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Suncorp to sell TOWER stake; China tightens shareholding cap in insurers

S&P Global Market Intelligence offers our top picks of insurance news stories and more published throughout the week. Please note that some entries may have links to third-party sources that may require a subscription.

Deals, potential transactions and more

* Suncorp Group Ltd. unit Vero Insurance New Zealand Ltd. will sell its 19.99% stake in New Zealand's TOWER Ltd. to Bain Capital Credit LP for NZ$53.9 million.

* Australia's QBE Insurance Group Ltd. reportedly divested its 5.2% stake in broker AUB Group Ltd. for A$41.2 million.

* Japan's Nippon Life Insurance Co. reportedly emerged as a strong contender for Suncorp Group's life insurance operations. Separately, Nippon Life is said to be interested in acquiring a stake in Deutsche Bank AG's asset management arm by buying shares in the latter's planned IPO.

* Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. decided to engage in talks with a number of parties to assess their interest in acquiring its life insurance business in New Zealand.

* U.K.-based Prudential Plc and Singapore's Great Eastern Holdings Ltd. are reportedly in talks to sell a 30% stake each in their Malaysian insurance units.

* Meanwhile, Prudential Plc is reportedly partnering with an Indian billionaire to bid for a controlling stake in India's largest independent health insurer Star Health and Allied Insurance Co. Ltd.

* Japan's Lifenet Insurance Co. will reportedly exercise a put option to sell its 7.49% stake in South Korea-based online insurer Kyobo Lifeplanet Life Insurance Co. to Kyobo Life Insurance Co. Ltd. for 8.16 billion won.

Regulatory developments

* China's insurance regulator issued new rules to limit a single shareholder's stake in an insurer to one-third, from 51%, and impose specific requirements on different types of insurance company shareholders. The watchdog added that it will not require adjustments to the existing shareholding structures of companies.

* New Zealand's financial regulator and stock exchange raised concerns that CBL Corp. Ltd. may have breached obligations including the need for continuous disclosure.

* Malaysia's central bank clarified that moves by some foreign insurers to cut their stakes in local units are related to specific commitments they agreed to when they applied to enter the country's insurance market.

* The Monetary Authority of Singapore proposed new rules to tackle the large-scale movements of financial advisory representatives from one company to another. The proposed rules aim to address risks associated with the mass recruitment of financial advisory representatives by one company from another.

Moody's take on rule changes

* Hong Kong's implementation of a voluntary health insurance scheme is credit positive for insurers, Moody's said, as the new scheme will increase health insurance products' affordability and penetration while allowing private insurers to maintain a high degree of underwriting flexibility.

* China's new rules on insurers' asset-liability management are credit positive as they will help insurers in reducing the risk of an asset-liability mismatch, the rating agency separately said.

In other news

* South Korea-based Mirae Asset Life Insurance Co. Ltd. reportedly relaunched operations following its acquisition of PCA Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

* Hanwha Life Insurance Co. Ltd. will invest 3 trillion Vietnamese dong in unit Hanwha Life Co. Ltd. (Vietnam) in April in order to comply with the country's regulations.

* Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Insurance Inc. will merge two online insurance units in a bid to improve efficiency and profitability in the domestic P&C insurance business.

* Dai-ichi Life Holdings Inc. will reportedly set up a wholly owned subsidiary in Cambodia as early as March. The Japanese insurer plans to commence operations of the subsidiary in the fiscal year starting April 1.