Ex-clients quizzed in probe of deVere
Confederation of Insurance Brokers declines to comment on investigation into possible regulatory breaches by financial advisory firm
Former clients of the world's largest expatriate financial advisory firm, deVere, say they have been contacted by Hong Kong investigators probing possible regulatory breaches in a move that comes as the firm embarks on a major expansion in the city.
The former clients told the South China Morning Post they had been contacted by the Confederation of Insurance Brokers (CIB), which regulates the sector, and questioned about the products and services sold by the firm and the representatives selling them.
The news comes in the wake of a Post investigation which revealed in October that deVere, which controls US$9 billion of assets worldwide, was facing down accusations of mis-selling and bad practice from former clients and employees.
At the moment we have a patchwork of inconsistent regulation
The CIB declined to comment on fresh developments when contacted by the Post.
In an earlier statement, the CIB said it "has been aware of certain allegations regarding deVere for some time". DeVere has been disciplined seven times by the regulator in the past eight years for breaches of industry rules.
DeVere spokesman George Prior said the firm was unaware of an investigation and asked the Post to hand over the names of its sources.
The CIB regulates deVere and all its client-facing representatives must be licensed by the CIB. The use of unlicensed representatives is a breach of the Insurance Companies Ordinance, punishable by a fine of up to HK$1 million and two years' imprisonment.
DeVere has obtained injunctions on two former employees to prevent them talking about the company. None of the material in this article comes from those former employees.