The Financial Supervisory Commission is considering relaxing real-estate investment rules for domestic life insurers, with the Insurance Bureau likely to finalize an evaluation report by the end of next month.
The commission in November 2012 enacted various rules for real-estate investments by life insurers. One of those rules raised the required minimum yield on investments from 2.125 percent to 2.875 percent as the regulator aimed to curb life insurers’ investment in commercial properties.
EASING MEASURES
Photo: Wang Meng-lun, Taipei Times
“Since those rules have been implemented for more than two years, the commission will review whether they are still reasonable, as requested by several life insurers,” Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman William Tseng (曾銘宗) told reporters on the sidelines of an economic forum on Monday.
Other than the minimum yield requirement, the commission will also review the feasibility of other limitations, such as a requirement for life insurers to complete development of undeveloped land project in five years or they would be unable to transfer ownership of the real-estate asset for 10 years.
If the relaxation is implemented, the move could help revitalize life insurers’ investment momentum and boost market sentiment for commercial property, market watchers say.
Based on data provided by the life Insurance Association (人壽保險商業公會), Taiwan’s life insurance sector posted a record pre-tax profit of NT$130 billion (US$4.1 billion) last year.
CREATIVE INDUSTRIES
In related news, Tseng said the commission would soon unveil a plan to help 10 cultural and creative industry-related companies hold initial public offerings (IPO) this year.
The plan would be an upgraded version of the project the commission launched in 2013, in the hopes that the financial sector can provide funds to support the creative industries.
After learning that tickets to pop music diva Chang Hui-mei’s (張惠妹), also known as A-mei, concerts in Taipei sold out in just 12 minutes over the weekend, Tseng said he saw that the nation’s music and film industries have strong market potential.
In a bid to encourage the capital market to support companies in the creative industries, Tseng said the IPO plan could boost their pace of institutionalization and corporatization, as many of them currently are smaller companies lacking scale.
Tseng also expressed his admiration for songs by Taiwanese indie-pop artist Ann Bai (白安), saying the commission’s plan may help the music industry develop more good singers like her or bands like Mayday (五月天).
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