The tech firm has named Shezad Okhai as chief commercial officer on a fixed term contract to end on 30 June 2024.

As a result of his appointment, he will resign from his position as chief investment officer of Pinetree Capital.

Insurance Authority (IA)

The Hong Kong-based regulator has reappointed Clement Cheung as chief executive.

He will have another three-year term from 15 August 2023 to 14 August 2026.

St James Place (SJP)

The UK wealth manager names Hetal Mehta as head of economic research.

Mehta will join SJP on 21 August and has more than 17 years of experience in economics working across the private and public sector.

Most recently, she worked as a senior European economist at Legal and General Investment Management.

Stephenson Harwood

The law firm has strengthened its private wealth practice with the arrival of partner Alastair Glover, who joins the firm in Dubai.

Glover is a private wealth partner with more than 15 years’ experience advising high net worth individuals and families, family offices and trustees on global estate planning and tax efficient investment structures.

He joins the firm from Trowers and Hamlin, where he was a partner based in Dubai.

Nightingales Wealth Management

The advice firm has named Amit Mehta as a director and a financial planner.

He joins from Progeny, where he was financial planner.

Close Brothers Asset Management (CBAM)

Paul Smith has joined as financial planner, based in the wealth firm’s Manchester office.

Prior to joining CBAM, Smith was a director at Brown Shipley.

CBH Bank

The family-owned banking group has named Sylvain Matthey-Junod as chairman.

Matthey-Junod joined the board in January 2023 and will replace Thierry Weber, who has been chairman since 2009.

He previously was in charge of legal affairs and compliance at Pictet, Lombard Odier and Syz Bank.

JTC

The financial services group has appointed David Vieira as group head of sustainability services.

With more than two decades of experience in marketing, communications and business development, Vieira joined JTC in 2013 and has held a number of senior roles within the group.

The woman has been banned from applying to be licensed for two years after she used a false academic certificate stating that she met the minimum education requirements to be able to work in the sector.

According to the HKIA, in October 2018, she used the fake document to register as an insurance agent under the self-regulatory regime in place at the time.

During the investigation, she admitted the qualification was not genuine and that she had not studied at the school named in the certificate. She also admitted to not having obtained any other qualifications that would have allowed her to meet the minimum education criteria.

The certificate was bought on social media platform WeChat for RMB 2,000 (£260, $280, €290).

Not fit and proper

The regulator said: “In the HKIA’s view, the former agent, in using a false academic certificate purchased via social media to feign that she had met the minimum academic requirements to be an insurance agent—when this was not the case—undertook an act so contemptible as to demonstrate her complete lack of fitness and properness to perform the role for which she was applying.

“The public are entitled to trust the insurance intermediaries they deal with for their insurance needs. Trust demands ethical conduct and integrity of character. An individual who displays such a lack of ethics and integrity by using a false academic certificate in a submission to a regulator violates that trust.

“If an agent cannot be trusted to submit authentic documents to a regulator, she cannot be trusted to serve the public. The IA has zero tolerance for this and individuals who have sought to utilise false academic certificates under the previous self-regulatory regime will not be considered fit and proper persons until they are able to establish that they have undergone such a complete reformation of character as to prove that their integrity has been restored—in addition to attaining the minimum education requirements.”

Change of rules

In September 2019, the regime for licensed insurance intermediaries changed and strengthened the punishment for submitting false academic certificates. It is now a criminal offence to provide false information to the HKIA in connection with an application for a licence or approval.

If found guilty, individuals will be subject to a HK$50,000 (£5,870, $6,370, €6,571) fine and a six-month prison sentence.

The regulator stressed that insurers have a role to play in the process and must make sure the people they hire submit accurate information and are subject to adequate checks.

Two of the individuals have been prohibited from applying for a licence for three years.

The other, who admitted the allegation, has been prohibited from applying for a licence for five years.

These cases are 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 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 offence, if found guilty, will be liable to a fine at level five and to imprisonment for six months.

Criteria

Individuals applying to be licensed insurance intermediaries must establish that they are fit and proper to perform the role.

Being fit and proper requires attaining the minimum education qualifications, but also being honest, reliable and having integrity.

The IA said in a statement: “If individuals submit false academic certificates in seeking to establish their fitness and properness, not only do they fail to prove they meet the minimum education qualifications, they also perform an act so disreputable and so lacking in integrity as to be deserving of being barred from entry into the insurance market for a considerable length of time.

“The IA has no tolerance for such conduct. Prohibition from entry to the insurance market is justified until such time as the individual can establish to the IA’s satisfaction, that he or she has undergone a complete reformation of character and that his or her integrity has been restored, in addition to attaining the minimum education requirements.

As a result, the Insurance Authority (HKIA) has issued a circular to all life insurers which puts in place additional measures to open up the distribution of life products online.

The move follows growing demand for a variety of insurance products, while at the same time trying to minimise the risk of infection.

The temporary facilitative measures have been extended to 30 September 2022, where all life insurance products, including investment-linked assurance schemes, will be available via Virtual Onboarding Sandbox – a solution that allows the sale of life products via video conference calls – approved by the HKIA.

Insurers already operating via video services will not need to submit additional applications. Those that do not will be able to submit an application via a fast track process.

“The introduction of further facilitative measures aims to help address the need of potential policyholders in obtaining the necessary protection while minimising the risk of infection when taking out life insurance policies,” said Carol Hui, executive director of long-term business of the HKIA.

“We appreciate the unwavering support and dedication of our insurance industry in providing a professional service and timely protection for policyholders amid the current severe pandemic situation.”

The firm is not named, nor is the value of the fine specified. It is also not clear how long the suspension lasts and what measures are required to overturn it.

The penalties were in accordance with the rules that preceded the Insurance Authority taking over responsibility for brokerage firms, which occurred on 23 September 2019.

This was because the infraction occurred before that date.

New rules

Had the offence taken place after that date, the firm would be liable to pay HK$100,000 (£9.682, $12,819, €11,362).

In the case of a continuing offence, a further penalty of HK$500 per day would be liable until the matter was remedied.

“Further, such offence will be a matter of public record and may adversely impact the fitness and properness of the broker company to continue to be licensed,” the regulator said.

The Insurance Authority took the opportunity to urge companies to “ensure they submit their financial statements and auditor’s reports on time”.