Hong Kong-based Primus Financial Holdings on Wednesday defended its bid to buy the Taiwan unit of ailing US insurance giant American International Group. The move for Nan Shan Life came a day after the application by Primus Financial Holdings and its partner China Strategic Holdings was rejected by Taiwan’s Investment Commission. Taiwan authorities said they feared the Hong Kong consortium was short of experience to manage an insurer and charged that it had failed to provide a long-term management commitment. “The allegations and concerns...  Lire la suite

French insurer Axa has cut its holdings in US investment bank Goldman Sachs, which last month announced an 82 percent profit slide, by roughly one half, according to documents filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Axa, which had been Goldman’s largest shareholder, sold more than 14 Million shares between January and June, reducing its stake to 2.8 percent from 4.8 percent, the documents showed. Axa said the sale was part of its plan to re-orient its financial assets in the United States. Axa has lowered its stake in the US...  Lire la suite

American International Assurance (AIA), the Asian unit of US insurance giant AIG, is trawling for investors so it can split from its troubled parent as soon as possible, a report said Tuesday. Mark Tucker, the former head of British insurer Prudential who was named Monday as AIA’s new chief executive, has sought assurances that AIA can “pursue independence immediately,” the Financial Times reported, citing unnamed sources. Reports have said AIA plans to list more than half its equity in Hong Kong by October or November ...  Lire la suite

AIG is in talks with MetLife Inc. to sell one of its largest insurance units for between $14 billion and $15 billion, according to news reports citing people familiar with the matter. The two companies have been in discussions for months about a potential deal for AIG’s American Life Insurance Co., known as Alico, the Wall Street Journal and New York Times reported. Alico is an international life and health insurance business that operates in more than 50 countries around the world. AIG was bailed out by the government in September 2008 at...  Lire la suite

ING announced today that it has completed the sale of its Swiss Private Banking business to Julius Baer, the leading pure-play Swiss Private Banking group. As announced on 7 October 2009, the divestment is in line with ING’s Back to Basics strategy to focus on fewer franchises and reduce the complexity of the group. The transaction will generate an estimated net profit for ING of approximately EUR 150 million. ING Private Banking in the Benelux and Central Eastern Europe remain part of the core business of the Bank.  Read More →