Insurers given approval to launch staff share ownership plans

Insurance companies may introduce employee stock ownership plans to improve the industry's corporate governance and profit-sharing mechanism, the industry regulator said on Thursday.

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission said that to be eligible, insurance companies must have been in operation for three years and be profitable for one year before launching such a plan.

Insurance companies are also required to have sound corporate governance and no record of being fined for major irregularities in the past two years, according to a notice issued by the CIRC.