Jun 2018
Issue No.257
Regulation of Insurance Agents
Stepping into the second half of 2018, we at the HKFI are working closely with the Insurance Authority (IA) to ensure a smooth transition of the SRO regime into the direct licensing and supervision framework. Particularly, we are most concerned about proper arrangements for handing over to IA cases being investigated by the Insurance Agents Registration Board (IARB) a year from now. In this connection, we have engaged IA’s Market Conduct Executive Director Mr Stephen Po for more in-depth discussion. Incidentally, we have completed a Members’ consultation on conduct requirement under the future Direct Licensing Regime. All in all, Members are concerned about the lack of clarity regarding the respective roles and obligations of insurance agents and brokers and require clearer definitions / illustrative examples on the conduct requirements. We will continue a constructive dialogue with IA to work out a proper way forward.
Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
In mid-May all registered persons (RPs) received an SMS from IARB reminding them to complete the outstanding CPD hours. They will receive an email with updated CPD records again in July alerting them that this year’s assessment period will end on 31 July 2018. RPs who fail to compile with the CPD requirement will be subject to “deregistration for 3 months” as a starting point. The IARB takes CPD compliance seriously and conducts random checks to verify compliance. For the 2017 assessment year, 38 RPs are disciplined due to non-compliance found in the random check and were deregistered for 1 year.
Ethics Management Training
In its latest proposal, IA has identif ied ethic s management / regulation as core CPD subject under their Direct Licensing Regime. These new changes are very much in line with HKFI’s Vision 2028 and the Ethics Management Training Programme we are currently developing in conjunction with the Hong Kong Securities and Investment Institute. Watch this space and look out for updates in our e-newsletter. In July we will be launching this CPD programme on a trial basis. If your RPs are interested, please sign up at https://event.hkfi.org.hk/event or send enquiries to training@hkfi.org.hk (Circular ref: Mv047/18).
Insurance Fraud Prevention Claims Database (DB)
We are most encouraged by the progress made in At the follow-up meeting with the Food and Health Bureau (FHB), we focused on the technical details of VHIS, in particular those relating to Flexi Plan arrangements, migration and policy ownership. To facilitate FHB’s consideration, we presented to them the results of our market practice survey for reference. Response of the FHB has been positive. The revised Standard Terms & Conditions, Code of Practice, product compliance manual and company registration rules will soon be circulated to Members for comments. We have invited the FHB to conduct a townhall to update Member Companies on the latest proposed framework, working timeline, tax deduction arrangement, etc.
the past month – the Privacy by Design Proposal was carefully reviewed and unanimously endorsed by the Steering Committee. We will present our proposal officially to the Privacy Commissioner in July. At the same time, the Provisional Executive Committee (PEC) has reviewed the draft Code of Practice and Participation Agreement. Taking into account their comments, the Project Team has modified the two drafts, which were adopted by the PEC at the meeting held earlier this week. Going forward, we will start inviting Members to subscribe for the DB. The search functions for motor insurance will be available in early 2019, to be followed by medical and personal accident insurance. More lines of business will be launched by phases thereafter. Please contact our Project Team at 2238 7714 or 2531 1831 to set up the onboarding meetings now.