China’s insurance regulator on Wednesday greatly expanded rules that govern shareholding in the country’s insurers.
China’s insurance regulator on Wednesday greatly expanded rules that govern shareholding in the country’s insurers in a bid to make ownership structures more transparent.
The rules, which now have 94 provisions from 37 before, come after the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) seized Anbang Insurance Group, a firm dogged with allegations of opaque shareholding structures.
Chinese authorities are in the second year of a widening campaign to reduce risks in the financial system, which includes a crackdown on riskier investment products sold by some insurers and probes into whether they are providing covert funding to local governments.
Under the new rules, an insurance company should have clear and reasonable shareholding structure and must reveal the actual controlling entity to the regulator, according to a document handed out in Beijing at a press conference.
