On October 7, the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, held that a liability insurer, in the absence of any demand or settlement offer from a third party claimant, need not initiate settlement negotiations or offer its policy limits, even where liability is clear and there is a substantial likelihood that the third party claimant’s recovery will exceed policy limits. 
Read More California Appellate Court Issues Bad Faith Duty to Settle Opinion

Taiwan is the second largest market in the Asia-Pacific region after Japan in terms of insurance density. However, it was reported by Asia Insurance Review on 28 August 2013 that the combination of persisting low interest rates, sluggish business growth, weak underlying profitability and increasing competition have driven Taiwanese life insurers to invest more in high risk assets, such as real estate, securities with higher potential profit margin and overseas assets. 
Read More Sluggish Growth of Taiwanese Life Insurance Business and Competition in the Industry

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) has issued a notice on its website on 29 September 2013. The notice sets out the eight areas in which the CIRC will provide support to the insurance sector in the newly launched Shanghai Free Trade Zone (FTZ). 
Read More China Insurance Regulatory Commission Provides Support to Insurers in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone

In 2002, Shanghai implemented the medical liability insurance system. Since then, more than 400 hospitals in Shanghai have participated in the system and 13,463 claims have been filed and recorded in the first 10 years following implementation. Among these claims, some of them have been successfully resolved, while many of the claims have not been dealt with satisfactorily. 
Read More Proposed Public Tender for the Coverage of Medical Liability Insurance Pool in Shanghai