HÀ NỘI — National Assembly Chairman Vương Đình Huệ on Tuesday emphasised that the insurance law must help ensure transparency and accountability.
Speaking at a meeting of the NA Standing Committee on the draft amended law on insurance business, Huệ said that this bill was a difficult and complicated one, so in the process of formulating and finalising the bill, great attention should be paid to ensuring the publicity and transparency of activities and the market.
“It is also necessary to continue to review the chapters and articles to make the bill more logical and reasonable,” he said.
Further attention was also needed in reviewing and clarifying the types of insurance, and consistently implementing the criteria in the classification.
“It is necessary to harmonise the interests of the state, insurance service providers and insurance participants,” Huệ said.
At the second session of the 15th National Assembly late last October, the National Assembly discussed and commented on the draft Law on Insurance Business (amended). Based on the opinions of the NA deputies, the Standing Committee of Economic Affairs chaired and coordinated with the drafting agency under the Ministry of Finance and relevant agencies to study and complete the draft law. Currently, the bill consists of seven chapters and 154 articles.
The Law on Insurance Business (amended) stipulates the organisation and operation of insurance businesses; the rights and obligations of organisations and individuals participating in insurance; and State management of insurance business activities. This law does not apply to social insurance, health insurance, deposit insurance and other types of insurance implemented by the State that are not of a business nature. The bill is expected to be finalised and discussed as part of the NA agenda in May this year.
At the meeting on Monday morning, Chairman of the NA’s Economic Committee Vũ Hồng Thanh asked for consultation on two issues relating to micro-insurance and the fund to protect insured people.
Thanh said that micro-insurance was an insurance product aimed at low-income individuals and households, who struggle to access conventional commercial insurance products.
Micro-insurance is often available in developing countries and is considered an important component of the country's comprehensive financial policy, contributing to the implementation of the State's social and security policies.
The regulation of micro-insurance in the draft law would create a clear legal basis for the organisation of micro-insurance provision and have a mechanism to encourage the development of micro-insurance products in Việt Nam, he said.
Therefore, the Standing Committee of the Economic Committee agreed that it was necessary to regulate micro-insurance in the draft law, Thanh said.
Regarding the fund to protect the insured, the Standing Committee of Economic Affairs found that the current Law on Insurance Business and the draft amended law contained provisions on the compulsory reserve fund and the fund to protect the insured.
The purpose of the establishment of these two funds is to ensure the liability of insurance enterprises in case of insolvency, contributing to the protection of insurance participants.
“It is not necessary to maintain both funds at the same time, creating a burden for both insurers and policyholders because the deductions for the fund are calculated as a percentage of the premium paid by the insurance buyer under the insurance contract,” Thanh said.
“Therefore, the NA’s Committee of Economic Affairs agreed with the Government's suggestion on stopping the deduction and payment of the Fund for the Protection of the Insured, and at the same time assigned the Ministry of Finance to detail the management and use of insurance premiums, ensuring the proper handling of the balance for the original purpose of the fund,” he said.
Chairman of the National Assembly's Law Committee Hoàng Thanh Tùng said after reviewing the draft, he found that it now was still "inclined" to protect insurance businesses and did not fully protect the interests of the insured and the policyholders.
For example, Article 11 on the Insurance Business Database System stipulates the State invests in building a database on insurance business. The Ministry of Finance is responsible for managing and operating the database on insurance business to serve state management activities, insurance business activities, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of the parties involved in the insurance business.
"It is recommended to consider the content 'serving the insurance business' because this database is invested by the State, while the insurance business is the activity of enterprises.
“It is necessary to specify clearly how insurance enterprises, when signing a contract, provide information of the policyholder and the insured to add to the database because this is personal and private information that is protected by the Constitution and laws. If the regulations are not strict on the provision of information, it will generally affect the right to protect information and personal information of the insured and the insurance buyer," Tùng said.
NA Chairman Huệ said that the law needs to be considered if it approached international practices and international agreements and commitments, ensuring publicity, transparency, and facilitating market operations.
"Life without insurance is like taking the stairs without a handrail. Although the growth rate of this field is very fast, it is still low compared to the potential. Việt Nam targets to accelerate the growth of all sectors and services with high added value such as finance - banking, insurance, logistics and they are suitable for the digital business environment,” Huệ said. — VNS