The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday fined Chaoyang Life Insurance Co (朝陽人壽) NT$6 million (US$181,615) and issued three citations for a number of irregularities.
The troubled insurer faces being placed under government receivership as soon as the first quarter of next year, the commission said.
The insurer would be placed under government receivership if it fails to raise its risk-based capital (RBC) ratio to more than 50 percent within 90 days of Dec. 31, the commission said.
The RBC ratio is a measure of a company’s financial strength. At the end of the third quarter, Chaoyang Life, which currently has about 100,000 policy holders, said its negative net worth had expanded to NT$2.2 billion.
Although the insurer’s board of directors in September approved a NT$1.55 billion capital increase plan, the commission said that the amount is not sufficient to cover the company’s negative net worth.
Chaoyang Life’s capital increase plan is backed by a plot of land adjacent to Taichung’s Chaoyang University of Technology (朝陽科技大學), where the insurer plans to build a student dormitory and commercial complex and raise funds through rental fees, the company said last month.
The company has also readied a NT$500 million cash injection, it said.
Among the infractions that led to the commission’s imposition of fines on the company were irregularities relating to its purchase of a plot of undeveloped land, as Chaoyang Life had failed to generate the required investment returns from the parcel.
In related news, despite appeals by the Life Insurance Association of the Republic of China (壽險公會) for RBC requirements to be eased to help companies weather heightened volatility in global markets, the commission’s Insurance Bureau seems to be gearing up to impose more stringent guidelines on the sector.
Insurers said that their efforts this year to increase capital would be nullified by the bureau’s intent to raise the interest rate and C3 market risk components of the RBC metric for annuities from 0.1 times to 0.3 times.
Mercuries Life Insurance Co (三商美邦人壽) said that its NT$1.7 billion capital increase plan was expected to elevate its RBC ratio by at least 10 percent, but following the change, newly raised funds through its issuance of 100 million new shares at NT$17 each would barely make a difference to its RBC ratio.
Other insurers said that they would have no option but to reduce their holdings of more risky assets in order to meet the new RBC requirements set to take effect next year.
“We found no compelling reasons to grant insurers eased RBC requirements,” Insurance Bureau Director-General Jenny Lee (李滿治) said, adding that the bureau intends to continue raising the C3 rate on an annual or biannual basis.
TAKING STOCK: A Taiwanese cookware firm in Vietnam urged customers to assess inventory or place orders early so shipments can reach the US while tariffs are paused Taiwanese businesses in Vietnam are exploring alternatives after the White House imposed a 46 percent import duty on Vietnamese goods, following US President Donald Trump’s announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on the US’ trading partners. Lo Shih-liang (羅世良), chairman of Brico Industry Co (裕茂工業), a Taiwanese company that manufactures cast iron cookware and stove components in Vietnam, said that more than 40 percent of his business was tied to the US market, describing the constant US policy shifts as an emotional roller coaster. “I work during the day and stay up all night watching the news. I’ve been following US news until 3am
UNCERTAINTY: Innolux activated a stringent supply chain management mechanism, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure optimal inventory levels for customers Flat-panel display makers AUO Corp (友達) and Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday said that about 12 to 20 percent of their display business is at risk of potential US tariffs and that they would relocate production or shipment destinations to mitigate the levies’ effects. US tariffs would have a direct impact of US$200 million on AUO’s revenue, company chairman Paul Peng (彭雙浪) told reporters on the sidelines of the Touch Taiwan trade show in Taipei yesterday. That would make up about 12 percent of the company’s overall revenue. To cope with the tariff uncertainty, AUO plans to allocate its production to manufacturing facilities in
Six years ago, LVMH’s billionaire CEO Bernard Arnault and US President Donald Trump cut the blue ribbon on a factory in rural Texas that would make designer handbags for Louis Vuitton, one of the world’s best-known luxury brands. However, since the high-profile opening, the factory has faced a host of problems limiting production, 11 former Louis Vuitton employees said. The site has consistently ranked among the worst-performing for Louis Vuitton globally, “significantly” underperforming other facilities, said three former Louis Vuitton workers and a senior industry source, who cited internal rankings shared with staff. The plant’s problems — which have not
COLLABORATION: Given Taiwan’s key position in global supply chains, the US firm is discussing strategies with local partners and clients to deal with global uncertainties Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) yesterday said it is meeting with local ecosystem partners, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), to discuss strategies, including long-term manufacturing, to navigate uncertainties such as US tariffs, as Taiwan occupies an important position in global supply chains. AMD chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) told reporters that Taiwan is an important part of the chip designer’s ecosystem and she is discussing with partners and customers in Taiwan to forge strong collaborations on different areas during this critical period. AMD has just become the first artificial-intelligence (AI) server chip customer of TSMC to utilize its advanced
RSS