China to let insurers buy more unsecured debt
U.S. insurer American International Group (AIG) office building is pictured in Tokyo December 24, 2008. AIG said on Wednesday that it would halt the merger between its two Japanese life insurers, AIG Star Life Insurance and AIG Edison Life Insurance. REUTERS

China's insurance regulator is considering raising the proportion of assets that c may invest in unsecured bonds to 30 percent from the current 20 percent, IFR reported on Thursday, citing sources.

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) is also considering relaxing other regulations governing which debt securities insurers may invest in, IFR cited two sources as saying, one of whom it said attended a meeting between regulators and top insurance asset managers late last month.

The CIRC could allow insurers to buy greater stakes in individual unsecured deals and relax restrictions on the range of qualified issuers, said IFR, a Thomson Reuters publication.

Increasing the proportion of assets that insurers may invest in unsecured bonds would potentially allow 500 billion yuan ($76 billion) to flow into China's unsecured debt market, IFR said.

Security China China