Taiwan’s Mercuries Life is exploring options to enhance its capital adequacy ratio, which may include a potential sale of the business, according to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday, 19 August.
Sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that the life insurer is consulting with advisers to assess initial interest from prospective buyers. Other options reportedly under consideration are a stake sale instead of selling the entire business, as well as partnerships both locally and overseas.
According to a report by the Taipei Times in 2024, Mercuries Life was restricted from trading with or providing credit to interested parties due to its failure to meet the minimum required risk-based capital ratio (RBC) of 200% and 3% net worth ratio. At the end of 2023, it only had an RBC of 111.09% and a 2.97% net worth ratio.
The FSC has since asked the insurer to detail its capital management plan by the end of August 2025 and complete the process by year-end, Bloomberg stated in its report.
Mercuries Life, founded in 1993, offers health, accident, annuities, group, universal, and investment insurance products. The firm holds a market value of about US$1bn, with its benchmark index down 1.8% as of 9:30 a.m. this Wednesday.
As of the first half of 2025, the FSC reported that Taiwan’s broader insurance sector posted a NT$19.4bn (approximately US$650.68m) in combined losses, largely attributed to a steep decline in life insurers’ earnings.
The agency noted that since the end of 2024, the New Taiwan dollar has appreciated by 9.63% against the US dollar, with the cumulative balance of foreign exchange valuation reserve of life insurance firms at NT$233.5bn.
