A former executive director of Hong Kong’s Insurance Authority has been acquitted of misconduct after she was alleged to have coerced insurer Prudential into hiring her daughter-in-law, as the magistrate ruled that her actions did not cause “actual damage” to public trust in the regulator.

Magistrate Minnie Wat Lai-man on Thursday found Carol Hui Mei-ying and digital strategy consultant Chan Tsz-wai not guilty of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office.

The pair previously stood trial at Eastern Court after the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) alleged they conspired to use Hui’s capacity in the authority to pressure the insurance company to employ Chan on higher pay between September 2022 and March 2023.

The court earlier heard that Chan, who married Hui’s son in 2021, applied to Prudential for the position of senior manager of digital strategy and asked for an annual salary of HK$1.3 million, 30 per cent higher than her offer at that time.

While her application was being processed, Hui met Prudential CEO Lawrence Lam and other senior staff to discuss technology risk and talent issues the company was facing.

According to the testimonies of some of the attendees, Hui, who is in her mid-sixties, asked Prudential to look into its talent issues as it had failed to recruit candidates for technology risk management with a competitive salary.

During the meeting, Hui said the authority would order the company to undergo a skill performance review if it failed to follow up on the issue.