Hong Kong: Call for light touch in insurance broking regulation
Source: Asia Insurance Review | May 2018
Asia Hong Kong Regulation Brokers
Several hundred members of the Professional Insurance Brokers Association have urged Insurance Authority chairman Moses Cheng Mo-chi to refrain from introducing heavy handed regulation.
Many insurance brokers are small- and medium-size enterprises. Currently, they only need a minimum capital of HK$100,000 ($12,740) to operate. Many of them are worried that the Insurance Authority might substantially increase the minimum capital requirement which they may find it hard to meet. They also worry that the authority could add new regulations on conduct, money laundering and reporting requirements, reports the South China Morning Post.
The establishment of the Insurance Authority in June 2017 will end the self-regulatory system for brokers. The regulator is now working on licensing requirements for insurance brokers that will be implemented in 2020.
There were 759 authorised insurance brokers in Hong Kong at 31 December 2017. Brokers belong to The Hong Kong Confederation of Insurance Brokers or the Professional Insurance Brokers Association. In addition, there were 9,489 people registered as chief executives or technical representatives of these authorised brokers at 31 December. A