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Insurance Could Prevent Internet Merchants From Hacker [CN] [cn]
05.01.12, Zhang Ying, People's Daily
Recently, the accidents of internet information disclosure occurred with an increasing frequency. The representative of Zurich Insurance Company Beijing branch said internet companies should insure themselves against hackers. The company plans to develop IT Professional Indemnity Insurance. Zeng Wanli, the deputy of Zurich Insurance Financial Insurance department, believes that China is an emerging market for this sort of insurance.

Good Things in Store For Chinese Life Insurers [CN] [en]
09.12.11, Hu Yuanyuan, China Daily
China's insurance industry is expected to outstrip its counterparts in other emerging markets in 2012, even though many observers say the country's growth will slow during the same time, according to a report issued by the reinsurance giant Swiss Re AG. According to the report, life-insurance premiums in China are expected to increase by 11 percent (in real terms) in 2012.

Credit Suisse: Chinese Real Estate Market Has Seen A Setback [CN] [cn]
08.12.11, Phoenix News
In the latest report, Credit Suisse predicts that the price of Chinese real estate market will reduce 20% in average next year. The report indicated that Chinese residence demand was exaggerated. Credit Suisse believes if the price of house dropped sharply, Chinese government would take relatively active monetary policy to let the credit funds enter the real estate market.

Swiss RE Predict Asian Insurance Market Will Increase [CN] [cn]
07.12.11, Stockstar
Swiss RE forecasts that the Asia insurance market will continue growing next year. Asian life-insurance premium will increase by 4.4% because of the growth of Chinese and Indian demand. In contrast the non-life insurance premium will grow more slowly.

Julius Baer Opens Representative Office in Shanghai, China [CH] [en]
30.11.11, Julius Baer
Julius Baer announced the opening of a representative office in Shanghai, China, for which Ms Yan Sun will be the Chief Representative Officer. This represents Julius Baer’s next step to establishing its brand within the China market. The key role of the Shanghai representative office will be to function as a business liaison between the Bank, local regulators and local companies in China, to conduct market research into the wealth management industry in China and to provide consultancy to the rest of the Julius Baer Group in relation to the wealth management in China.

New China Life Gets Regulatory Approval for Shanghai IPO [US] [en]
16.11.11, Reuters
New China Life Insurance Co Ltd, 15 percent owned by Swiss insurer Zurich Financial, has received regulatory approval for the Shanghai leg of its planned $2.6 billion Shanghai-Hong Kong dual listing. The company, controlled by Central Huijin, a unit of China's sovereign wealth fund, did not give a fundraising target but a source with direct knowledge of the matter has said the firm is aiming to raise about 6 billion yuan ($945.4 million) in Shanghai and 10 billion yuan in Hong Kong.

Marc Faber on « The Causes and Investment Implications of Dishonest Money » [CH] [de]
04.11.11, Christian Gattringer, NZZ Online
Investment guru Marc Faber judges the American financial policy and analyzes China’s influence on the commodity market in his opening speech at the fifth annual Structured Products fair. Faber is widely known as the publisher of the monthly stock exchange report: «The Gloom Boom & Doom Report». He is sceptical regarding big investments in China as the Chinese authorities had also reacted to the crisis with an expansive monetary policy, which in turn procured an investment bubble.

Interview With 'Dr. Doom' Marc Faber [CH] [de]
03.11.11, Finanzen.net
Marc Faber comments in an interview with Euro am Sonntag the global economic situation. For Mister GloomBoomDoom the strong Swiss Franc doesn’t pose a real danger to Swiss exports as its a highly specialized industry. Faber mentioned the fragility of the Chinese credit market and the problems related to the “back-alley bankers”. This system could have a huge negative effect on the real estate, stock and natural resource market when the economic growth of China slows down.

City to Lure More Financial Pros [CN] [en]
02.11.11, Wang Zhenghua, China Daily
Many banks and securities companies in Shanghai have been struggling with the lack of skilled financial professionals, especially high-level management people and talented individuals specializing in a particular sector. Plans are afoot to attract the world's financial powerhouses to set up their regional headquarters in the city and create more positions for talented people. However as Walter B. Kielholz, chairman of Swiss Reinsurance Co, mentioned in Shanghai last week: the high rate of personal income tax was acting as a deterrent to financial professionals who might have otherwise considered a career in the city.

Zurich Insurance Donated 400 Desk and Chair Sets to a Primary School in Zhanhai County [CN] [cn]
19.10.11, China XQ Net
Central Primary School of Zhanhai County held a grand donation ceremony on 16 October to express their thanks to Zurich Financial Services for the company’s contribution to their school. Several governmental officials, over 300 students and teachers of the school and Zurich Insurance China’s CEO Hu Xiaoqin, participated in the ceremony. Hu expressed her hopes that students would study hard and in their turn contribute to the society.

BSI Striving to Get Hold of a Piece of the Asian Cake [CH] [fr]
19.10.11, Servan Peca, Le Temps
Many banks are orienting their business towards Asia as the number of wealthy individuals increases rapidly in the region. BSI Bank from Ticino, Switzerland is opening new filial in Hong Kong which will be BSI’s second office in Asia after Singapore. The objective, according to BSI spokesman Hanspeter Brunner, was not to outsource European business to Asia, but to employ local experts who know the local culture and market to better meet the needs this new group of clients.

New China Life Presses Ahead With Dual Listings [CN] [en]
18.10.11, China Daily
China Life, in which Zurich Financial Services holds an important stake, makes pace with its potential $4 billion Shanghai and Hong Kong initial public offering. The insurer is targeting to obtain Shanghai’s stock exchange approval by the end of this month and Hong Kong should follow only a few days later. Amongst others China Life hired bank UBS to handle the dual listings.

Swatch/Richemont : Will China fix it ? [CH] [de]
13.10.11, Ringier AG Cash
As fears of recession still dictate the stock markets behavior, the stocks of Swatch and Richemont fell to this year’s lowest values two weeks ago. However many experts state that China will be able to compensate for loss suffered in western countries and guarantee growth in the luxury goods sector.

CBC Switzerland Successful in China [CH] [de]
8.10.11, Na-Pressportal
Swiss market research firm CBC shows satisfying results in its recently published half-year report. Especially business in China has been flourishing and improvements in all units were achieved.

Swiss Firm Argor Heraeus SA With New Gold Tael [CH] [de]
21.09.11, R. Schuster, Bullion Investor
The Swiss firm Argor Heraeus SA recently designed a new round gold bar for the Chinese market, known as the China Gold Tael. The term tael most commonly refers to the Chinese tael, a part of the ancient Chinese system of weight and currency. The Chinese Gold Tael launched by Argor Heraeus is made of pure Gold (999.9), weighing 37.5 gramm.

Bank of China Halts Forex Swaps With UBS, BNP [CN] [en]
20.09.11, Jean Yung & Shen Hong, The Wall Street Journal
Bank of China Ltd. has suspended trading of foreign-exchange swaps with BNP Paribas and UBS AG in China's domestic market, a move that could further agitate a local market increasingly nervous about the unfolding euro-zone debt crisis, people familiar with the situation told Dow Jones Newswires Tuesday.

Zurich Insurance Still Optimistic About Xinhua Insurance [CN] [cn]
19.09.11, People's Daily
Zurich Insurance, third largest stakeholder of Xinhua Insurance (NCI), has kindled a lot of speculation by reducing its stake in the Chinese Insurer. Asia Pacific Chief Executive Officer of Zurich, Chen Zhigong, appeases: Although China, leader of the Asian economy, is experiencing a slight slowdown in growth, the overall and Xinhua specific prospects are still quite optimistic.

Top Execs: Crucial Issues Facing 'New Champions' [CN] [en]
14.09.11, China Daily
The 2011 Summer Davos forum is held from September 14 to 16 in Dalian with the theme of "Mastering Quality Growth". Together with other top executives, Johnny Chen, CEO of Zurich Financial's Non-life Insurance, Asia-Pac, shared his view on the topic. "We see China as a major market with massive potential. It is playing a vital role in driving the growth of Asia now as well as in the next five years. From the global perspective, we can see that China and its counterparts in Asia, especially emerging markets such as Indonesia and Malaysia, will continue to outperform other countries in terms of GDP growth, according to International Monetary Fund's forecast." "We can also see the rising importance of China in the global economy. In terms of outbound investment, it was reported that China has contributed to 5.2 percent of the globe's foreign outbound investment in 2010. It was the first time the country surpassed Japan and the UK as the fifth-largest global investor."

Zurich Financial Services Group CEO Meets With Baosteel Group Chairman [CN] [en]
2.09.11, Baosteel
On 30 August 2011, Baosteel Group chairman Xu Lejiang met with Zurich Financial Services Group CEO, Martin Senn and his retinue at Baosteel Tower. The two sides exchanged views on China's financial sector's strategic development prospects. During the meeting, Xu said that after years of efforts, the two sides have worked together and established a close working relationship of mutual trust and understanding and have laid a solid foundation for future cooperation and development between the two sides. Martin Senn said that Zurich Financial Services Group was willing to deepen cooperation with Baosteel and explore financial markets together.

Swiss Re Finds Difficult Terrain in Emerging Markets Like China [CH [de]
2.09.11, Tages Anzeiger
The big reinsurance company can’t miss the opportunity to invest in growing markets like China, but the road to profitability isn’t an easy one, sais Swiss-Re top manager Christian Mumenthaler. Very few Chinese Insurances have been assuring risk through reinsurance companies, but recently the demand has risen strongly due to higher capital requirements. Nevertheless, the potential for foreign companies such as SwissRe is limited, as the reinsurance market is mostly dominated by ex-state monopolies.

UBS Criticized in China [CH [de]
1.09.11, Handelsblatt
UBS investment banking has been put into bad light by the governmental newspaper “Shanghai Securities News”. According to this paper, the bank had given misleading financial information to investors and had concealed key risks during the IPO’s of BYD and Pangda Automobile Trade Co. UBS states to have worked with greatest care and will continue to fulfill the requirements of the Chinese regulatory authority.

China to Have Half of Asia’s Millionaires by 2015 [CN] [en]
1.09.11, China Economic Review
Chinese millionaires will account for half of Asia’s rich and hold over half of wealth in Asia (excluding Japan) by 2015, according to a report released Wednesday from Julius Baer and CLSA, Bloomberg reported. China is expected to have 1.4 million high net worth individuals, about half of Asia's total 2.8 million.

UBS Cuts China Growth Outlook Amid Global Slowdown [US] [en]
25.08.11, Reuters
UBS cut its 2011 and 2012 growth forecasts for China on Thursday to reflect weaker growth prospects in developed economies, saying the central bank may relax policy if the world's second-largest economy falters. UBS now expects 2011 gross domestic product growth of 9 percent, down from its earlier projection of 9.3 percent. For 2012, it sees GDP growth of 8.3 percent, down from its previous forecast of 9 percent, it said in a report.

Taikang Life Looks for Dual Listings [CN] [en]
23.08.11, Hu Yuanyuan, China Daily
Taikang Life Insurance Co Ltd, the country's fifth-largest life insurer, plans to have a dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai within three years, Chairman Chen Dongsheng said on Monday. According to Chen, Taikang's premium income will hit 90 billion yuan by the end of the year. He said that the company's market share stands at 8.2 percent. The company, in which Swiss insurer Zurich Financial Services AG has a 15 percent stake, aims for a hearing with the Hong Kong exchange's listing committee on Sept 22, with the IPO set for sometime in October, sources said.

Julius Baer Launches S$120.2m China Fund [SG] [en]
17.08.11, Today Online
Swiss private banking group Julius Baer said Wednesday that it has launched a US$100 million (S$120.2 million) fund that will provide direct access to China's domestic equities market. The Julius Baer China Fund "provides exclusive access to the A-share markets, giving investors broader and more in-depth exposure to the overall Chinese economy than many China products currently available to overseas investors," the company said. The fund was launched under China's Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor scheme. Julius Baer was awarded its license under the scheme by China's securities regulator in December 2010 and remains the only private bank to hold such a license.

Chinese Outbond M&As Hit Record Levels [CN] [en]
16.08.11, Hu Yuanyuan, China Daily
China's outbound mergers and acquisitions (M&As) reached a record high in the first six months of 2011, with Asia and Europe being the top investment destinations, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said on Monday. According to the PwC report, there were 107 outbound transactions amounting to a total of $9.6 billion in the first half of the year, up 14 percent year-on-year. Meanwhile, Chinese enterprises are also becoming more risk-sensitive in seeking overseas M&A deals. According to Patrick Zeng, head of Financial Lines & Surety at Zurich Financial, more Chinese businesses are seeking M&A insurance before pursuing a deal.

China's Tudou's IPO Fully Subscribed [CN] [en]
15.08.11, China Daily
An initial public offering by China's Tudou, which is looking to raise $180 million on the Nasdaq, was multiple times subscribed, IFR reported on Monday. Tudou intends to offer 6 million American Depositary Shares for $28-$30 each in its Nasdaq IPO. Pricing is slated for Aug 16. Credit Suisse, Oppenheimer & Co and Deutsche Bank Securities are the underwriters for the deal.

Zurich Financial Profit Jumps 88% [en]
11.08.11, Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch, The Wall Street Journal
Zurich Financial Services AG on Thursday reported second-quarter net profit jumped 88% to $1.33 billion, versus $707 million in the year-ago period, helped by growth in its general insurance business. Results were also boosted by a $441 million before-tax gain on the sale of shares in New China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswire were foreacsting net profit of $1.09 billion. The company said it was extending a distribution agreement for life and general insurance products in Germany until Dec. 31, 2022. Zurich Financial said its strong capital base and solvency position are mostly unchanged.

Founder Surges on its Shanghai Trading Debut [CN] [en]
11.08.11, Soo Ai Peng & Samuel Shen, China Daily
Shares of Founder Securities Co Ltd, the Chinese partner of Credit Suisse Group AG, surged by more than half on its Shanghai debut on Wednesday, aided by a shift in stock market sentiment after a massive sell-off that investors think was overdone. Founder, the 19th-biggest brokerage in China by assets, raised 5.85 billion yuan ($910 million) through the third-biggest IPO on the Chinese mainland market this year. Founder owns 66.7 percent of Credit Suisse Founder Securities, one of 10 Sino-foreign investment bank joint ventures in the country. Credit Suisse owns the remainder.

Swiss Re Foresees a Rocky Road for Insurers [CN] [en]
29.07.11, Oswald Chen, China Daily
The global inflationary trend plus the city's low interest rate environment, together with the macroeconomic uncertainty posed by the European and US debt crises, will crimp the profit performance of locally-listed insurance companies in the coming years, Swiss Re Director Clarence Wong said. The Switzerland-based reinsurance company held a press conference on Thursday to explain the operating environment that global insurers will have to face. Many insurance companies such as Hong Kong-listed AIA, Prudential and Manulife have business operations all over the world, so their profit growth is heavily dependent on global inflation trends, interest rate movements and the financial climate of global asset markets.

UBS Sets up Asset Management Unit in China [CN] [en]
28.07.11, China Daily
Swiss bank UBS said last week it has set up an asset management unit in Beijing to tap China's rapidly-growing $650 billion private equity market. "China's strong economic growth has positioned the market as one of the most promising emerging markets globally and resulted in a booming domestic equity investment market," Xinyuan Ling, Chairman of the newly-established UBS Global Asset Management (China), said in a statement. The firm will help launch private equity funds, make direct primate equity investments and provide other related management and advisory services, it said.

Spring Airlines to Raise $1.2b in IPO [CN] [en]
22.07.11, Soo Ai Peng, China Daily
Spring Airlines aims to raise more than $1.2 billion in an initial public offering in the first quarter of 2012 as China's sole budget carrier wants to double its fleet size in the next four years, its president said on Thursday. Spring Airlines hired UBS to help with the IPO and sent a notice to the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the stock market regulator, local media reported earlier this year.

IPO Bulls Slowing to a Canter [CN] [en]
21.07.11, Li Tao, China Daily
Hong Kong's stock exchange set a new record in terms of fundraising in the first half, but the performance of new listings has nevertheless been dire as the shares of almost two-thirds of the companies that have gone public in the city this year are now trading below their IPO prices. The world's biggest initial public offering so far this year - Glencore International Plc's dual listing in London and Hong Kong fell as much as 3 percent on its Hong Kong debut in May and closed at HK$61.80 per share in Hong Kong on July 18 - a loss of 7.11 percent versus its offer price of HK$66.53.

UK's 3i Group Hires Paul Su as Senior Partner for China [EU] [en]
20.07.11, Stephen Aldred, Reuters
UK-based private equity firm 3i Group Plc said it hired Paul Su from Credit Suisse as a senior partner for 3i China. Su is the latest name to leave investment banking for a senior private equity role, as global buyout firms look to strengthen their deal teams in China.

PICC Plans $5b to $6b IPO in HK and Shanghai [CN] [en]
19.07.11, China Daily
The People's Insurance Company (Group) of China (PICC), one of the country's largest insurers, plans to raise $5 billion to $6 billion in an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong and Shanghai, International Financing Review (IFR) reported citing two sources with knowledge of the plans. China International Capital Corp (CICC), HSBC and Credit Suisse were hired to handle the deal, said IFR, a Thomson Reuters publication. More banks are expected to be added to the roster later, IFR said.

Credit Suisse Boosts Asia Pacific Capital Market Management Team-IFR [CN] [en]
18.07.11, Reuters
Credit Suisse has appointed Carl Bautista, Mervyn Chow and George Pavey as co-heads of its global markets solutions group (GMSG) for Asia Pacific, IFR reported on Monday. The bank has also named Zeth Hung as vice chairman of the investment banking department and GMSG for Greater China.

China to Maintain IPO Trend Says E&Y Report [CN] [en]
16.07.11, Li Xiang, China Daily
Chinese enterprises will continue to dominate the market for global initial public offerings (IPO) in 2011, despite a slowdown in IPO activity and the economic uncertainties at home and abroad, said the accounting firm Ernst & YoungLLP. The global volume of IPOs reached $111.1 billion in 672 deals in the first half of this year, 10 percent higher than the total in the same period last year. The $10 billion IPO by the Swiss commodities trader Glencore International Plc on the HKEx was the largest offering in the second quarter, followed by the Italian fashion house Prada SpA which raised $2.14 billion in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Ernst & Young expects to see the Shanghai international board launched in the second half of this year, with the first company to list by the end of this year, or early in 2012.

Zurich Denied NCL Share Sale for Cashing Convenience [CN] [en]
12.07.11, SinoCast
Zurich Financial Services Asia Pacific and Middle East Chairman Geoffrey Riddell during an interview on July 11, 2011 denied the saying that his company reduced holding in New China Life Insurance Co., Ltd. (NCL) at the latter's coming initial public offering (IPO) for cashing convenience.

Swiss Re-insurance: China is Likely to Become the Second Largest Insurance Market Within a Decade [CH] [en]
6.07.11, Swiss Re
The insurance industry is back to growth, as shown by Swiss Re's annual assessment of global insurance markets for 2010. Life insurance premiums globally grew 3.2% in 2010 and rose by 13% in emerging markets. South & East Asia was the region that had the strongest growth, at 18%, led by China, with strong demand for both traditional and investment-linked products. The report stated that the global market share of emerging countries is expected to continue to increase strongly from today’s 14% over the next ten years and China is likely to become the second largest insurance market within a decade.

Strong Swiss Franc Slowing the Growth in Exports [CH] [en]
5.07.11, Osec
The strong franc is increasingly causing trouble for Swiss SMEs. Although they remain optimistic and expect another rise in exports for the third quarter of 2011, growth is likely to slow – especially as economic prospects abroad have become more subdued. The vast majority of SMEs also face pressure on margins. Those are the most important findings of the SME export outlook indicator produced by Credit Suisse and Osec.

Zurich Gets CIRC Nod to Sell NCI Stake to Nomura [CN] [en]
4.07.11, Reuters
The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) has approved a plan by Zurich Financial Services AG to sell a small stake in New China Life Insurance (NCI) to Nomura Securities Co Ltd. Under the plan, the Swiss insurer will sell 65 million New China Life shares to Nomura, the CIRC said in a statement posted on its website. Nomura will own 2.5 percent of New China Life following the transaction while Zurich's stake in the Chinese insurer will be reduced to 15 percent, it said.

Head of Kunming City met with Head of UBS Investment Bank [CN] [cn]
1.07.11, Wu Xiaosong, People's Daily
On 29th July, Ji Qiuhe, Municipal Party Secretary of Kunming, met David Chin, the Head of UBS China Investment bank, to discuss cooperation possibilities with UBS. Chin said UBS China Investment Bank will give full play to its advantage to provide financial service for enterprises in Kunming, Yunnan Province.

UBS: China July CPI to Increase by 6% - 6.5% [CN] [cn]
30.06.11, Xin Shoudong, China.org.cn
According to Wall Street Journal 29th June press release, global leading financial service provider UBS AG reported that China consumer price index (CPI) will witness an increase of between 6% and 6.5% in July, 2011. UBS said though the inflation rate is very high, there is still a possibility that the CPI will drop to 4% at the end of this year.

Glencore Chairman Struggling in Yunnan Forests Case [CH] [fr]
29.06.11, Pierre-Alexandre Sallier, Le Temps
Simon Murray, chairman of commodity trader Glencore, is struggling in his role as a director of Sino-Forest, whose shares have been hit by accusations of fraud. The Chinese forestry company, whose stock market capitalization has plummeted 4.3 billion USD inside three weeks, lost credibility with investors, analysts, and rating agencies after a June 2 short seller report alleged it had radically exaggerated the size of its timber assets. The story tells it all: on the one hand the suspicions of a stock scandal between Hong Kong and Yunnan forests, on the other Simon Murray recently taking over the presidency of Glencore. The link between the two can only be fiery.

Valuations Show Good Time to Buy [CN] [en]
28.06.11, Michael Patterson, China Daily
The lowest Chinese stock valuations since economic growth collapsed three years ago have sent a signal to the country's biggest brokerages that it's time to buy. Credit Suisse Group AG cut its earnings forecasts for Shanghai index companies and advised reducing bank holdings in a June 20 research report. A surge in "off-balance-sheet" financing may force policy makers to clamp down on credit growth for longer than investors anticipate, according to Hong Kong-based analysts Vincent Chan and Peggy Chan. Credit Suisse predicts an expansion of 8.7 percent this year and 8.5 percent in 2012. The Zurich-based bank has a target of 3000 for the Shanghai index.

Foreign Banks 'Confident' about Chinese Market [CN] [en]
23.06.11, Wang Xiaotian, China Daily
PwC report shows that overseas lenders believe revenues will grow. Despite increasing funding constraints, foreign banks operating in China are still "surprisingly confident" about their prospects in the Chinese market. That's according to a report released by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) International Ltd. Of the 42 foreign banks interviewed by the company in China, 22 expect revenue to rise between 20 and 50 percent in 2011. And all the banks interviewed believe that their revenue will continue to grow over the next three years.

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