BIZCHINA / Finance

Insurance Law of the People's Republic of China

Updated: 2006-04-18 09:11

Article 132. For insurance companies and their personnel the withholding of material information related to the insurance contract, cheating the Applicant, the Insured and the Beneficiary, or refusal to make compensation or payment of insurance money as agreed in the insurance contract shall constitute a crime, and criminal liability shall be borne. For those cases where criminal liability is not prosecuted, the financial supervision and management departments in charge shall impose a fine of not less than RMB10,000 and not more than RMB50,000 on the insurance company. Personnel who violate laws and regulations shall be punished and fined not more than RMB10,000.

Insurance companies and their personnel who prevent the Applicant from performing the obligation of telling the truth, or mislead the Applicant in violation of such obligation, or promise the Applicant, the Insured and the Beneficiary illegal insurance commission or other benefits, shall be regulated by the departments in charge, and the insurance companies shall be fined not less than RMB10,000 and no more than RMB50,000, the violators shall be punished and fined no more than RMB10,000.

Article 133. If they cheat the Applicant, Insured or the Beneficiary when conducting insurance business, Insurance Agents and Insurance Brokers shall be compelled to correct their actions by the departments in charge and be fined between RMB10,000 and RMB50,000; if the case is serious, the license for conducting insurance agency business or license for brokerage shall be revoked. Criminal liability shall be prosecuted if the case constitutes a crime.

Article 134. Insurance personnel who take advantage of professional convenience to purposely invent insured events that never occurred to falsely settle a claim and gain insurance money shall bear criminal liability.

Article 135. Insurance companies and business personnel who violate the stipulations of this Law and establish an insurance company without authorization or illegally engage in insurance business shall bear criminal liability, and such activities shall be banned by the departments in charge. If the case is slight and does not constitute a crime, disciplinary action shall be carried out.

Article 136. Insurance companies and their personnel who violate the stipulations of this Law and conduct insurance business beyond the permitted business scope shall be compelled to correct their actions by the departments in charge and refund insurance premiums. Any illegal income shall be confiscated, and a fine of one to five times of the amount shall be imposed; or a fine of over RMB10,000 and under RMB50,000 if no such illegal income exists. Persons who do not correct their activities within the set period or cause severe results shall be asked to stop the business and the license for conducting insurance business shall be revoked.

Article 137. Insurance companies and their personnel who violate the stipulations of this Law, alter the following items without authorization such as the name of the insurance company, disciplines, the paid-in currency capital funds, the business site, etc. shall be asked to correct their actions by the departments in charge and shall be fined between RMB10,000 and RMB50,000.

Article 138. Insurance companies and their personnel who violate the stipulations of this Law and fall into any of the following categories shall be corrected and shall be fined over RMB50,000 and under RMB300,000 by the State departments in charge; in severe cases, the departments in charge can limit the insurance company's business scope, prevent them from accepting new business or revoke the license for conducting insurance business:

(1) Failure to set aside guarantee money as stipulated or illegally use of guarantee money;
(2) Failure to set aside or retain reserve funds for unrealized commitments as stipulated or fail to set aside outstanding loss reserve funds as stipulated;
(3) Failure to set aside public reserve funds and total reserve funds;
(4) Failure to undertake outward reinsurance business as stipulated;
(5) Violation of stipulations for the use of the insurance company's funds;
(6) Establishing branches or representative offices without proper authorization;
(7) Split or merger without proper authorization.

Article 139. In the event an insurance company fails to correct any of the following circumstances within a time limit stipulated by the departments in charge a fine of over RMB10,000 and under RMB100,000 shall be imposed:

(1) Failure to submit relevant reports, sheets, documents and materials as stipulated;

(2) Failure to report for registration of insurance items and insurance ratio of the proposed insurance types as stipulated.

Article 140. Any insurance company that violates the stipulations of this law, and fails to correct any of the following circumstances, shall be fined over RMB10,000 and under RMB50,000 by the departments in charge:

(1) Providing false reports, sheets, documents and materials;
(2) Refusal of or interference with legal examination and supervision.

Article 141. Any insurance company that violates the stipulations of this law, and fails to correct any of the following circumstances, shall be fined of over RMB50,000 and under RMB300,000 by the departments in charge:

(1) Undertaking insurance business in excess of stipulated insured amounts;
(2) Application for life insurance with death as a condition for making payment of insurance money for persons with no civil capacity of action.

Article 142. Any insurance company that violates the stipulations of this law, fails to obtain proper license for conducting insurance agency business or license for brokerage, illegally conducts insurance agency business or engages in brokerage, shall be banned by the departments in charge. Illegal income shall be confiscated, and a fine of five to ten times of that amount shall be imposed. Criminal liability shall be prosecuted if the case is serious enough to constitute a crime.

Article 143. To insurance company's senior management or other persons who are directly responsible for violations which do not constitute crimes, the departments in charge shall issue a warning, dismissal or replacement, or impose a fine between RMB5,000 and RMB30,000, according to specific circumstances.


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