Among the nation’s 32 life insurers, Prudential Life Insurance Company of Taiwan (保德信人壽) was the only company to be recognized by the Financial Supervisory Commission as a model company for the second straight year.
Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽) also won model company status in 2007, but did not make the grade last year.
The honorary status allows the company to sell new policies without first gaining regulatory approval, Wu Chung-chuan (吳崇權), deputy director-general of the commission’s insurance bureau, told a media briefing yesterday.
In lieu of regulatory approval, Prudential can go ahead with its sales of new policies and provide the commission with its policy documents for review within 15 days, Wu said.
To win model company status, Prudential has met requirements set by the commission in 2006, including a risk-based capital ratio of more than 250 percent, an above A-plus rating and participation in social welfare work, the commission said.
In addition, 75 percent of its full-time staff have been licensed, 80 percent of subscribers to basic coverage have stayed with the company for more than two years and it has not violated any regulations in the past year, the statement said.
In related news, the revised Securities and Futures Investors Protection Act is scheduled to take effect on Saturday, marking an important milestone in the protection of domestic shares and futures investors, the commission said in a press statement yesterday.
The revised Act stipulates that the Securities and Futures Protection Center is empowered to file class-action lawsuits on behalf of share investors to dismiss unqualified board directors or supervisors at publicly traded companies who are proved to have harmed the company.
The new act also empowers the center to negotiate or mediate disputes among investors who have put down less than NT$1 million (US$30,000) in shares or futures investments.
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