Insurers attack plan for HK$10m fine on perpetrators of mis-selling
The industry body submitted a report to the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau expressing its concerns over the fines, and also the government's plan to set up a new insurance authority to regulate the sector.
A proposal to fine insurance salespeople found guilty of misconduct up to HK$10 million was going too far, the Hong Kong Federation of Insurers (HKFI) told the government yesterday.
The industry body submitted a report to the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau expressing its concerns over the fines, and also the government's plan to set up a new insurance authority to regulate the sector.
Unlike Britain, Australia and Singapore, whose insurance sectors are monitored by independent regulators, Hong Kong's is overseen by the government's Office of the Commissioner of Insurance, which has no power to control agents.
The government in October has a three-month consultation on law drafting to set up the Insurance Authority in 2015.
The proposed new regulator, which would have the power to license and regulate insurance companies and their 70,000 salespersons, would have about 240 staff and an annual budget of HK$200 million.
Allan Yu Kin-nam, the chairman of an HKFI task force, said the high level of proposed fines was unacceptable.