Taiwan Business in Brief – February 2017

Nan Shan takes over Chaoyang Life Insurance

Nan Shan Life Insurance was the victor in the Taiwan Insurance Guaranty Fund (TIGF) reverse auction for Chaoyang Life Insurance Co. on January 16, accepting the bailout offer of NT$200 million (US$6.3 million) for taking over Chaoyang’s assets and debts. The deal obligates Nan Shan to honor the rights of existing policyholders and retain all Chaoyang employees under existing employment packages for at least a year. Chaoyang, which has roughly 100,000 clients with 123,000 policies, total assets of NT$34.52 billion, and a negative valuation, was placed under government receivership in January 2016 by TIGF for failing to maintain adequate capital. Nan Shan beat out Mercuries Life Insurance Co. and Cathay Life Insurance Co. in the auction. TIGF, which in recent years has also overseen the reorganization of Kuo Hua Life, Singfor Life, and Global Life, will pay Nan Shan out of funds supplied by the insurance industry to ensure the steady operations in the life insurance sector. A previous auction for Chaoyang last October ended with no successful bids.