Hong Kong’s Insurance Authority (IA) has suspended the Fellow, Life Management Institute (FLMI) qualification from satisfying education requirements for insurance intermediary licensing after a suspected exam fraud probe led to 15 arrests.
The fallout could extend further, with the regulator also reviewing all licensing cases involving FLMI qualifications obtained through the examination centre operated by Greater China Wemedia Association Limited.
The action followed an August 27 joint operation with the Hong Kong Police Force. Nine locations were searched and 15 people were arrested, including three current and three former licenced insurance intermediaries.
The bigger issue for the industry is what happens to qualifications already obtained through the centre. The IA said it would conduct a detailed review of all such cases after finding indications that fraudulent practices may have persisted for some time without effective oversight by LOMA.
The regulator has not said that licences previously granted on the strength of those qualifications will automatically be withdrawn. But the review puts renewed attention on the credentials firms relied on when recruiting and appointing intermediaries.
That comes at a time when recruitment controls are already under regulatory scrutiny in Hong Kong. In inspection findings published in May, the IA said some insurers had not directly validated academic certificates when conducting due diligence on prospective insurance agents. It also found cases where inconsistencies in candidates’ declarations that could raise fit-and-proper concerns were overlooked.
The findings warned that some licensing applications had been submitted without adequate consideration of whether candidates met fit-and-proper requirements, raising questions over the scrutiny applied before appointments were made.
Broker companies operate under their own governance requirements. The IA’s Code of Conduct for Licenced Insurance Brokers expects firms to maintain controls, procedures and supervision to ensure that people recruited or acting for them in regulated activities are fit and proper and have the integrity and competence required for their roles.
The FLMI case adds another dimension to that obligation. Rather than involving an individual presenting an obviously fabricated certificate, the investigation concerns qualifications obtained through an examination centre that was authorized to administer LOMA tests.
As of August 31, LOMA’s Hong Kong website continued to list Greater China Wemedia Association Limited among its authorized education and testing centres. LOMA says centres on the list are required to adhere to high standards of quality and integrity and are subject to ongoing evaluations.
However, the IA said there were indications that the suspected fraudulent practices had been continuing “for some time without effective oversight by LOMA.”
LOMA’s FLMI designation consists of 10 courses covering subjects including insurance administration, business law, investments, accounting, risk management and product development. Before the suspension, it was among the professional qualifications recognized within Hong Kong’s intermediary licensing framework.
The issue is significant in a market with more than 118,000 licenced insurance intermediaries. The IA’s latest annual report showed that Hong Kong had 80,915 licenced individual insurance agents, 23,680 technical representatives of agencies and 11,448 technical representatives of broker companies as of March 31, 2025.
Cases involving questionable educational credentials are not new. The IA has previously sanctioned intermediaries who used false academic certificates to meet licensing requirements, while warning insurers to carry out adequate checks on information submitted during recruitment and onboarding.
The latest case is broader because the regulator is examining an examination channel rather than only the conduct of individual applicants. That could make the outcome relevant to firms with current staff whose licensing history includes an FLMI qualification obtained through the centre, as well as those assessing new applicants.
The August operation was the first joint enforcement action carried out by the IA and police since they signed a memorandum of understanding in March 2024.
“This marks the first joint enforcement operation after the IA and the HKPF signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 27 March 2024, ushering in a lasting partnership committed to upholding integrity of the insurance industry and safeguarding the interest of policy holders,” IA head of enforcement Maria Tsui said.
The IA has not disclosed how many licensing cases fall within its review or how long the suspension of FLMI recognition will remain in place.
