney to the chief representative, which is signed by the board chairman or general manager;(8)the resume and other relevant certificates of the chief representative to be appointed; and(9)other documents prescribed by CIRC.The photocopies of the "business license", "lawful certificate for opening the business" and "registration certificate" must be notarized by a public notary institution lawfully established in the country or region of the applicant's locality, or be authenticated by the Chinese embassy or consulate accredited to that country.Article 8 An applicant shall submit the application documents to CIRC. CIRC shall handle the applications for the planned establishment of representative offices separately in light of the following circumstances:(1)If there is any error in the application documents that may be corrected on the spot, it shall permit the applicant to correct such error on the spot;(2)If the application documents are not complete or are not in statutory form, it shall, either on the spot or within 5 days, inform the applicant once for all of all the contents to be supplemented, or else it shall be regarded as having accepted the application as of the date of receiving the application documents;(3)If the application documents are complete and in statutory form, or the applicant has submitted all the supplemented application documents as required, it shall accept the application.Whether CIRC accepts an application or not, it shall issue a written document bearing a special seal and with the date indicated on it.Article 9 CIRC shall make a decision on whether to grant the approval within 20 days as of accepting an application. If it is unable to make such a decision within 20 days, the period may be extended for 10 days upon approval of the chairman of CIRC, and CIRC shall inform the applicant of the reason for extension of the period.CIRC shall issue an approval certificate, if it decides to grant the approval; if not, it shall state the reason in writing.Article 10 A representative office shall, after obtaining the approval certificate, make industrial and commercial registration in accordance with the relevant provisions.A representative office shall move into a fixed office site within 3 months as of obtaining the approval certificate; if it fails to move into a fixed office site within 3 months, the original approval certificate shall be automatically invalidated.Article 11 A foreign insurance institution that has established 2 or more representative offices inside the territory of China may file an application to CIRC for designating one of representative offices as the general representative office.Article 12 A foreign insurance institution that applies for designating a general representative office shall submit an application letter written to the chairman of CIRC, which is signed by the board chairman or general manager.The procedures for the establishment of a general representative office shall be the same as those of a representative office.Chapter III Supervision and AdministrationArticle 13 The name of a representative office shall be composed of the following contents in sequence: "name of the foreign insurance institution", "name of the city of the locality" and "representative office"; the name of a general representative office shall be composed of the following contents in sequence: "name of the foreign insurance institution" and "general representative office in China".Article 14 Except the principal responsible person, the main employees of a representative office shall be addressed as "representatives" or "deputy representatives".Article 15 The employees of a representative office shall abide by the laws and regulations of China, have good virtues and behaviors, and have no evil records.Article 16 A general representative shall have no less than 8 years of work experience, and an educational qualification of specialized college or above; a chief representative shall have no less than 5 years of work experience, and an educational qualification of specialized college or above.Where a general representative or chief representative does not have an educational qualification of specialized college or above, he/she shall have no less than 10 years of work experience with the insurance industry.Article 17 There shall be no more than 3 foreign employees in each representative office.Article 18 No representative office or its employees shall conclude any agreement or contract with any legal person or natural person, which might bring income to the representative office or to the foreign insurance institution it represents. Nor shall they take part in any business activities.Article 19 A representative office shall have its independent and fixed office site and full-time employees.Article 20 A general representative or chief representative shall not hold offices concurrently in 2 or more representative offices; nor shall he/she hold an office in any business institution inside the territory of China.Article 21 A general representative or chief representative shall be permanently stationed in the representative office to preside over the daily work. If he/she is to be absent from the representative office for more than 1 month running, he/she shall designate a special person to perform the duties on his behalf, and report to the local office dispatched by CIRC in writing.Article 22 A representative office shall, by the end of February in each year, submit a work report of the last year in duplicates to the local office dispatched by CIRC, and the said dispatched office shall transfer it to CIRC.The work report shall be filled out in line with the format prescribed by CIRC.Article 23 A representative office shall, within 6 months after the end of each accounting year of the foreign insurance institution it represents, submit the foreign insurance institution's annual report of the last year respectively to CIRC and the local office dispatched by CIRC.Article 24 Where the foreign insurance institution represented by a representative office is under any of the following circumstances, the representative office shall, within 10 days as of the occurrence of the event, submit a written report to CIRC, and meanwhile send a copy to the local office dispatched by CIRC:(1)The company's articles of association, registered capital or registered address is modified;(2)The foreign insurance institution is divided or merged or its principal responsible person is changed;(3)The foreign insurance institution is operating at a heavy loss;(4)The foreign insurance institution is penalized due to violation of laws or rules;(5)The relevant competent authority of the country or region where the foreign insurance institution is located takes major supervisory measures against the said institution; or(6)Other events that heavily impact the foreign insurance institution's business.Article 25 Where a representative office changes its general representative or chief representative, it shall apply to CIRC, and submit the following documents:(1)an application letter to the chairman of CIRC, which is signed by the board chairman or general manager of the foreign insurance institution it represents;(2)a power of attorney of the general representative or chief representative to be appointed, which is signed by the board chairman or general manager of the foreign insurance institution it represents; and(3)the certificates of identity and academic qualification as well as the resume of the general representative or chief representative to be appointed.Article 26 Where a representative office is to be cancelled, it shall apply to CIRC, and submit an application letter written to the chairman of CIRC, which is signed by the board chairman or general manager of the foreign insurance institution it represents.Article 27 Where a representative office intends to change its name, it shall apply to CIRC, and submit an application letter written to the chairman of CIRC, which is signed by the board chairman or general manager of the foreign insurance institution it represents, and also submit the relevant certificates on the change of its name.Article 28 Where a representative office is under any of the circumstances prescribed in Articles 25 through 27 of the present Measures and files an application to CIRC, CIRC shall make a decision on whether to grant the approval within 20 days as of receiving the complete application documents.CIRC shall issue an approval certificate if it decides to grant the approval; if not, it shall state the reason in writing.Article 29 A representative office may only change its office address within the jurisdiction of the city where it is located.A representative office shall, within 5 days as of the date when its office address is changed, report to the local office dispatched by CIRC, and submit the telephone and fax numbers of the new office address.Article 30 Where a representative office changes, increases or reduces its representatives, deputy representatives or foreign employees, it shall, within 5 days as of the date when the persons are changed, increased or reduced, report to the local office dispatched by CIRC, and submit the certificates of identity and academic qualification as well as the resumes of the appointed staff.Article 31 Where a representative office is changed into a general representative office upon approval, the original representative office shall be cancelled automatically, and the general representative office shall go through the formalities for industrial and commercial cancellation of the representative office within 1 month as of the date when CIRC approves the change.Article 32 Where, after the representative office of a foreign insurance institution is cancelled, the general representative office is the only representative office in China, it shall change itself from general representative office into representative office.The general representative office shall file an application for change to CIRC, and submit an application letter signed by the board chairman or general manager of the foreign insurance institution it represents. CIRC shall make a decision on whether to grant the approval within 20 days as of accepting the application letter. CIRC shall issue the approval certificate if it decides to grant the approval; if not, it shall state the reason in writing.Where a general representative office is changed into a representative office upon approval, the general representative office shall be cancelled automatically, and the representative office shall, within 1 month as of the date when CIRC approves the change, go through the formalities for industrial and commercial cancellation of the general representative office.Article 33 Where, after a representative office is cancelled, the foreign insurance institution it represented still has a general representative office, the said general representative office shall be responsible for the unfinished affairs. If there is no general representative office, other representative offices of the foreign insurance institution it represented shall be responsible for the unfinished affairs. If all the representative offices of the foreign insurance institution it represented have been cancelled, the foreign insurance institution it represented shall be responsible for the unfinished affairs.Article 34 CIRC and its dispatched offices shall carry out daily and annual inspections on the representative offices in accordance with the law.The contents of daily and annual inspections include:(1)Whether the formalities for the changes in a representative office are complete;(2)Whether the contents of all application documents conform to the actual circumstances;(3)Whether the formalities for appointment or change of the employees in a representative office are complete;(4)Whether any representative office engages in business activities; and(5)Other particulars that CIRC and its dispatched offices consider necessary to be inspected.Chapter IV Legal LiabilitiesArticle 35 Any representative office established without approval by violating the present Measures shall be banned by CIRC in accordance with the law.Article 36 Whoever violates the present Measures to engage in insurance business activities shall be penalized by CIRC in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations. Whoever engages in any business activities other than insurance shall be imposed upon a warning by CIRC, and be imposed upon a fine of not more than 30,000 Yuan, if the circumstance is serious.Article 37 Whoever fails to submit the report or documents required by Articles 22 through 24 of the present Measures shall be given a warning by the local office dispatched by CIRC, and be ordered to make a correction.Article 38 The employees of a representative office who are directly liable for the violation of the present Measures shall be given a warning by CIRC in light of the circumstance, and shall be imposed upon a fine of not more than 5,000 Yuan separately or jointly.Article 39 Where a representative office provides any false information or conceals any important fact, it shall be given a warning.Article 40 Whichever office violates other provisions in the present Measures shall be ordered to make a correction; or shall be given a warning, if it fails to make a correction within the required time.Chapter V Supplementary ProvisionsArticle 41 The present Measures shall be referred to, if the insurance institutions from Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan region are to establish representative offices in the Mainland.Article 42 The present Measures shall be referred to, if the foreign insurance institutions are to establish offices in China upon approval of CIRC.Article 43 Such phrases as "not less than", "not more than" and "within" mentioned in the present Measures all include the given figure.Article 44 The relevant periods for approval and report as prescribed in the present Measures shall refer to the working days, and not include holidays.Article 45 The responsibility to interpret the present Measures shall remain with CIRC.Article 46 The present Measures shall come into force on March 1, 2004. The Measures for the Administration of Foreign-Funded Insurance Institutions' Representative Offices in China promulgated by CIRC on November 26, 1999 shall be repealed simultaneously. |
AsianLII:
Copyright Policy
|
Disclaimers
|
Privacy Policy
|
Feedback
URL: http://www.asianlii.org/cn/legis/cen/laws/mftaofiiroic939