The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) has loosened regulations to allow natural persons connected to insurance companies to purchase secondary long-term corporate bonds with a maturity of more than 10 years issued by the insurers to which they are related.
Natural persons related to the company include major shareholders, company directors, supervisors and managers.
According to industry insiders, this suggestion came from Cathay Life at a symposium held by the FSC this year. The FSC made the decision to relax its rules after reviewing international insurance capital standards and its regulations on financial holdings.
Previously, insurance companies were barred from issuing long-term corporate bonds with a maturity of more than 10 years to be held by themselves or related parties.