A Hong Kong insurance agent has been barred from the industry for nine months after a joint investigation found he pressured clients into purchasing medical coverage and, on two occasions, induced them to alter their recorded heights and weights to meet underwriting requirements.
The Insurance Authority (IA) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) confirmed the enforcement action against Lim Ka Kit – formerly a technical representative at an authorised institution operating under licence number IC3091 – on November 11, 2026.
The HKMA’s investigation found that Lim had pressured eight clients into acquiring medical insurance via telemarketing, disregarding their requests for time to consider the products.
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The more serious finding centres on two clients whose physical details were falsified. By inducing them to submit inaccurate body measurements, Lim directly manipulated the information underwriters relied upon to assess eligibility and issue coverage. Any medical policy written on falsified data carries the potential for a coverage dispute or claim denial down the line – a risk that rests on the insured, and traces back to the intermediary who facilitated the application.
The enforcement action was effected under the Memorandum of Understanding on cross-sector collaboration between the IA and HKMA. Under this arrangement, the HKMA conducts investigations into insurance intermediary activity at authorised institutions – primarily banks – with enforcement then carried out by the IA.
For intermediaries operating within banking channels, this means scrutiny from two regulators, not one.
Raymond Chan, executive director of enforcement and anti-money laundering at the HKMA, said: “The HKMA continues to strengthen enforcement through close collaboration with the IA with a view to safeguarding the interests of bank customers and upholding high standards in the financial sector. The conclusion of this disciplinary case underlies the importance of acting with high integrity in the distribution of financial products.”
Maria Tsui, head of enforcement at the IA, said: “This case underscores the importance of ethical selling and treating customers fairly. We would like to thank the HKMA for demonstrating its shared commitment to ensuring that the financial industry focuses on honesty, transparency and integrity to build long-term trust.”
The case lands against a backdrop of rising conduct complaints across Hong Kong’s insurance market.
The IA received 1,173 complaints in 2025 – a 19.9% increase from 978 the year before, and the highest volume since 2019 – according to its Conduct In Focus report published in March 2026. Conduct and representation-of-information complaints together accounted for 45% of that total, with the regulator noting both categories are closely associated with intermediary sales behaviour and post-sale servicing.
The IA regulates more than 118,000 licensed insurance intermediaries as of March 31, 2025, according to its annual report. In July 2026, the IA and HKMA launched a cross-sector reference checking arrangement across the banking and insurance sectors, covering more than 110,000 intermediaries at around 1,000 institutions – a framework explicitly designed to tighten conduct oversight at the point of distribution.
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For intermediaries working in any distribution channel, the case is a pointed reminder of where disclosure manipulation leads.
A client whose height and weight were recorded inaccurately at application – even with their own knowledge and consent – holds a policy built on a flawed foundation. If a claim is later assessed against the original underwriting data, the discrepancy becomes a coverage question. The intermediary who shaped that application carries the conduct record.
Inducing a client to misstate health information breaches the fit and proper criteria under Hong Kong’s Insurance Ordinance. As the IA has consistently noted across its enforcement record, any conduct that adversely affects a licensed intermediary’s honesty and integrity can render them unfit to hold a licence – regardless of whether the client appeared to agree at the time.
Further details of the enforcement action are published in the Enforcement News section and the Register of Licensed Insurance Intermediaries on the IA’s website, and in the Enforcement Actions section on the HKMA’s website.
