Gregory Maciag

China Life Visit

I met with Mr. Miao Ping,  Vice President of China Life and his managers in Beijing today. We discussed plans for 2010 and beyond.  China Life has assisted us with the translation of the Help File that we use for Life & Annuity.  They are keenly interested in the ACORD Framework and plan to participate in the data model activity this year. Frank Liu continues to serve on our Board.

International Insurance Society - Taiwan

Attended the IIS meeting this week in Taiwan. Pictured with me are (Left) Tsukasa Makino, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Company and Francis Chung, ACORD's Asia-Pacific representative.  Francis is originally from Hong Kong, lives in Vancouver and works in China on ACORD projects and activities.  This meeting in Taiwan allowed us to meet many executives from the region. Makino is a key player from Japan who has been extremely involved in industry activities and standards for many years.

China Life Visits ACORD Office

Representatives from China Life visited the ACORD office in New York today. They were accompanied by an executive from St. John's University in New York City, the beneficiary of the former College of Insurance. China Life is eager to work with ACORD in the Asia--Pacific region. All these executives work in Frank Liu's IT Group. I met with him two weeks ago in his office.

ACORD Standards in China

I met with Wang Zhichao, Secretary General of the China Insurance Industry Standardization Technology Committee this morning in Beijing. My purpose was to update the new Secreatry General on ACORD activities and provide our support to the report they are creating on ACORD.  By year end, the CIISTC will publish a report on how they will use ACORD Standards and work with ACORD in the future. Today, the CIISTC has adopted LAH Standards for use in China.  We are working on P&C projects with them as well.

China Standards Technology Committee

I am now in Dalian China with my staff to participate in a Standards seminar. The China Insurance Industry Standards Technology Committee (CIISTC) together with the China Insurance Industry Regulatory Commission (CIRC) invited ACORD to co-host a seminar on using industry standards in China. The ACORD staff and I presented background on our progress with standards in various lines of business. I also had the honor of meeting Chairman Li Kemu who is the second in command at CIRC in a private meeting prior to the event. Two case studies were presented on the use of ACORD Standards in applications by James Li of Siebre and Markus Kraeuchi of Swiss Re.
The purpose of the seminar was to introduce ACORD to CIRC  staff  who represented  about two-thirds of the audience.  One-third of the audience were members of the CIISTC. China Life, a new ACORD member, was also represented at the event by their top leaders who we had met at the membership signing ceremony a few months back.
I have been asked to meet at CIRC headquarters to follow-up on the seminar and recommend future action items regarding the adoption of ACORD Standards in China.  The event was successful and I am thinking about the possibility of organizing an ACORD Forum in China next year.  We host one in London every two years. It would provide us with a platform to involve all of our members and interested parties in the region.