Budapest, 13 May 2019 – The MNB has temporarily suspended the distribution of the insurance-based investment products of the Slovakia-based NOVIS Insurance Company through insurance intermediary (multiple agent) QUANTIS Consulting. The suspension shall remain in force until the compliance with conflict of interest and inducement rules is proved with documents, at latest as the targeted inspection at the insurance intermediary is completed.
The Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB) is conducting a targeted inspection with a limited scope at QUANTIS Consulting Zrt. (former BROKERNET Zrt.) which acts as a multiple agent. The MNB’s investigation includes, inter alia, the period starting from 1 January 2017 and the internal regulations concerning conflict of interest policy and management as applied by the intermediary.
During the procedure, the MNB has found that the indirect owner of QUANTIS Consulting is simultaneously the owner of the Slovakian NOVIS Insurance Company which provides cross-border services in Hungary. In addition to other established criteria (such as inducements, certain features of the inducement system), this fact must obviously be taken into consideration when assessing how the circumstances of the intermediary may influence the manner it conducts its activities, and the quality of its service provided to customers.
The MNB has established that a breach of a mandatory measure of a European Union regulation occurred when QUANTIS Consulting did not take account of all relevant circumstances creating its conflict of interest policy. This violation of the relevant requirements may cause harm to customers.
In light of the above, in its resolution issued today, the MNB temporarily suspended the distribution of the insurance-based investment products of NOVIS Insurance Company through QUANTIS Consulting. The suspension shall remain in force until compliance with conflict of interest rules is proved with documents, at the latest as MNB’s targeted inspection is completed.
Earlier, on 18 May 2017, MNB already applied sanctioning measures against QUANTIS Consulting, imposing a fine of HUF 52.5 million in its resolution for, among others, deceptive and unfair intermediation practices to terminate certain life insurance contracts and to conclude new ones and, in this context, for providing imperfect information to its customers as regards professional issues.
In its resolution issued on July 4, 2018, the central bank temporarily suspended the distribution of several unit-linked life insurance and pension plans offered by NOVIS Insurance Company in Hungary. This suspension shall remain in force until the completion of the ongoing targeted inspection of the insurer, or before that date, until NOVIS Insurance Company provides clear and accurate information in its product sales documents about the details of its commitment regarding the preservation of the customers’ capital contributions, and the yields linked to these insurance policies. In addition to the products suspended earlier, the present measure affects all products introduced and distributed by NOVIS Insurance Company since then.
Magyar Nemzeti Bank