The General Insurance Association of Japan said yesterday that its member firms should set a clear deadline to cut their strategic holdings of listed client shares to zero, reported Reuters.
The trade group, representing Japan's biggest non-life insurers, published a guideline for its members on cross-shareholdings, or purchase of the stock of their clients to deepen business ties, in order to ensure a fair market environment. The guideline also bans companies from taking on new cross-shareholdings.
Four of the group's members – Tokio Marine, Sompo, and MS&AD subsidiaries Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance and Aioi Nissay Dowa – have previously said they would bring all cross-shareholding arrangements to zero in response to a price-fixing scandal last year.