Acquisitions, insurers must have deep pockets

Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) requires from purchasers keen on acquiring more than 50% of a local insurance company to prove they hold sufficient funds to operate the business for 10 years. This move is designed to stiffen one of the five criteria set last year by the FSC during the announcement of the sale of Nan Shan Life owned by AIG.

It was then asked from the bidders to prove that they had the means to provide for the funding of future operations. Several groups are currently competing for the acquisition of Nan Shan Life including Taiwan's three largest companies. Shan Life' assets are valued up to 59 billion USD. The company has 40,000 employees and 4 million policyholders.