Sun Life announces acquisition of Assurant benefits unit
Sun Life Financial of Toronto is to acquire the employee benefits business of US insurer Assurant in a deal worth U$975 million. It will mean a growth in market position for the Canadian firm, jumping from ninth largest group benefits business in the US to sixth. The Wall Street Journal reports that Assurant will receive $940 million for the unit and the other $35 million will be capital investment among other things. Assurant has been looking to sell its employee benefits business as it focuses on its other lines.
Manulife close to acquiring Hong Kong pension fund
Toronto-based insurer Manulife is nearing a deal to acquire the Hong Kong pension fund of British bank Standard Chartered the Globe and Mail reports. The acquisition would give the Canadian insurer a boost against its rival in the region HSBC; between them the firms dominate the pensions market in Hong Kong. Consolidation in the market will see smaller firms exit giving the biggest firms a chance to further grow their business at a time when the Hong Kong pensions business is increasing. Manulife and Standard Chartered have not commented on the report.
Insurance agent accused of swindling elderly clients
An insurance agent from Staten Island, New York has been accused of scamming elderly clients out of the life savings. SIlive.com
reports that Paul Simoneschi, 69, of Benedict Avenue, West Brighton allegedly stole $2.5 million from clients of his Brooklyn-based insurance agency Simmons Planning Group & Agency Inc. A 63-count indictment at Brooklyn Supreme Court alleges that Simoneschi used various methods to steal funds from mainly-elderly clients. In some cases he is said to have persuaded them to cancel insurance policies and re-invest the money with him but banked their cash instead. The largest single amount lost by a client was $575,000 the indictment reads.
Firms risk bribery, corruption from third-parties says KPMG
While many companies are performing due diligence when bringing third parties aboard, the majority of the survey respondents at U.S.
-listed companies are not taking the next steps to monitor these intermediaries. That’s one of the findings of a new study by KPMG which warns that anti-bribery and corruption (ABC) risk is growing and that third-party monitoring, and companies’ own compliance, could be improved.
Threat of enforcement through the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), is causing suppliers and partners of U.S. companies to develop ABC compliance programs of their own. 79 per cent of respondents listed outside of the U.S. or UK have developed formal anti-bribery programs.
