China scraps foreign ownership limit of insurance asset managers

The current limit is capped at 25%.

China is set to remove foreign ownership limits on insurance asset management companies, which is currently at 25%.

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) last week released the Regulations on the Management of Insurance Asset Management Companies (Draft for Comment) to seek public feedback on the issue.

According to CBIRC’s proposed new rules, foreign investors will be allowed to raise their stakes in insurance asset managers to 100% and take full control.

The CBIRC said it expects the relaxation of the rules to attract more high-quality international insurance companies and asset management firms to participate in the mainland insurance asset management industry.

“The relaxation will offer the same treatment to both foreign and local investors who are shareholders of insurance asset management companies,” CBIRC said.