Chinese authorities have granted Marsh the country's first Wholly-Owned Foreign Enterprise (WOFE) insurance broking licence.
The licence will allow Marsh (Beijing) Insurance Brokers to broker across a number of sectors, including large scale commercial risk, reinsurance, international marine, aviation and transport.
Brian Storms, Marsh chairman and chief executive, said: “We are very grateful to the Chinese insurance regulator, China Insurance Regulatory Commission, for awarding Marsh the first WOFE insurance broking license in China. In turn, we will continue to use all of our global resources to support the development of a Chinese market that Marsh considers to be one of its most important globally.”
Marsh's Asia Pacific chief executive, David Batchelor, said: “Marsh has been in China for 25 years — first as a representative office, then as insurance and risk management consultants — and has devoted a great deal of time to building an understanding of the risk and insurance issues of Chinese and foreign multi-national businesses.
“Receiving this new licence means Marsh's clients in China now have access to an unparalleled range of services being delivered through our firm's global network of risk and insurance specialists — an unmatched proposition anywhere in the world.”
Paul Wilkins, chief executive of Greater China Region, said: “The China Insurance Regulatory Commission has been driving an increased awareness of risk management among Chinese businesses.
“Within China we have been supporting this activity, particularly in major risk and insurance management sectors like aviation, space, marine and energy, and financial institutions. We are delighted with the prospect of providing new product opportunities to enrich the expanding Chinese market.”
Marsh has previously provided risk management and insurance broking services from three offices in China located in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. The firm has communicated future expansion plans into Chengdu, Western China, subject to CIRC approval.
Mr Wilkins added: “We have seen an increasing demand for more sophisticated risk and insurance solutions from local Chinese companies, and we are well prepared to support them, both in China and as they go global we see great interest in areas such as directors' & officers' liability, environmental issues, pandemic preparedness and product liability. We are actively recruiting and training colleagues in China in support of our clients' growth and our firm's expansion of services.”
