The Reference Checking Scheme for Insurance Intermediaries has entered into effect on 1 September 2024, the Hong Kong Federation of Insurers (HKFI) says.
In its latest “Monthly Brief” for September 2024, the Federation says that it has issued a supplementary Q&A for insurers to facilitate the implementation of the Scheme. A joint seminar with the Insurance Authority (IA)’s Market Conduct Division will be held on 16 October 2024 to support Life Insurance Members (LIMs) to ensure that they comply with the Scheme.
The reference checking mechanism, the Scheme serves as a concerted effort by the life sector to address situations in which “those few individual insurance intermediaries who, in seeking to evade the consequences of their poor conduct, resign from one principal and seek appointment with a new principal without their problematic behaviour being disclosed”.
A long-term insurer, that seeks to appoint a prospective agent and is aware that the candidate has previously been appointed as an insurance agent by (or is currently appointed by) any other long-term insurers in the past seven years, will need to carry out reference checking on the candidate with the relevant responding insurers before making a decision on whether or not to proceed with the appointment.
Policy consultations
Aside from activating the Reference Checking Scheme, the HKFI has been invited to various consultation sessions during the past two months. On 20 August 2024, at a consultation session hosted by the Financial Secretary, the HKFI chairman Mr Ivan Tam conveyed the industry wish list in four strategic areas:
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Enhance the capacity of marine insurance through policy and market development.
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Reinforce Hong Kong’s risk management capabilities in infrastructure projects.
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Attract mainland Chinese enterprises to set up captives in Hong Kong.
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Allow taxpayers to pay for QDAP (qualifying deferred annuity policies) of his / her non-working spouse to enjoy the same level of tax incentive, and name Protection-Linked Plan as an eligible product for tax concession.
At a separate consultation for the medical sector hosted by the HKSAR chief executive, Mr John Lee, HKFI was invited to share views from the insurance perspective. The federation expressed growing concerns over the ever-escalating medical inflation. It also suggested a few measures to enhance medical fee transparency, reduce wastage of medical insurance, strengthen data connectivity, and improve efficiency.
HKFI has also engaged in constructive dialogues with the Chief Executive’s Policy Unit (CEPU). At one meeting in August, the Federation discussed the Marine Insurance Association’s proposals to enhance the marine insurance market and support the growth of the entire maritime services value chain. At a second meeting in September with Dr Stephen Wong, head of CEPU, HKFI invited other players in the industry, including reinsurers and brokers, to share insights on strengthening Hong Kong's reinsurance capacity, attracting more brokers to place risks locally, and encouraging enterprises to establish captives in Hong Kong.
Several of the proposals have been voiced in recent years such as promoting Hong Kong as a marine insurance centre and as a base for reinsurers and captive insurers.