High tension has recently been recorded in the Israeli insurance and pension market after the Israel Insurance Agents Chamber filed a firm demand against the insurance agency FINQ. According to a report by the website ice, the dispute arose surrounding an advertising campaign by the company, which claimed that pension insurance agents' recommendations are influenced by extraneous considerations and commissions. Conversely, the Chamber argues that the campaign damages the reputation of thousands of agents acting in accordance with the law. At the heart of the complaint are messages in the advertisements, such as the claim that 'objective pension' is a superior product, which the Chamber views as misleading terminology.
Furthermore, in a letter sent by the Chamber's legal counsel, Adv. Adi Ben Avraham, it is claimed that there is an internal contradiction in the advertising. The Chamber points out that FINQ is a licensed insurance agency that operates itself under commission agreements with institutional entities—a fact that is inconsistent with its presentation as an independent advisory body. In addition, it is claimed that there is a gap between the advertising and the mandatory disclosure on the company's website, which presents non-uniform compensation.
In the warning letter sent by Adv. Ben Avraham, the company was required to remove the campaign and apologize for its content. Concurrently, the Chamber appealed to the Capital Market, Insurance and Savings Authority, requesting it to exercise its enforcement powers against these advertisements. The Chamber emphasizes that fair competition in the market should be based on the professional advantages of the product and not on the defamation of the agents' profession. The Chamber's position is that the advertisements mislead the saving public and create a false impression regarding the nature of insurance agents' activities. The Chamber clarified that if their demands are not met and the campaign is not corrected, they intend to take further legal and regulatory steps against the company.
At this time, these are only the allegations of the Insurance Agents Chamber. The issue is attracting great interest due to the legal questions it raises regarding ethics in financial advertising, the duty of disclosure, and the boundaries of competition between entities offering pension services. Market participants will now await the decision of the Capital Market Authority and the next steps by FINQ in this affair, which may influence how services are presented in the Israeli pension savings sector.