Hong Kong IA bans three agents for faking school credentials

Two were banned for three years whilst the other was banned for two years.

The Hong Kong Insurance Authority has taken disciplinary action against three insurance agents for falsifying academic credentials.

Two of the individuals have been prohibited from applying to be licensed for three years whilst the other, who admitted the allegation, has been prohibited from applying to be licensed for two years.

The three cases which were the subject of these disciplinary actions were legacy matters. The applications for registration were made to the Insurance Agents Registration Board (“IARB”) under the self-regulatory regime in place prior to the IA taking on the regulation of licensed insurance intermediaries on 23 September 2019. The IA said it had to handle the matters in accordance with the transitional arrangements in Schedule 11 of the Insurance Ordinance (Cap. 41) (the “Ordinance”), applying the relevant requirements in place at the time and following the disciplinary approach of the IARB

The new regulatory regime for licensed insurance intermediaries which came into force on 23 September 2019 has strengthened the punishment for submission of false academic certificates in the licensing process. It is now a criminal offence to provide false information to the IA in connection with an application for a licence or an approval under the Ordinance. An individual who commits such an offence, if found guilty, will be liable to a fine at level 5 and to imprisonment for 6 months. The IA added that it will have no hesitation in prosecuting any individual who seeks to submit a false academic certificate to the IA as part of the licensing process..

Meanwhile, the IA emphasised that insurers must play their parts in ensuring that they carry out adequate checks on the accuracy of the information being submitted to the IA during their recruitment and on-boarding processes.

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