STATE SUPPORT FOR SICK JAPANESE LIFE ASSURERS SET TO END

A Japanese law permitting state aid to ailing life assurers in Japan is set to end next March and discussions began today on the Financial System Council about allowing the facility to expire, reports Nikkei. Under the current situation, assurers are expected to help each other through the Life Insurance Policyholders Protection Corp of Japan (LIPPCJ). If this proves insufficient, an ailing assurer can turn to the government for protection via the LIPPCJ, to which the government would contribute if member companies’ contributions proved insufficient. The LIPPCJ was established in December 1998 to protect policyholders either through financial aid, policy transfer or the LIPPCJ itself taking on the policy.