AM BEST REMOVES FROM UNDER REVIEW WITH NEGATIVE IMPLICATIONS, DOWNGRADES ISSUER CREDIT RATING AND WITHDRAWS CREDIT RATINGS OF BRIGHTSIDECO INSURANCE LIMITED

SINGAPORE, March 23 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- AM Best has removed from under review with negative implications and downgraded the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating to “bb” (Fair) from “bb+” (Fair) and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of B (Fair) of Brightsideco Insurance Limited (Brightsideco) (New Zealand). The outlook assigned to these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. Concurrently, AM Best has withdrawn these ratings as the company has requested to no longer participate in AM Best’s interactive rating process following exemption by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand from the requirement to have an FSR.

These rating actions are the result of Brightsideco being placed into run-off following the cancellation of its arrangement with the New Zealand operations of Harvey Norman Holdings Limited, a large electrical goods retailer based in Australia, to distribute extended warranty insurance products. As a result, Brightsideco lacks a competitive position or the ability to alter or re-price its book of business, and, in AM Best’s view, has a weaker business profile.

The ratings reflect Brightsideco’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as adequate, as well as its marginal operating performance, very limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.

Brightsideco’s balance sheet strength is underpinned by its risk-adjusted capitalisation, which AM Best expects to remain at the strongest level over the medium term, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR). As insurance liabilities run off, risk-adjusted capitalisation is expected to improve further; insurance risk is projected to reduce faster than the company’s capital base. Other balance sheet considerations include the company’s very small absolute capital base, which increases its sensitivity to weaker-than-anticipated performance. Furthermore, the balance sheet strength assessment factors a negative holding company impact arising from Brightsideco’s ultimate parent, ICF Holdings Pty Ltd, following an assessment of consolidated risk-adjusted capitalisation.

Brightsideco’s insurance liabilities are expected to run off until 2029. Over the medium term, the company is expected to report small losses as the underwriting margin and investment returns are insufficient to cover its fixed-cost base. Profitability is supported by remediation measures undertaken five years ago, which are now improving the loss ratio of the insurance book of business and reducing uncertainty around projections.

AM Best views Brightsideco’s business profile as very limited, reflecting the company’s run-off status, small operational size, niche business portfolio and lack of geographic diversification. The company also is exposed to high concentration risk, as almost all of its policies were distributed through a large electrical goods retailer in New Zealand.

Ratings are communicated to rated entities prior to publication. Unless stated otherwise, the ratings were not amended subsequent to that communication.

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best’s website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best’s Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best’s Credit Ratings, Best’s Performance Assessments, Best’s Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best’s Ratings & Assessments.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specialising in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Copyright © 2023 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 

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MARY KAY MAKES SPLASH ON WOMEN LEADERSHIP OCEAN CONSERVATION

KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 (Bernama) -- Mary Kay Inc continues to play an important role in ocean conservation by recently participating at the 10th World Ocean Summit and Expo 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal, organised by Economist Impact.

The participation followed Mary Kay launch of groundbreaking, user-friendly platform offering valuable guidance, decision-support tools and practical knowledge for marine practitioners, in February.

At the Summit, Mary Kay, a global advocate for corporate sustainability highlighted the importance of women’s leadership and private sector engagement in conservation.

“The ocean is critical for the livelihoods of billions of people, and we all have a role to play in ocean conservation and a sustainable ocean economy.

“Mary Kay supports women's empowerment in all facets of life and business, including the health of our planet,” said Mary Kay Portugal General Manager, Sandra Silva emphasising the importance of ocean conservation.

According to a statement, Mary Kay has been working to elevate ocean health and coral reef awareness through its partnership with The Nature Conservancy for over 32 years.

One of the key projects that the beauty brand supports is called "Super Reefs”, which identifies, protects and grows a global network of highly resilient coral reefs that can survive in a warming ocean.

The World Ocean Initiative transforms the momentum and focal point of the World Ocean Summit into a year-round programme on the ocean that powers the full capabilities of Economist Impact, combining the ingenuity of a think-tank with the creativity of a media brand to engage a globally influential audience.

The World Ocean Summit is an annual global event that brings together the widest cross-section of the ocean community, from business and finance to governments, national and international policymakers, civil society and academia.

Over 1,500 attendees from more than 100 countries attended the three-day summit, where 188 speakers addressed some of the most pressing challenges facing the ocean, such as climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.

-- BERNAMA

"COLOURFUL JIANGNAN, DREAM ASIAN GAMES" PROMOTION MEETING SUCCESSFULLY HELD IN KUALA LUMPUR

KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 (Bernama) -- On March 17 to 19, 2023, the promotion meeting of “Colourful Jiangnan, Dream Asian Games”, hosted by the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and organized by the Zhejiang Tourism (Southeast Asia) Promotion Center, was successfully held in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia.

The promotion was highlighted by a video film -- "The Voice of Zhejiang", that displays the beauty of Zhejiang with various fantastic sounds, and fully showcases Zhejiang's natural scenery, food, folk customs, and intangible cultural heritage.
 
Zhang Jiexin, Director of China Cultural Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Mr. Paul Paw, National President of Malaysian Chinese Tourism Association, Datuk Keith Li, Chief Representative of Zhejiang Tourism (Southeast Asia) Promotion Center, and other guests were present at the event.
 
At the end of the promotion, two "Picturesque Zhejiang" tours were launched for Southeast Asian tourists, which are essential guides for Southeast Asian people's tour in Zhejiang.
 
Zhejiang Tourism (Southeast Asia) Promotion Center also participated in the international tourism exhibition MATTA FAIR, and launched the “Asian Games + Scenery” that featured tourism service. An amazing interactive experience area was set up in the exhibition. Visitors could use brushes and seals to make their own fan souvenirs in the intangible cultural heritage experience area, or enjoy Zhejiang scenery in zero-distance in the VR experience area.  

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NEARLY HALF OF SINGAPORE BUSINESSES CALL FOR IMPROVED FINTECH SOLUTIONS TO OFFSET CURRENT ECONOMIC HEADWINDS, SHOWS RAPYD REPORT

• 41% of cross-border organizations globally believe business expansion is essential to offset the challenges of inflation, high interest rates and market volatility. • 76% of businesses pay $10+ transaction fees on cross-border payments and 38% of businesses experience 5+ day B2B payment delays. • 49% of businesses in Singapore experience 5 to 10 day delays in sending or receiving payments, and 14% face 10 to 15 day delays. LONDON, March 23 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- 41% of global organizations believe that international business expansion is imperative to ease their current trading concerns. In Singapore, 48% believe better fintech solutions and faster settlements/payments can help solve these issues and are needed to grow their businesses. That’s according to a new study released by global fintech-as-a-service partner Rapyd, which shows that a sizeable contingent of cross-border businesses are looking to double down on their growth ambitions as the best remedy for the economic headwinds facing them, despite mixed levels of business optimism.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230322005316/en/

Rapyd’s 2023 State of B2B Cross-Border Payments report shows that businesses are divided on how they view the year ahead. 43% expressed concern about the current state of business versus 57% that claimed not to be concerned. Half of global businesses cited inflation as their biggest worry, followed by increasing interest rates (46%) and market volatility (35%). Cross-border trading issues such as currency fluctuations (32%) and import/export challenges (30%) are also featured prominently in the list of key business concerns, with 35% of businesses calling for better fintech solutions to improve the transparency, speed and cost of payments. In Singapore, the top two concerns cited are increase in interest rates (53%) and reduction in incoming work/business (43%).

Familiar payments challenges curb growth aspirations

Rapyd surveyed financial decision-makers in 715 medium-to-large cross-border businesses across seven global markets: Brazil, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Singapore, UK and US. According to respondents, speed, cost and efficiency continue to be the backbone of cross-border operations and expansion. Current cross-border payment shortcomings – specifically high transaction fees and payment delays – inhibit growth by eating into revenues, harming cash flow and making it harder for businesses to plan their finances.

The study found that 76% of businesses are burdened by excessive transaction fees of $10 or more on cross-border payments to suppliers, partners, distributors, employees and contractors, including 25% of businesses which reported typical cross-border transaction fees of $25-50, and 15% which claimed to be paying fees of $50+ dollars.

Similarly, more than two in five (42%) cross-border businesses paid between 0.25% to 1% in foreign exchange (FX) fees when carrying out cross-border transactions, with a further quarter of the businesses paying even higher FX fees of between 1%-3% or more.

And businesses aren’t faring any better when it comes to payments speed. 38% of respondents experienced delays of five days or more when sending or receiving cross-border payments to other businesses, with businesses in Germany and Singapore reporting the longest delays. 49% of businesses in Singapore face delays between 5 to 10 days, with 14% facing delays of 10 to 15 days.

Globally, businesses recognise the need to overhaul legacy cross-border payment processes and see technology as essential to this transition. 35% of financial decision-makers believe that better fintech solutions will ease their current concerns, and more than 6 in 10 businesses (61%) have made payments systems digitisation a top priority, while another third have already automated their payments systems.

Garðar Stefánsson, General Manager of Rapyd Collect, said:

“Our report shows businesses all over the world battling hard against adversity. They are doing everything in their power to reach new markets and open up new revenue streams, but they’re constantly set back by the complexity and cost of trading in other countries – losing huge sums and vast amounts of time on cross-border transactions. The bigger their operations get, the more these costs rise. It’s an unacceptable situation at a time when so many advanced economies are struggling to grow.”

“Fintechs have a tremendous opportunity to help cross-border businesses with their expansion ambitions by providing faster and more cost-effective payment solutions, as well as creating innovative new approaches that simplify the way these systems operate. Ultimately, no business should have to take on the complexity of B2B payments by themselves when they’re going for growth – that’s why trusted fintech partners are critical. It’s time for fintech to step up to the plate and build bolder, better payments solutions that make cross-border trading seamless and straightforward.”

Key Singapore highlights:

• When asked what is specifically concerning their organization, the top concerns for Singapore businesses are increase in interest rates (53%) and reduction in incoming work/business (43%).

• When asked what would ease their concerns, Singapore businesses cited that better fintech solutions (48%) and faster settlements/payments (45%) are the top solutions to combat negative effects of inflation, growing interest rates and increased volatility.

• 49% of Singapore businesses report payment delays of 5 to 10 days. 14% report delays between 10 to 15 days.

• 67% of Singapore businesses cite digitizing payments as a main priority, with 24% of businesses having already automated their payments systems.

Rapyd’s State of B2B Cross-Border Payments 2023 report is available here.

Notes to Editors:

Survey Methodology

Rapyd surveyed financial decision-makers across 715 businesses in Brazil, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Singapore, the UK and US online in February 2023. The survey was conducted among medium-sized (50-499 employees) and large (500 and over) companies operating in the B2B goods or services industries.

About Rapyd

Rapyd lets you build bold. Liberate global commerce with all the tools your business needs to create payment, payout and fintech experiences everywhere. From Fortune 500s to ambitious business and technology upstarts, our payments network and powerful fintech platform make it easy to pay suppliers and get paid by customers—locally or internationally.

With offices worldwide, including Tel Aviv, Dubai, London, Iceland, San Francisco, Miami and Singapore, we know what it takes to make cross-border commerce as easy as being next door. Rapyd simplifies payments so you can focus on building your business.

Get the tools to grow globally at www.rapyd.net. Follow: Blog, Insta, LinkedIn, Twitter. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230322005316/en/

Contact

Global media Lizzie Ryan Rapyd Global Communications Manager press@rapyd.net

Source : Rapyd