Standard Life (Asia) has dismissed criticism of the Government's decision to introduce a training and examination regime for the insurance sector.
Standard Life (Asia) chief executive Robert Knight said he was surprised to hear that some of his insurance industry counterparts opposed the Government's attempt to better regulate insurance agents.
'There are many agents in Hong Kong who are not doing a professional job,' he said.
'I fully support the Insurance Authority in bringing in tougher examination and training requirements for insurance salespeople in the SAR, as this will be important for the future development of the SAR insurance industry.'
He was responding to comments two weeks ago by ING Life chief executive Augustus Yuen Moon-hing who urged the Government to wind back its new examination and training programmes for insurance agents.
Mr Yuen thought the requirements too tough and said they made it difficult for insurance companies to hire sales staff, which in turn hurt bottom lines.
