Japan’s non-life insurers must reduce cross-holdings to zero, industry group says

A trade group representing Japan’s biggest general insurers said on Thursday that its member firms should set a clear deadline to reduce their strategic shareholdings of listed clients to zero.

The General Insurance Association of Japan has published the guide for its members on cross-holdings or purchasing shares of their clients to deepen business relationships, to ensure a fair market environment. The guidelines prohibit companies from taking new cross-shareholdings.

Four of the group’s members, Tokio Marine, Sompo and MS&AD subsidiaries Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance and Aioi Nissay Dowa, previously said they would zero out all cross-shareholding agreements in response to a price-fixing scandal last year.

(Reporting by Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)

TOPICS
Carriers Japan