The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday said that it would next year lower life insurance companies’ liability reserve interest rates on all policies denominated in the New Taiwan dollar, US dollar and Chinese yuan by 25 basis points.
Liability reserve interest rates are also known as discount rates, which insurance companies use to estimate their liabilities, the Insurance Bureau said.
The bureau reviews and adjusts the discount rates on an annual basis, with the rates varying on different currencies, periods of premium payment and liability duration.
For NT dollar-denominated policies with payment periods of at least six years — the most popular product on the market — the discount rate would be trimmed by 25 basis points to 1 percent for those with a liability duration of less than six years; 1.25 percent for those between six and 10 years; 1.5 percent for those between 10 and 20 years; and 1.75 percent for those longer than 20 years, it said.
For US dollar and yuan-denominated policies with payment periods of at least six years, discount rates would be reduced from between 1.75 percent and 2.5 percent to between 1.5 percent and 2.25 percent, it said.
The commission decided to lower the rates as 10-year US Treasury bond yields have continued to decline this year, while yields on Taiwan’s 10-year bonds and China’s 10-year bonds have also fallen, Insurance Bureau Deputy Director-General Chang Yu-hui (張玉輝) said.
As many life insurers are investing the funds generated from foreign currency-denominated policies overseas, it is important for discount rates to remain in line with changes in market rates, he said.
The commission would also cut the discount rates on Australian dollar-denominated policies by between 25 basis points and 50 basis points, as well as those for some euro-denominated products by 25 basis points, Chang said.
The new discount rates would take effect in January, he said.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
Hong Kong authorities ramped up sales of the local dollar as the greenback’s slide threatened the foreign-exchange peg. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) sold a record HK$60.5 billion (US$7.8 billion) of the city’s currency, according to an alert sent on its Bloomberg page yesterday in Asia, after it tested the upper end of its trading band. That added to the HK$56.1 billion of sales versus the greenback since Friday. The rapid intervention signals efforts from the city’s authorities to limit the local currency’s moves within its HK$7.75 to HK$7.85 per US dollar trading band. Heavy sales of the local dollar by
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue. US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction. However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
RSS