The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) has voiced concern over the health of three domestic life insurers after they released their financial statements for the first six months.
The commission on Thursday said it would send warning letters to Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽), Mercuries Life Insurance Co (三商美邦人壽) and Hontai Life Insurance Co (宏泰人壽) for failing to keep their risk-based capital above the required 200 percent.
Insurance rules also require all life insurers to maintain a net worth of more than 3 percent in at least one of the latest two inspection periods, the commission said.
Life insurers unable to meet the requirements must come up with enhancement measures such as increasing their capital, real-estate disposals or other solutions, the commission said.
Shin Kong Life failed the first test, while Mercuries Life and Hontai Life failed both requirements, Insurance Bureau Deputy Director Lin Chih-hsien (林志憲) said.
Shin Kong Life’s capital adequacy ratio slipped to 184.38 percent based on its financial statement at the end of June.
Lin said the commission first noticed the company’s capital adequacy ratio falling last year and suggested improvements to prevent further deterioration. The situation failed to improve and the commission is to request concrete measures to remedy the situation, Lin said.
However, Shin Kong Life kept its net worth ratio at 4.34 percent, higher the required minimum, the commission said.
Mercuries Life had a capital adequacy ratio of 140.23 percent and last month introduced a plan to shore up its capital by issuing 500 million new shares, it said.
The life insurer’s risk-based capital declined from 155.83 percent in the second half of last year to 140.23 percent in the first half of this year, much weaker than the 200 percent benchmark, the commission said.
At the same time, the company’s net worth ratio improved from 2.19 percent to 2.84 percent, but still lagged behind the statutory 3 percent, it said.
That explained why Mercuries Life in March increased its capital by NT$2.53 billion (US$79.41 million) and put forth plans for additional capital augmentation plans and property disposals, Lin said.
Hontai Life had a risk-based capital of 145.82 percent and a net worth ratio of 2.42 percent, and has proposed enhancing its capital by selling real estate, but it has so far failed to find buyers, Lin said.
PATENTS: MediaTek Inc said it would not comment on ongoing legal cases, but does not expect the legal action by Huawei to affect its business operations Smartphone integrated chips designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) on Friday said that a lawsuit filed by Chinese smartphone brand Huawei Technologies Co (華為) over alleged patent infringements would have little impact on its operations. In an announcement posted on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, MediaTek said that it would not comment on an ongoing legal case. However, the company said that Huawei’s legal action would have little impact on its operations. MediaTek’s statement came after China-based PRIP Research said on Thursday that Huawei filed a lawsuit with a Chinese district court claiming that MediaTek infringed on its patents. The infringement mentioned in the lawsuit likely involved
Taipei is today suspending work, classes and its US$2.4 trillion stock market as Typhoon Gaemi approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Authorities had yesterday issued a warning that the storm could affect people on land and canceled some ship crossings and domestic flights. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) expects its local chipmaking fabs to maintain normal production, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp said it has activated routine typhoon alert
GROWTH: TSMC increased its projected revenue growth for this year to more than 25 percent, citing stronger-than-expected demand for AI devices and smartphones The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year from 3.29 percent to 3.85 percent, as exports and private investment recovered faster than it predicted three months ago. The Taipei-based think tank also expects that Taiwan would see a 8.19 percent increase in exports this year, better than the 7.55 percent it projected in April, as US technology giants spent more money on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and development. “There will be more AI servers going forward, but it remains to be seen if the momentum would extend to personal computers, smartphones and
Catastrophic computer outages caused by a software update from one company have once again exposed the dangers of global technological dependence on a handful of players, experts said on Friday. A flawed update sent out by the little-known security firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc brought airlines, TV stations and myriad other aspects of daily life to a standstill. The outages affected companies or individuals that use CrowdStrike on the Microsoft Inc’s Windows platform. When they applied the update, the incompatible software crashed computers into a frozen state known as the “blue screen of death.” “Today CrowdStrike has become a household name, but not in