THAILAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Wongsakrit Khajangson, Panupan Udomsuvannakul, Koraphot Jirachocksubsin and Pitchaya Roongroajsataporn, Chandler Mori Hamada
8. Insurtech 8.1 Underwriting Processes
9. Regtech 9.1 Regulation of Regtech Providers There are no overarching regulations that govern regtech generally. Whether regtech providers are subject to any regulations needs to be analysed case-by-case. Currently, in Thailand, an area considered one of the most advanced in regtech development is electronic authentication and verification of identity (e-KYC). After the amendment to the Electronic Transac - tions Act B.E. 2544 (2001) No 4, authentication and verification of identity in electronic form became recognised and admitted under Thai law. Electronic Identity Verification The BOT has also adopted electronic authenti - cation and identity verification to open accounts with financial institutions. Previously, financial institutions had to conduct know-your-cus - tomer (KYC) processes on a face-to-face basis (physical KYC). Non-face-to-face KYC has been accepted in practice since the relevant notifica - tion of the BOT was adopted. Financial institu - tions can perform electronic KYC for customers to open accounts via online platforms. In addition to electronic KYC, another central platform in Thailand is the National Digital ID Platform (the “NDID Platform” ). This system collects customers’ information for use by any financial institution to verify customers. The NDID Platform is thus an important system for Thai financial institutions to use to verify their customers, and many banks in Thailand have decided to use it to facilitate the KYC process.
Underwriting processes differ according to the products and business operators. The relevant insurance laws (ie, the Life Insurance Act B.E. 2535 (1992) and the Non-Life Insurance Act B.E. 2535 (1992)) govern various aspects of the underwriting processes of business operators. In particular, the sale and offering of insurance products are heavily regulated. Given the extent of insurance regulation, insurtechs commonly face a number of legal obstacles. Recognising these constraints and simultaneously trying to promote innovation in the industry, the OIC, the insurance industry’s regulating entity, launched the OIC insurance regulatory sandbox and set up the Centre of InsurTech Thailand (CIT) to promote insurtech. 8.2 Treatment of Different Types of Insurance There are two applicable regulatory regimes: • the life insurance regime under the Life Insur - ance Act B.E. 2535 (1992), which covers life and annuities; and • the non-life insurance regime under the Non- Life Insurance Act B.E. 2535 (1992) which covers property and casualty. Many aspects of these acts are similar, but the licences for life insurance and non-life insurance businesses are separate, and the same legal entity cannot engage in both types of business.
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