Passing the regulatory torch
The IA was set up on 7 December 2015 and immediately renamed as the Provisional Insurance Authority (PIA) to undertake essential preparatory work.
The PIA will be renamed the Insurance Authority and take over the functions of the existing Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) on 26 June.
The IA is expected to implement the new statutory licensing regime and take over the regulation of insurance intermediaries from the three self-regulatory organisations (SROs) within two years of taking over from the OCI.
The SROs, which handle complaints against individual intermediaries, are the Insurance Agents Registration Board, the Hong Kong Confederation of Insurance Brokers, and the Professional Insurance Brokers Association.
The three are expected to continue to act as trade bodies for the intermediary sector.
Funding for the new regulator, in the long term, will be met by a levy on insurance premiums from policy holders (70%) and various fees payable by the industry (30%).
In the interim, the Hong Kong government has set aside HK$650m to set up and run the Insurance Authority in the early years.
