Insurance is all about managing risks with high level of trust. Hence, it is of utmost importance for insurance practitioners and their companies to adhere to the highest ethical standards.
Hong Kong’s insurance industry has experienced rapid and substantive growth in recent years. With the development and application of new technology, the growing Mainland market, introduction of health insurance schemes and increasing demand for retirement products, there are more business opportunities than ever and more talents are expected to join the industry.
As at the end of 2019, there are about 120,000 registered insurance intermediaries serving the industry. The total gross premiums of insurance business in the first three quarters of 2019 amounted to nearly $437 billion, representing an increase of 12.5% over the corresponding period of 2018.
According to analysis conducted by the ICAC, corruption complaints concerning the insurance industry in recent years concerned allegations such as agents submitting fraudulent insurance claims and using bogus insurance policies to deceive commissions from insurance companies; agents/brokers diverting businesses to other intermediaries for personal gains as well as new recruits using false academic proofs to secure employment.
Breaking the law often starts with unethical behaviour that has gone unnoticed. Therefore, it is imperative that all stake-holders and industry practitioners support each other in maintaining a high degree of professional ethics.
The ICAC has all along maintained close liaisons with regulators, professional bodies and related organisations in Hong Kong in a bid to promote professional ethics in the insurance industry.
Joining hands with the Insurance Authority and 12 industry bodies, the ICAC has launched a two-year Ethics Promotion Campaign for the Insurance Industry to enhance practitioners’ awareness to corruption risks and entrench the importance of professional ethics.
The multi-faceted campaign includes an online learning course for new practitioners and an Online Continuing Professional Development Module on anti-corruption laws and professional ethics for licensed intermediaries. Video clips, animations and interactive quizzes will be used to highlight the possible corruption risks and ethical challenges faced by insurance practitioners.
New training videos are also produced for use in face-to-face Continuing Professional Development course to illustrate recent corruption risks and ethical challenges faced by insurance practitioners.
To supplement in-house training programmes of insurance companies, a dedicated website has been launched to address the ethical concerns and corruption prevention needs specific to the industry. It serves as a one-stop portal with comprehensive resource materials such as case studies, training materials, feature articles and integrity messages.
Insurance companies and related organisations are welcome to contact the Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre (HKBEDC) at (852) 2826 3288 or hkbedc@crd.icac.org.hk for its full range of consultancy services on ethical management and training.
To find out more about other corruption prevention resources for the business sector, please visit the HKBEDC website.
Previous Issue
