Singapore is setting up the world’s first commercial cyber risk pool as part of efforts to develop the region’s capacity to deal with threats from cyber attacks, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat announced at the 15th Singapore International Reinsurance Conference earlier this week.
“The pool will commit up to US$1 billion in capacity, and bring together both traditional insurance and insurance-linked securities markets to provide bespoke cyber coverage,” he said.
Heng also noted: “To date, twenty insurance firms have indicated their interest to participate in this pool, which would allow corporates in ASEAN and Asia to be protected against cyber-related losses.”
Commenting on the news, Singapore-based Star Hub leader of enterprise risk management and insurance, Nigel Tay said: ”From my conversations with risk managers, justifying the high costs of procuring cyber insurance was a key challenge. Surprisingly, many that I have spoken to have not procured some form of cyber coverage. This is despite all the attention cyber is receiving.
”The formation of the said commercial cyber risk pool shows an added political dimension but the key would be sourcing cyber…
