Consumers can soon expect cheaper and easier access to insurance products after the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) accepted in full or in part, 27 out of 28 recommendations made by the Financial Advisory Industry Review (Fair) panel.

The Fair panel's recommendations were published on Jan 16 this year and opened for public consultation from March to June.

In a statement on Sept 30, the MAS said the majority of the responses were in support of the recommendations made by the panel.

It noted that the initiatives reflected its view of what would lift standards of practice in a meaningful and decisive way.

These include introducing:

* a balanced scorecard remuneration framework which rewards the provision of good quality advice to align the interest of financial advisory agents with that of customers;

* a direct channel through which "basic insurance" products can be bought with a nominal administration fee; and

* a web aggregator to enhance comparability among life insurance products.

The Fair initiatives will be introduced in stages.