Last year, the financial complaints surged significantly due to the incomplete sales of Hong Kong's H index linked securities (ELS) and unresolved issues with Tmon and Wemakeprice.
The Financial Supervisory Service noted that financial complaints reached 116,338 last year, marking a 24% increase compared to the previous year.
Complaints related to banks totaled 24,043, reflecting a 53.3% increase from the previous year. Complaints related to bancassurance and funds, due to the incomplete sales of ELS, soared by 1,048% (4,349 cases) and 1,459% (2,729 cases), respectively.
Complaints from small and medium-sized enterprises and vulnerable financial customers also rose to 29,809 cases, a 45.3% increase compared to the previous year. Additionally, complaints against credit card companies increased by 39.1% (3,645 cases) due to issues like the Tmon incident. Complaints associated with financial investments also increased by 14.7%. Complaints in the securities, real estate trust, and asset management sectors rose by 867, 168, and 125 cases, respectively, while complaints concerning investor consulting decreased by 402 cases.
Complaints against insurance companies increased for property and casualty insurers, but decreased for life insurers. Property and casualty insurance complaints rose to 40,365, an 11.4% increase compared to the previous year. Complaints concerning the calculation and payment of insurance benefits, contract establishment and termination, and insurance solicitation rose by 2,847, 586, and 89 cases, respectively. In contrast, life insurance complaints totaled 13,085, reflecting a 3.3% decrease compared to the previous year. Complaints related to insurance solicitation and the calculation and payment of insurance benefits decreased by 576 and 283 cases, respectively, while complaints regarding contract establishment and termination increased by 225 cases.
Last year, the number of processed financial complaints reached 109,250, which is a 12.5% increase compared to the previous year. The average complaint processing period was 41.5 days, down by 6.7 days from the previous year, while the complaint acceptance rate was 39.9%, up by 3.3 percentage points compared to the previous year. The FSS stated, "We will enhance the reliability of complaint processing by activating the dispute resolution committee and refining the 'specialized processing system for types of disputes' introduced last year for insurance complaints," among other efficiency measures for handling complaints and disputes.