The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said yesterday it had approved HSBC Life International Ltd's application to set up a local branch to tap into the fast-growing pension-fund market.
HSBC Life, a subsidiary of Hong Kong's biggest financial group HSBC Ltd with US$1.74 trillion in assets, is the largest pension products provider in Hong Kong and the top life insurer in the market in terms of premium income and profitability, the commission said.
Meanwhile, the financial regulator also gave the green light to Aviva Plc, the largest insurance services provider in the UK which manages US$560 billion of assets, to set up a local branch through its Singaporean subsidiary Aviva Ltd.
"The two investments are expected to raise the benign competition in local insurance market and demonstrate foreign investors' confidence in Taiwan," said commission spokesperson Susan Chang (張秀蓮).
The two new companies will boost the number of life insurers in the country to 31, including 22 local operators and nine foreign companies, Chang said.
The nation's pension fund is increasing rapidly at a pace of NT$8 billion per month, or nearly NT$100 billion per year, according to estimates of First Financial Holding Co (
First Financial announced in October that it would form a bancassurance joint venture with Aviva to grab a slice of the fast-growing insurance and pension planning market.
But the commission has not received an application to set up the joint venture to date, Chang said.
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