Two leading pension providers will pay up to HK$40 million to 17,000 employers next week.
Canada-based insurer Manulife and the alliance of American International Assurance and Jardine Fleming (AIA-JF) last year adopted aggressive marketing techniques - including offering cash bonuses - to entice employers to adopt their Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) schemes.
Manulife and AIA-JF promised to pay employers HK$500 cash for each employee recruited during the introductory period, on the condition the employees did not switch providers before June 30 this year.
Manulife assistant vice-president Alan Ng said the insurer next week would pay between HK$15 million to HK$20 million to about 7,000 employers.
AIA Pension and Trustee is expected to pay cash bonuses to about 10,000 employers, although managing director Desmond Chan Kwok-kit would not confirm the figures.
The MPF, launched on December 1 last year, was Hong Kong's first compulsory retirement scheme, requiring 250,100 companies to set up pension plans for a combined workforce of more than two million employees.
The 20 MPF providers began selling their products in February last year and all offered various sweeteners, including cash bonuses, fees waivers, free insurance and restaurant coupons.