Lawmakers are worried that the next financial storm could hit the insurance sector as the financial regulator admitted yesterday that several local insurers are seeing their book value turn negative and are in urgent need of some fresh capital.
"There are three to four insurance companies whose book value has become negative," Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Vice Chairwoman Susan Chang (
The commission was requiring that five insurers in urgent need of capital injection step up their fundraising in light of the widening financial gaps, Chang said.
The capital-strapped insurers are Kuo Hua Life Insurance Co (國華人壽), Global Life Insurance Co (國寶人壽), Singfor Life Insurance Co (幸福人壽), Union Insurance Co (友聯產險) and Walsun Insurance Co (華山產險).
At the end of last year, Kuo Hua had a book value of minus NT$10.2 billion (US$309 million), Global Life had minus NT$111 million and Walsun had minus NT$690 million, according to data disclosed on their Web sites.
The financial watchdog punished one insurer by restricting business -- such as suspending sales of policy products with greater risk -- for its failure to obtain fresh capital, Chang said.
But he declined to name the firm.
The regulator would closely monitor progress in fundraising and urge the troubled insurers to merge with stronger rivals before considering takeovers as a last resort, Chang said.
Yet the commission reportedly has delayed the deadline several times, including from the end of last year to the end of last month.
The Chinese-language Economic Daily said yesterday that the regulator again postponed the deadline to the end of this month.
The FSC expected insurers to complete fundraising activities as soon as possible, said Huang Tien-mu (黃天牧), director-general of the commission's Insurance Bureau, on the sidelines of the session.
But Huang declined to comment on a timeframe.
A stability fund set to handle debt-ridden life insurers amounts to a total of NT$11.6 billion, while the fund pool for non-life insurance firms amounts to less than NT$3 billion.
"You [the commission] should do something quickly, or the next storm could break out in the insurance industry," Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才) said.
Lawmakers also raised allegations of embezzlement involving Taiwan Life Insurance Co (台灣人壽), saying that the firm had incurred a loss of between NT$400 billion and NT$500 billion after using working capital to purchase 50 million shares in major shareholder Long Bon Development Co (龍邦開發).
Taiwan Life chairman Chu Ping-yu (
Chang said Taiwan Life could have committed breach of trust and the commission would look into the matter.
Lee Mao (
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
RSS