TAIPEI: Taiwan is pushing for the mainland to allow the island's insurers to hold more than the standard 50 percent in joint ventures on the mainland, a report said yesterday.

Taipei is also seeking permission to allow its insurers to have multiple mainland partners, rather than be restricted by the current, rigid regulations limiting them to only one each, the Commercial Times reported, citing unnamed sources.

If the mainland agrees, it would mark a breakthrough for Taiwan's insurance industry in the rapidly expanding mainland market.

"We will be happy to have a higher stake in our joint venture if it comes true. But we haven't heard anything," a spokesman with Shin Kong Financial, which runs an insurance venture with the mainland's Hainan Airlines, told AFP.

Two other Taiwan companies, Cathay Financial and Taiwan Life, have also set up joint insurance companies on the mainland, both under the 50-percent rule.

The Financial Supervisory Commission, which is in charge of Taiwan's banking, insurance and securities industries, was not immediately available for comment on the report.

The Commercial Times said Taiwan was seeking to reach a consensus on insurance business even though it has not yet signed a memorandum of understanding to boost cross-Straits financial activities.

Market observers said the memorandum may not be signed by the end of this year, as previously expected, following the mainland's anger over the visit of the Dalai Lama to Taiwan last week.

AFP

(HK Edition 09/08/2009 page2)