The Insurance Authority (IA) has initiated a number of steps to improve sales practices within the industry.
The IA has partnered with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) to launch a cross-sector reference checking arrangement.
The IA plans to adopt a risk-based approach in handling licence applications and renewals that involves imposing licensing conditions to restrict certain business models and requiring more frequent reporting to curb improper or high-risk behaviours of insurance intermediaries.
This latest phase covers more than 110,000 insurance intermediaries across approximately 1,000 insurance institutions and banks, allowing financial firms to review the conduct history of job applicants before hiring them. The IA and the HKMA plan to review this system to further integrate screening tools across the insurance and banking sectors.