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The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has reprimanded and fined FWD Life Insurance Company (Bermuda) Ltd HK$2.4 million for failure to comply with key personnel requirements.
The SFC found that FWD Life failed to ensure there were at least two key personnel who met the minimum five-year investment experience requirement in managing retirement funds or public funds under the MPF Code at all times, a statement from the regulator said.
It was revealed that from December 2012 to November 2016, FWD Life had only one key personnel in place who met the minimum investment experience requirement. Furthermore, the insurer only discovered it had insufficient key personnel when the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority made enquiries in January 2017.
The SFC also found that FWD Life failed to implement policies and procedures for the designation and monitoring of key personnel and to communicate to relevant staff members their designation as key personnel. According to the regulator, FWD Life’s failure in this respect contributed to the four-year duration of its breach of the MPF Code, a fact that the SFC took into account when assessing the level of the fine.
According to the regulator, FWD Life was cooperative in resolving its concerns, and the insurer had no previous disciplinary record.
