Chinese regulator sanctions firms for dodgy insurance products

China’s insurance regulator has banned three life insurance firms from applying for permission to sell new products for six months, after it found they had been offering “problematic” policies.

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According to newspaper the South China Morning Post, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) has also demanded ABC Life Insurance, the insurance arm of state-owned Agricultural Bank of China; Bocom Life Insurance, the insurance unit of Bank of Communications; and Greatwall Life Insurance to stop selling the products and “rectify their wrongdoings”.

The CIRC said the problems “serious and severe” but didn’t publish further details.

The firms were reported to be offering quick cash returns similar to wealth management products, and did not meet the regulator’s industry objectives of offering long-term protection to policyholders.

The regulator has clamped down on “rampant sales of so-called universal life insurance policies”, which have been branded “short-term” products.

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