Prudential’s Japanese division is grappling with a data sharing scandal, revealing that staff members improperly accessed and disseminated sensitive operational information. The life insurance arm discovered that eleven employees had collected data from seven agencies on 379 separate occasions.
The leaked information, primarily focused on agency sales performance, was then circulated amongst other Prudential personnel and used to inform sales promotion strategies.
In a filing with the Securities Exchange Commission, Prudential Gibraltar Financial Life Insurance admitted to a lack of understanding of data handling protocols among both those who accessed and those who received the information. They stated that basic compliance procedures were not followed.
This revelation follows closely on the heels of the resignation of the CEO of Prudential’s Japanese life insurance unit. The resignation was triggered by a prior incident involving approximately 100 employees and rule breaches amounting to roughly Y3.1 billion ($19.5 million).
The company maintains that after a thorough review with the affected agencies, no evidence of violations under the Unfair Competition Prevention Act or inappropriate removal of contract information was found.
As a direct consequence of the incidents, Prudential has announced it will cease all life insurance secondments by the end of March. Furthermore, certain current and former executives have volunteered to return a portion of their compensation.
Prudential has expressed that it views the matter with the "utmost gravity" and is implementing enhanced data handling regulations and comprehensive legal compliance training across the organisation. The company also plans to increase the Compliance Department’s oversight of the Sales Department to bolster compliance.
