The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) is still reviewing China Development Financial Holding Corp’s (中華開發金控) application to acquire China Life Insurance Co (中國人壽) due to concerns over the company’s capital adequacy, it said on Thursday.
China Development Financial, which holds a 34.82 percent stake in China Life, announced on Nov. 27 that it would acquire another 21.13 percent of the life insurer through a public tender, which would boost its stake in China Life to 55.95 percent, company data showed.
The Insurance Bureau said that it is still reviewing the case, even though the Banking Bureau has approved China Development Financial’s plan for the acquisition.
Photo: Wang Meng-lun, Taipei Times
The company plans to use NT$10 billion (US$350.37 million) raised through bond sales, NT$3 billion of capital from its two units, CDIB Capital Group (中華開發資本) and KGI Securities Ltd (凱基證券), and other funds for the acquisition, company data showed.
“We are still evaluating if China Development Financial is capable of handling China Life’s demand to raise capital over the next decade,” Insurance Bureau Director-General Shih Chiung-hwa (施瓊華) told the Taipei Times by telephone on Thursday.
As the FSC would in 2026 impose on life insurers the stricter requirements for the calculation of liabilities stipulated in the International Financial Reporting Standards 17, China Life would likely need to raise fresh capital to maintain solid capital adequacy, Shin said.
It is important that China Development Financial can support the life insurance business, she said.
Given that the company would take control of China Life, the Insurance Bureau is also reviewing China Development Financial’s qualifications, Insurance Bureau Chief Secretary Lin Yao-tung (林耀東) told a news conference in New Taipei City.
The bureau is assessing if China Development Financial is knowledgeable and competent in the insurance business, and if it would be able protect the rights of policyholders, honor existing policies and commit to operating the business, Lin said.
Meanwhile, the Insurance Bureau earlier this month received Taishin Financial Holding Co’s (台新金控) application to purchase Prudential Life Insurance Co of Taiwan (保德信人壽), Lin said.
Taishin Financial on Aug. 11 announced that it wants to purchase Prudential Life for between NT$5.5 billion and NT$8.5 billion, company data showed.
The Insurance Bureau is reviewing Taishin Financial’s qualifications, with the assessment expected to be completed within two months, Lin said.
The Insurance Bureau has asked Taishin Financial to elaborate on its outlook for Prudential’s business over the next decade, including how much capital Prudential would need and when the acquisition would pay off, he said.
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
Saudi Arabian Oil Co (Aramco), the Saudi state-owned oil giant, yesterday posted first-quarter profits of US$26 billion, down 4.6 percent from the prior year as falling global oil prices undermine the kingdom’s multitrillion-dollar development plans. Aramco had revenues of US$108.1 billion over the quarter, the company reported in a filing on Riyadh’s Tadawul stock exchange. The company saw US$107.2 billion in revenues and profits of US$27.2 billion for the same period last year. Saudi Arabia has promised to invest US$600 billion in the US over the course of US President Donald Trump’s second term. Trump, who is set to touch
SKEPTICAL: An economist said it is possible US and Chinese officials would walk away from the meeting saying talks were productive, without reducing tariffs at all US President Donald Trump hailed a “total reset” in US-China trade relations, ahead of a second day of talks yesterday between top officials from Washington and Beijing aimed at de-escalating trade tensions sparked by his aggressive tariff rollout. In a Truth Social post early yesterday, Trump praised the “very good” discussions and deemed them “a total reset negotiated in a friendly, but constructive, manner.” The second day of closed-door meetings between US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) were due to restart yesterday morning, said a person familiar
RSS