OVERLAND PARK, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 30, 2002--Employers Reinsurance Corporation (ERC) today formally applied for a full property and casualty insurance operating license from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC).
ERC has been developing relationships and providing services to several Chinese insurers since 1976. The company opened representative offices in Beijing in 1996 and Shanghai in 1998, providing limited reinsurance services and sharing underwriting expertise with the Chinese market.
ERC hopes to establish a branch office in either Beijing or Shanghai to provide property and casualty reinsurance service to clients throughout the whole of China. Achieving this, ERC would be one of the first foreign reinsurers to serve the Chinese market. The regulators' decision is expected within the next 18-24 months.
We would like to continue to develop our presence in China. Given our cooperative experience with Chinese insurers, our financial strength and our underwriting expertise, we strongly believe that ERC will be a successful contributor to the development and growth of China's insurance sector, explains Ron Pressman, Chairman, President and CEO of ERC.
Our goals are to develop cooperative programs to share our underwriting and industry expertise with leading Chinese insurance companies, emphasizes Grant Robson, President and CEO of ERC's Asia Pacific Property and Casualty operations. We intend to promote the interchange of knowledge and expertise, including access to and participation in our professional and management development programs for China's insurance industry leaders and professionals.
Before achieving approval for full operating license in China, foreign companies must meet three primary criteria: 30 years experience as an insurer, US$ 5 billion in total assets and a two-year representative office requirement.
ERC has 11 offices in the Asia Pacific Region including Japan. Grant Robson is President and CEO for ERC Asia Pacific Pte (Singapore) and a Vice President of GE Employers Reinsurance Corporation. He joined ERC in 1996, establishing the Australasian Branch of the company after he had been working as a reinsurance professional in the region for more than twenty years.
Employers Reinsurance Corporation, a GE company (NYSE:GE), is the world's fourth largest reinsurer and a premier global provider of risk solutions. ERC serves clients in property and casualty, life, healthcare, and professional liability insurance and reinsurance, and other risk management services. ERC has earned some of the highest ratings in the industry: more information on ERC is available at www.ercgroup.com.
Note: A Photo is available at URL:
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/photo.cgi?pw.053002/bb2
--30--LVD/dx*
CONTACT: Employers Reinsurance Corporation
Dean Davison, 913/676-5147
[email protected]
Christiane Merkel, +49 89 9228 1930
[email protected]
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: PHOTO PHOTOWIRE
PHOTO: bb2
Jeff Wilson
GE Capital Corporate Finance
[email protected]
1-203-749-6340