From referral fee regulation to accountability of responsible persons: How Hong Kong insurance is emerging from gray prosperity

Ten years ago, I wrote an article in Caixin titled “The Truth About Hong Kong Insurance.” That piece took a long time to write, reviewed hundreds of relevant documents, interviewed more than a dozen industry friends, and received a strong response—also changing the direction of my career. After I finished writing, I said one line in the closing section: “Wherever it is consumed, it is hard to speak of fairness; let readers judge for themselves.”

Ten years have passed. Today, this line applies even more than it did back then. Over the course of the past decade, I left Hony Capital in Hong Kong, founded Tang Sengbao Promoting Internet-Based Regular Life Insurance in Shenzhen, and then went north to Guangzhou and Beijing to work for many years as a chief actuary, until the end of 2025 when I returned to Hong Kong to serve as CEO at a large Hong Kong insurance brokerage firm. In other words, every regulatory change and every market trend that this article is going to discuss is directly related to my work today. So, just like ten years ago, I’m going to tear through this layer of window paper first. After readers finish my article, whether it is fair or not is something they will have to decide for themselves.

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