The Hong Kong Insurance Authority (IA) will take over the direct licensing and supervision of insurance intermediaries later this year.
Since the 1990s, this function has been carried out by the Hong Kong Federation of Insurers (HKFI).
“In about four months, on 23 September 2019, the HKFI will cease to be the industry’s self-regulatory body,” said Praveen Daswani, chairman of the HKFI.
“We are deeply proud to have fulfilled our historic role as given to us by the government since 1990s to help supervise the conduct of tens of thousands of insurance agents and promote public confidence in insurance.”
Moses Cheng, chairman of the IA, said: “This exercise is a monumental phase of development for the insurance industry in Hong Kong.
“We are confident that the new regime will help enhance the professionalism of insurance intermediaries, promote fair and transparent regulation, and instill a robust but flexible approach in fulfilling our statutory function of protecting policy holders.”
More rules ahead
From 23 September 2019, the IA will introduce two sets of rules that will be subject to the progress and scrutiny by the Legislative Council.
In the meantime, a suite of codes and guidelines for licensed insurance intermediaries will be published over the summer.
The IA and HKFI will be working together during the transitional period, and, after the pass-over, any unresolved complaints and non-compliance cases will be treated in accordance to HKFI rules, meaning the IA regime will not have retrospective effect.
However, it is unclear as to why the licensing and supervision tasks have been assigned to a different regulatory body.
