Financial Sector

1. Banks

The “Law on Banking and Financial Institutions” was enacted in 1999, aiming to serve to improve financial facilities, strengthen the base of financial institutions and make it easier for the investors to get business financing in Cambodia. Article 16.3 of the Law sets minimum capital of banks at about 12.5 million US dollars (50 billion Riel), 5% of which amount has to be maintained with the National Bank of Cambodia as guarantee deposit. Nevertheless, “Prakas #7.08-193 (NBC) on New Capital Requirement and Criteria for Licensing Approval of Banks” of September 19, 2008 modified such minimum capital requirements of banks as follows (Article 7 & 8).

• Commercial banks locally incorporated as companies which have at least one influential shareholder as a bank or financial institution with the rating “investment grade,” extended by a reputable rating agency, must have minimum capital equal to at least KHR 50,000,000,000 (fifty billion Khmer Riels)
• Commercial banks having shareholders as individuals or companies must have a minimum capital of at least KHR 150,000,000,000 (one hundred fifty billion)
• Specialized banks locally incorporated as companies which have at least one influential shareholder as a bank or financial institution with the rating “investment grade”, extended by a reputable rating agency must have minimum capital equal to at least KHR 10,000,000,000 (ten billion Riels)
• Specialized banks having shareholders as individuals or companies must have a minimum capital of at least KHR 30,000,000,000 (thirty billion Riels)

The Prakas required that the banks which obtained a license or principal letter before the  Prakas was issued should increase their capital equal to the minimum capital as defined above no later than the end of 2010.

Banking and financial institutions shall maintain at all times a ratio of the outstanding or authorized loan or commitment with single beneficiary among their assets not exceeding 20 percent (Prakas # 7.06-226.NBC on Controlling Risk of Banking and Financial Institutions’ Large Exposures).

Currently there are 24 commercial banks, 6 Specialized Banks, 18 Micro-Finance Institutions and 60 Micro-Finance NGOs in Cambodia, together with some foreign banks’ branches. Although overseas capital transfer, issuance of letter of credit and foreign exchange services are available, capital borrowing is generally difficult without offering an immovable asset collateral, the term of lending is shorter and the lending rates are higher than those outside of Cambodia.

2. Financial Lease

Regulatory Framework for The Finalcial Lease

“Law on Financial Lease” was promulgated on June 20, 2009. The purpose of the Law is to determine the rights and duties of all parties involved in financial lease operations and issue measures to protect their rights (Article 1). The scope of this law only covers the financial lease of movable properties within Cambodia (Article 3).

Financial Lease Agreement

The Financial Lease Agreement must be in writing, signed by Lessor and Lessee and shall determine a notice period and conditions for all concerned parties relating to the leased movable property. Financial Lease Agreement is not required to be notarized except it is required by law (Article 5).

An agreement shall be sufficient if it provides the followings (Article 6).

• Description of the leased movable property
• Amount, periodicity and duration of the Lease Payments
• Starting date of the Financial Lease
• Signature of the Lessor and the Lessee

A Financial Lease Agreement may provide for Security Deposit, Advance Lease Payments, or both. In case no provision provided for the handling of Security Deposit, it shall not earn interest and shall be returned to Lessee after the Lessee has fully completed the obligations under the Financial Lease Agreement within the defined period. Advance rental shall not earn interest. Security Deposits and advance rentals may be for any amount as agreed upon by the parties (Article 7).

If the Financial Lease Agreement states that the movable properties must carry labels declaring that they belong to the Lessor, such labels shall not be concealed or not be made unvisible by any person besides the Lessor or the Lessor’s representative (Article 8).

Under the Financial Lease Agreement, the Lessee shall accept the use of the movable properties for a period of at least 1 year. At the end of the Agreement, Lessee may or may not purchase the movable property. The Lessor provides finance with a means to use the movable property, but not with a means to become the owner of such mobile property (Article 9).

Rights and Obligations of the Lessor

During and after the duration of the Financial Lease, the Lessor remains the owner of the lease movable property unless that ownership has been transferred to Lessee or other parties (Article 10).

The Lessor is responsible for payment of import duty and other tax obligations in accordance with the law, and the registration cost of the leased movable property except as provided otherwise by the Financial Lease Agreement (Article 11).

The Lessor must guarantee that the leased movable property is usable by Lessee without any interference throughout the period of the Financial Lease Agreement as long as Lessee performs the Lessee’s obligations under the Agreement (Article 13).

The Lessor shall not be responsible to pay for damages made by a third party on the movable property (Article 14). The Lessor has the right to request the Lessee to compensate for the damages or the loss of the movable property during its use by the Lessee (Article 18).

The movable property is not the property of the Lessee. If the Lessee becomes insolvent and enters insolvency proceedings, the Lessor has the right to confiscate the lease movable property and seek payment in the liquidation process by the court (Article 20).

Rights and Obligations of the Lessee

A Lessee has the obligation to accept the leased movable property if it is delivered in a timely manner and conforms to the supply agreement. If the leased movable property is not delivered, is delivered late or does not conform to the supply agreement without prior approval of the Lessee, then at or before the time for acceptance (but not after) the Lessee has the right to reject the movable property, demand from the supplier the immediate remedy of its defect or defects, or to cancel the Lease Agreement. However, the Lessee shall have no right to terminate, rescind or modify the Supply Agreement without the consent of the Lessor. The Lessor has the right but not the obligation to remedy the failure to supply the movable property in conformity with the supply agreement (Article 23).

The Lessee has an obligation to make payment in accordance with the Financial Lease Agreement upon receiving the leased movable property (Article 25).

The Lessee has the obligation to use the movable property in compliance with rules, measures and regulations in effect at that time. The Lessee is also obligated to care for and maintain the movable property in a good manner so that it remains in a usable condition (Article 26).

In case the Lessee does not purchase the movable property nor extend the Financial Lease Agreement at the end of the contract period, the Lessee shall return the movable property in its original condition except for normal wear and tear (Article 27).

The Lessee shall not mortgage, pledge, lien or otherwise create a charge over the leased movable property. The Lessee shall not re-lease, alter or transfer the use rights over the movable property or any other rights under Financial Lease Agreement without prior written approval of the Lessor and shall not allow the acquisition of such rights by a third party without the written approval of the Lessor. Any action in breach of this obligation is invalid (Article 31).

The National Bank of Cambodia shall act as the Guardian Authority of the Leasing Institutions (Article 33). Financial leasing operations may be implemented by banking and financial institutions who have received a banking license from the National Bank of Cambodia. Those operations may also be implemented by the financial leasing institutions established under the provisions of this Law and licensed by the National Bank of Cambodia. The financial leasing institutions will not be allowed to undertake banking operations other than the operation of the financial lease (Article 34).

3. Securities Market

The Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) was then incorporated on 23 February 2010. In accordance with the Joint-Venture Agreement, the Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) has been capitalized by MEF (55%) and Korea Stock Exchange (KRX, 45%). CSX received approval license from SECC for the market operator, clearing and settlement facility and depository operator on 28 February 28 2011. The stock exchange market has been inaugurated on 11 July 2011 but there is no companies currently listed.

According to the news report, three state-owned companies, namely “Telecom Cambodia”, “Port Authority of Sihanoukville” and “Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority”, are preparing for Initial Public Offering (IPO) of their stocks and “Port Authority of Phnom Penh” is also examining the possibility of listing its shares. Actual trading of stock is expected to start in early 2012.

Regulatory Framework for The Securities Market

The Law on the Issuance and Trading of Non-Government Securities was promulgated on 19 October 2007, to regulate the securities exchange, clearing and settlement system, securities depositories and other operators in the securities markets who trade or provide financial services including public limited companies or registered legal entities that issue securities (Article 1).

The purposes of the law (Article 2):

1. develop and maintain the confidence of public investors in the Kingdom of Cambodia by protecting their lawful rights and ensuring that the offer, issue, purchase and sale of securities are carried out in a fair and orderly manner;
2. promote the effective regulation, efficiency and orderly development of the securities market in Cambodia;
3. encourage the mobilization of variety of saving tools through buying of securities and other financial instruments;
4. encourage foreign investment and participation in the securities market in the Kingdom of Cambodia; and
5. assist in facilitating the privatization of commercial enterprises currently owned and managed by the Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

The law shall cover non-government securities transactions in the Kingdom of Cambodia (Article 3).

Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SECC)

Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SECC) shall be established under the Law consisting of a Chairperson and 8 members. SECC Members shall have mandate of five years (Article 5). The composition of SECC members shall consist of the following (Article 6):

1. Representative from the Ministry of Economy and Finance: 1person
2. Representative from the National Bank of Cambodia: 1person
3. Representative from the Ministry of Commerce: 1person
4. Representative from the Ministry of Justice: 1 person
5. Representative from the Cabinet of Council of Ministers: 1 person
6. Director General of SECC: 1 person
7. Experts in securities: 2 persons

SECC shall have the following functions (Article 7):

1. to regulate and supervise securities markets, both government and nongovernment;
2. to enforce policy with respect to securities market;
3. to formulate conditions for granting approvals to the operators of a securities market, clearance and settlement facility, and securities depository;
4. to formulate conditions for granting license to securities companies and securities company representatives;
5. to promote and encourage compliance with the requirements of this law;
6. to play a role as an institution to examine and solves complaints against licensed legal entities’ decision affecting the benefits of participants or investors;
7. to consult with any qualified person to develop policies for the purpose of developing a securities market in Cambodia

Officers of SECC have legal capacity as judicial police and have functions as prescribed in penal procedure code in relation to the roles and functions of judicial police (Article 10).

Offer and Issue of Securities

No person can issue and make public offer of new securities unless the person is approved by SECC in relation to proposed public offer in accordance with law and any requirements provided by SECC (Article 12). SECC director general must examine every proposal submitted under Article 12 of this law and advise the person who submitted the proposal within 3 (three) months from the submission day on whether SECC considers the proposal to be in the interest of the public of Cambodia (Article 13). If the SECC approves a proposal submitted under Article 12 of this law, the person or persons who made the proposal may proceed to implement the making of a public offer of securities under the proposal in accordance with this law (Article 15).

A person must not make a public offer of securities in Cambodia unless:

1. the securities to which the offer relates would be or have been issued by a public limited company registered in Cambodia or a permitted entity that is prescribed in accordance with existing laws and regulation; and
2. except where the offer is an exempt offer as prescribed by sub-decree in accordance with this law, the terms of the offer and a disclosure document in relation to the offer which complies with the requirements of this law and any other requirements prescribed in accordance with this law shall have been approved in advance by director general of SECC and, in the case of the disclosure document, registered by SECC (Article 16).

During the life of the disclosure document, the issuer of the disclosure document or the issuer of the securities to which the disclosure document relates, as the case may be, must lodge a supplementary or replacement disclosure document with SECC for approval and registration, if the issuer of the disclosure document or the issuer of the securities to which the supplementary disclosure document relates becomes aware that there has been a significant change affecting a matter contained in the lodged disclosure document or a significant new matter has arisen which would have been required under this law, a requirement prescribed under the law had the matter arisen when the disclosure document was prepared or the disclosure document contains a significant statement that is false or misleading or there is a significant omission from the disclosure document (Article 20).

Conduct of Securities Market

A person must not operate a securities market (including a securities exchange), a clearance and settlement facility or a securities depository unless the person has been approved by the director general of SECC to operate the market, facility or depository in accordance with this law or any other effective laws (Article 23).

An application to operate a securities market, clearance and settlement facility or security depository shall be processed as follows (Article 24):

1. A person may make an application for approval to operate a securities market, a clearance and settlement facility or a securities depository by lodging an application with SECC in the form prescribed and paying the fee prescribed by SECC.
2. The director general of SECC must give a copy of an application it receives under paragraph (1.) of this article to the Chairperson and members of SECC with advice about the application as soon as practicable after the lodgment of the application.
3. The director general of SECC may require an applicant to supply such further information as it considers necessary and may refuse to proceed with the application until such information is supplied.

Before the director general of SECC may grant approval for an application to operate a securities market, the applicant must satisfy the SECC that the securities market which the applicant proposes to operate will have access to adequate clearance and settlement arrangements for transactions conducted on the securities market (Article 26).

A person shall not put into practice the operating rules and procedures of securities market, clearance and settlement facility, or securities depository unless they are approved by SECC. The operating rules and procedures of an approved securities market, clearance and settlement facility or securities depository must adequately address the matters prescribed in accordance with this law (Article 28).

LICENSE OF SECURITIES FIRMS

No person shall conduct a securities business or hold himself out as conducting a securities business in the form of a securities firm unless the person has been licensed by the director general of SECC. No person shall act or hold himself out as a representative of a permitted securities firm that is licensed under this law to conduct a securities business unless the person has been licensed by the director general of SECC as a representative of the securities firm (Article 31).

Application for license shall be processed as follows:

1. A person may make an application for a license to operate a securities business or act as a securities representative by lodging an application with the director general of SECC in the form prescribed and paying the prescribed fee determined by SECC.
2. The director general of SECC may require an applicant to supply such further information as it considers necessary and may refuse to proceed with the application until such information is supplied (Article 32).

Conditions of license and the grant of license to investment advisor, securities dealers and other participants in a securities market, clearing and settlement facilities or securities depository shall be imposed and made by SECC (Article 35).

Corporate Governance and Control of Issuer

Public limited companies or other permitted entities that have issued or sold securities to the public members in the Kingdom of Cambodia shall strictly adhere to existing laws and regulations and any requirements with respect to the governance of a public limited company as prescribed by SECC for the interest of the conduct of the securities market and protection of the investing public (Article 38).

Corporate control requirements may be prescribed by SECC in order to regulate:

• The acquisition of control over the voting shares in a public limited company or permitted entity that has issued voting shares to members of the public. The prescribed requirements ensure that the acquisition of control over the voting shares in the company or entity takes place in a fair and informed way, and
• The disclosure of the ownership of a substantial holding of voting shares of a public limited company or permitted entity that has issued voting shares to members of the public. The prescribed requirements ensure that the holders of the voting shares in a public limited company or permitted entity know the identity of owners of a substantial holding of voting shares in the company or permitted entity (Article 39).

Prohibited Behavior in Relation to Securities

Insider dealing, false trading and market manipulation and false or misleading statements are also prohibited under Article 40, Article 41 and Article 42 respectively.

TAX INCENTIVES IN SECURITIES SECTOR

“Sub-Decree No. 70 ANKR BK on Tax Incentive in Securities Sector” was issued on 22 April 2011 to prescribe types, activities and other requirements which are subject to tax incentives in securities sector as prescribed in the Article 12 of the Law on Public Finance Management 2010 16 December 2009.

This Sub-Decree shall be applicable in the Kingdom of Cambodia to:

1. Equity and/or debt securities issuing companies granted approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia (thereafter is SECC) and listed on permitted Securities Market.
2. Public investors holding and/or buying-selling of government securities, equity and/or debt securities which are issued and listed on the permitted Securities Market. The public investors are also included both resident and nonresident investors (Article 3).

Equity and/or Debt Securities issuing companies approved by the SECC and listed on the permitted Securities Market shall fulfill the form and submit to the General Department of Taxation through SECC in order to grant tax incentives by reducing 10% of total amount of tax on profit to be paid for three (03) years. The three (03) years of tax incentives above shall be calculated from:

1. The beginning of the taxable year of securities issuance within the first six (6) months of the taxable year.
2. The beginning of the taxable year after the taxable year by which securities are issued within the last six (6) months of the taxable year. (Article 4)

Public investors shall gain fifty (50%) percent deduction of withholding tax on interest and/or dividend which derives from holding and/or buying-selling the government securities, equity securities and debt securities for the period of three (03) years counting from the opening of securities market (Article 5).

Companies shall not be granted tax Incentives on profit as prescribed in the Article 4 if those companies are qualified investment enterprises enjoying within their tax holidays period as prescribed in the Laws and regulations on Investment in the Kingdom of Cambodia (Article 6).

OPERATING RULES OF SECURITIES MARKET

“PRAKAS #006/11 SECC PrK on the Implementation of the Operating Rules of Securities Market” was issued on 3 May 2011 to set forth the implementation of the Operating Rules of Securities Market of the Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX). Details of the operating rules are provided in its Annex as follows.

Equity securities shall be permitted for trading at the CSX by complying with these Operating Rules. The securities transactions among the members shall be intermediated by the CSX (Article 3).

An order shall be valid from the time it is received by the CSX trading system to the time it is executed during the trading session of the same day (Article 4).

The trading hours shall be from 8:00 am to 11:30 am. Trade shall be executed 02 (two) times per day, at 9:00 am and 11:30 am (Article 6) and trading days shall be from Monday to Friday, except public holidays (Article 7).

The order unit for equity securities shall be 01 (one) share.

The tick size shall be determined as the following (Article 10):

1. KHR 50: Issues with the price per share less than KHR 50,000
2. KHR 250: Issues with the price per share equal to or higher than KHR 50,000, but less than KHR 500,000 and
3. KHR 500: Issues with the price per share equal to or higher than KHR 500,000.

The minimum trading unit for equity securities per transaction shall be 1 (one) share.

The daily price change limit shall be equal to the amount calculated by adding or subtracting 5% of the base price, and the amounts obtained less than the price unit of the base price shall be down. However, in cases where the base price is less than KHR 1,000, the daily price change limit shall be KHR 50 (Article 12). The method to determine the basic price is explained in Article 11.

The base price for the trading of initially listed issues shall be between 90 % and 150 % of the price determined in the disclosure documents registered at the SECC (IPO price) (Article 16).

The members shall pay securities transaction fee in relation to services provided pursuant to these rules. Calculation method for transaction fee, payers and time of payment are as follows (Article 24):

1. Rate: The fee for the equity securities trading service shall be levied on the amount of value of trade settled (the amount of fee obtained shall be rounded up to the first decimal place) at the rate of 25/10,000 (twenty five-ten thousandths) or 0.25%.
2. Payers: securities firms which are members of the CSX.
3. Time of Payment: 8:30 am on the settlement day.

LISITING RULES

“Prakas #004/11 SECC PrK on the Implementation of Listing Rules” was issued on 3 May 2011 to prescribe the necessary matters for listing of equity securities at the Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) pursuant to the Law on the Issuance and Trading of Non-Government Securities and relevant regulations (Article 1 of Annex).

The financial statements which shall be attached with the application for listing shall be prepared and audited pusuant to the Law on Corporate Accounts, Their Audit and Accounting Professions and relevant laws and regulations of the Kingdom of Cambodia (Article 3 of Annex).

A person applying for listing eligibility review shall submit the following documents to the CSX: (Article 6 of Annex)

1. General Information:
   • Name of the company in Khmer and Latin
   • Address of the company
   • Date of incorporation
   • Corporate objectives
   • Commercial registration certificate
   • Business licenses from the related authorities.
2. Company’s representative information: Identity of the representative
3. hareholder Information: Shareholders’ identities
4. Quantitative Information:
   • Total shareholders’ equity at the application date
   • Net profit for the last 03 (three) years
   • Audited financial statements for the last 03 (three) years
   • Type of securities issued and traded at the CSX.

A Person received the notification of eligibility for listing at the CSX shall fulfill procedures for official listing at the CSX within seven (7) working days after the securities have been allocated to the subscribers (Article 8 of Annex).

The eligible applicant can officially be listed at the CSX by satisfying the following requirements unless determined otherwise by the Director General of the SECC (Article 12 of Annex):

1. Number of shareholders holding less than 1% (one percent) voting shares: number of shareholders holding less than 1% voting shares, who hold 10 (ten) shares or more, shall be at least 200 (two hundred) as of the date of fulfilling the official listing procedures.
2. Number of shares held by shareholders holding less than 1% (one percent) voting shares: voting shares of shareholders holding less than 1% (one percent) voting shares shall be more than 200,000 (two hundred thousand) or 15% of the total voting shares, whichever is larger;

The eligible applicant can officially be listed at the CSX by fulfilling the following non-quantitative requirements (Article 13 of Annex):

1. Share ownership of the largest shareholders shall not be changed for the last 01 (one) year until the official listing;
2. All the issued securities shall be deposited at the Operator of Securities Depository approved by the SECC.

Applicant for initial listing shall attach the agreement in which states that shareholders with controlling interest in voting share shall not sell or transfer their shares for a period of at least one year, and shareholders owning at least 15% (fifteen percent) of total shares shall not sell or transfer their shares for a period of at least six months after the initial listing (Article 17 of Annex).

4. Insurance

Regulatory Framework for the Insurance

“Insurance Law of Cambodia” was enacted on 20 June, 2000 with the purpose of regulating insurance, protecting the legitimate rights of the parties to insurance, strengthening supervision and control over the insurance business and contributing to the development of the insurance industry (Article 1). Only insurance company, agent and broker are eligible to carry out insurance business in Cambodia (Article 4).

Insurance Contract

An insurance contract is an agreement whereby the relation of rights and obligations of the insured and the insurer are enumerated (Article 9) and each party shall have the rights to cancel the insurance contract before due subject to an advance notice through the letter of recommendation or the letter of notification with duly acceptance (Article 11).

Only the insurance policy or cover note specifies the responsibilities between the insurance company and the insured. The insurance application is not valid for the coverage to both parties hereto. The proposal for the renewal, alteration or reattachment the suspended insurance policy shall be deemed approved if the insurance company has not refused this proposal within 15 days (Article 14).

After the insurance contract was concluded, the Insured shall pay the insurance premium as agreed. The coverage shall enter into force from the date of payment of the insurance premium by the Insured as stated in the insurance policy (Article 17). Any failure to make payment of insurance premium when due, the validity of coverage cannot be suspended more than 30 days from the date the insurance policy is signed. The insurance company shall notify through a registered letter or a letter duly acknowledged by the Insured or person who is obligated to pay the premium to make payment at the agreed place within 20 days after the insurance contract is concluded. If the Insured still fails to pay the premium within a period of 10 days after notification, the insurance company shall have the right to cancel such insurance contract (Article 18).

In liability insurance, if the insured causes loss or damage to a third party, the insurance company will directly indemnify the victim (Article 23). In the case of reinsurance, the principal insurance company still bears liability before the Insured (Article 24).

Property Insurance

Property insurance is a contract of indemnification when a risk occurs. The claim amount paid by the insurance company to the insured shall not be over the value of the subject matter insured as declared in the insurance contract, except otherwise agreed by both parties (Article 26). In the event of total loss of the subject matter insured caused by a risk which had not been written in the insurance policy, then the insurance shall be legally terminated and the insurance company shall refund the insured ninety percent (90%) of the insurance premium for the remaining period (Article 27).

Life and Personal Accident Insurance

For individual insurance, the insured sum declared in the insurance policy is the maximum limit of the compensation amount payable under the policy. Individual insurance shall include life insurance, health insurance and physical injury insurance (Article 29).

Compulsory Insurance

A natural person or legal entity owning and operating a commercial motor vehicle business on the road shall required to buy from an insurance company a third party liability insurance policy covering property loss or damage to third party arising out of the motor vehicle operation, including all type of trailers (Article 36).

A natural person or legal entity operating as building contractor shall be required to buy a liability insurance policy. At the commencement of project, the building contractor shall certify that he/she has purchased a liability insurance policy from an insurance company. The type of construction project subject to compulsory insurance shall be defined by Sub-Decree (Article 40).

A natural person or legal entity operating a passenger transport business using various means of transport shall be required to purchase liability insurance covering passengers being transported whether by road, sea, river, air or railroad (Article 42).

Insurance Company

Every insurance company shall be registered in the Commerce Register and be subject to the supervision and control of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Article 43) and all insurance companies, whether state owned, private or mixed companies shall be allowed to operate in the Kingdom of Cambodia only under the form of a public liability company (Article 45).

Prior to receiving/obtaining license, applicants shall provide a letter or document certifying that it has fulfilled the following conditions (Article 48).

1. deposited the amount equivalent to 10% of the registered capital
2. maintained the amount of solvency level/margin equivalent to 50% of the registered capital.

First insurance license shall have validity for 5 years commencing from the date of issuing license; and such license may be requested for extension of 3 years only if the company has properly implemented in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. License fee shall be of 50 million Riel (Prakas # 098.MEF on Granting License to General or Life Insurance Companies).

Insurance Agents and Insurance Brokers

An insurance agent is a natural person or legal entity who receives insurance commission from insurance company and manages to handle the insurance business on behalf of the insurance company under clearly specified mandate. An insurance broker is a legal person who carries out insurance business for the benefit to the Insured, providing intermediary services between the insured and the insurance company to conclude an insurance contract and legally collect brokerage commission (Article 50).

CURRENT SITUATION ON INSURANCE COMPANIES

As the association of insurance companies, General Insurance Association of Cambodia: http://www.giac.com.kh/) was established in July 2005. Currently 5 member companies appear in their website in addition to one re-insurance company. The names of insurance companies and re-insurance company are as follows.

• Cambodian Reinsurance Company (Cambodia Re): Established under Sub-Decree No. 07AN.KR.MK by the Royal Government of Cambodia on 24 the January 2002. Concluded a joint venture agreement with Asian Insurance International (AII) by selling 20 percent of the share of Cambodia Re on 16 the January 2004.
• Cambodia Insurance Company (CAMINCO): Incorporated in 1990 as the first Cambodian National Insurance Company. Started operations since June 1993. Restructured its status to be a Public Enterprise following Sub-Decree Nº132 dated December 31st, 2001.
• Forte Insurance Company (Cambodia) Plc: Laid the foundation in 1996 by opening its insurance underwriting and brokerage wing in Phnom Penh and became one of the first insurance companies to be set up in Cambodia.
• Asia Insurance Company (Cambodia) Ltd.: Formed and registered in Phnom Penh in March 14, 1996 as an integral member of the Hong Kong based Asia Insurance Group of companies.
• Infinity General Insurance Plc.: Set up and launched a grand opening on 25 July 2007.
• CampuBank Lonpac Insurance: Incorporated in August 2007 as a joint-venture of Cambodian Public Bank and Public Bank Malaysia  with LPI Capital through its wholly-owned subsidiary Lonpac Insurance.
• Cambodia-Vietnam Insurance Company Plc. (CVI): Established as a joint venture between IDCC (BIDV invested 80%), Kasimex and NH Holdings and engaged in general insurance, reinsurance, claims, risk management and investment.

In terms of net premium, Forte occupied nearly half of the market share in 2009, followed by Infinity, Compubank Lonpac Insurance and CAMINCO (Insurance Division, MEF).

5.Law on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing Terrorism

Law on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing Terrorism was promulgated on 24 June 2007. Under the Law, it is provided that banking or professional secrecy shall not inhibit the implementation of the present Law and may not be invoked as a ground for refusal to provide information to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FlU, a central body responsible for receiving, analyzing and disseminating reports on suspicious transactions, cash transactions and other information regarding money laundering or financing of terrorism) and supervisory authority, whether for domestic or for international cooperation purposes, or as required in connection with an investigation which relates to money laundering or financing of terrorism ordered by or carried out under the supervision of a judicial authority (Article 6).

The Law prohibits the Reporting Entities such as banks, non-bank financial institutions, securities brokerage firms, insurance companies, micro finance institutions, credit cooperatives, leasing companies, investment and pension funds, investment companies for managing investment funds, etc., to open or keep anonymous or numbered accounts, or accounts in obviously fictitious names and/or issue, keep or accept any other financial products unless the customer due diligence measures were taken (Article 7).

Reporting Entities shall take customer due diligence measures, including the identification of their customers and the verification of their customers’ identity (Article 8) and are asked for special monitoring measures to be taken for certain transactions (Article 10)

The Law stipulates that the Reporting Entities shall also report to the FlU any cash transaction exceeding the amount of the threshold as defined by the supervisory authority, as well as such transactions, which involve several connected cash transactions whose total value exceeds the same amount (Article 12.1). If the FlU has reasonable grounds to suspect that a transaction or a proposed transaction may involve a money laundering offense or an offense of financing of terrorism, it may direct the reporting entity in writing or by telephone not to proceed with the carrying out of that transaction or proposed transaction or any other transaction in respect of the funds affected by that transaction or proposed transaction for a period as may be determined by the FlU, which may not exceed 48 hours, in order for the FlU to make necessary inquiries concerning the transaction and to inform and advise a law enforcement agency, if the FlU deems it appropriate (Article 12.5).

In case of a proceeding on the violation of money laundering or financing terrorism as stipulated in the existing Penal Code all relating or suspicious to be related property may be frozen or restrained from transferring until the court decision becomes definitive (Article 30).

6. Currency

Although it is legally prohibited by the Sub-Decree of 1992 to do business in foreign currency, the U.S. Dollar is widely and commonly used in Cambodia. The exchange rate of the U.S. Dollar has been stable at around 4,000 Riel since the 1998 devaluation.

Although the use of checks or credit cards is still limited for commercial purposes, the credit cards are gradually becoming to be accepted by some major hotels, shops or restaurants.

Source from : COUNCIL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF CAMBODIA