Insurance News
- Marsh wins China's first foreign license
Date: 24-Jan-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
MARSH & McLennan Companies Inc., the world's biggest insurance brokerage by market value, said it had been awarded China's first wholly owned foreign enterprise brokering license.
Marsh said in a statement Monday that its existing business will expand in China to include large-scale commercial risk, reinsurance and international marine, aviation and transport insurance brokerage.
Marsh's major rivals, including Britain's Willis Group Holdings Ltd. and Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT), have already set up joint venture insurance brokerage companies with their local partners in China.
Willis increased its stake in Shanghai-based Willis Pudong Insurance Brokers Co., a joint venture established in 2004, to 51 percent from 50 percent in 2005 after China raised an investment cap, making it the first foreign-controlled insurance broker in China.
Last November, JLT launched its joint venture, in which it holds 51 percent, in Guangzhou.
On Monday, Marsh said the new license provisions are a result of China's commitment to the World Trade Organization to open its insurance industry to foreign investment. The firm will operate in China as Marsh (Beijing) Insurance Brokers Co. Ltd.
More than a dozen foreign insurers, including U.S. giant AIG, have moved into China's insurance industry in the past decade. The country is also encouraging domestic banks to team up with foreign insurance partners to develop the market together.
Late last year, Willis won a contract to provide insurance brokerage and risk management services for the World Expo 2010 to be held in Shanghai.
Its French partner, Gras Savoye, in which Willis is the largest single shareholder with a 37 percent stake, won a contract for the Beijing Olympics 2010, Sarah Turvill, global chairwoman of Willis, said.
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