Asset-rich insurers get call for support

By Chinmei Sung  |   2008-6-30  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

TAIWAN'S authorities are encouraging insurance companies, which have a total of NT$8 trillion (US$263 billion) in assets, to buy Taiwanese stocks as part of measures to help support the market.

Board members of listed companies are also asked to increase their holdings in those firms, the authorities said in a statement yesterday.

The benchmark Taiex index has fallen for a third consecutive week to a five-month low. The measure has slumped 19 percent since Ma Ying-jeou took office on May 20. In comparison, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 11 percent in the same period, Bloomberg News reported.

Separately, the authorities asked four government funds to continue buying Taiwan stocks, encouraged insurers to buy indices linked to Taiwan equities, and insurance funds to buy shares and hold them for long-term investment, the statement said.

Other moves include studying the feasibility of allowing Taiwan Financial Holdings Co to develop its own properties, encouraging listed firms to buy back their own shares.