On October 9, the National Financial Regulatory Administration announced new rules prohibiting the development and underwriting of products covering speculative risks or offering no substantive protection. The rules will take effect on November 1. They target controversial products like so-called “novelty insurance” that hype concepts around holidays or particular scenarios but lack a genuine basis for coverage. The article notes that although insurance and gambling are both aleatory—depending on uncertain future outcomes—they are fundamentally different: insurance must be based on the policyholder’s actual risk of property loss, as with auto insurance, whereas gambling has no such insurable interest. As for payouts, insurance follows the principle of indemnity and cannot turn a small premium into an opportunity for profit; gambling, by contrast, seeks a fixed return. In addition, products must be sold by qualified institutions under compliant contracts. From “regret insurance” to shipping insurance, regulators have continued to draw the line. The key questions are whether the risk being insured is genuine and whether the insurer is capable of covering it.

#保险监管 #奇葩险 #New financial rules