China Insurance Watchdog Warns Sector of Cash Crunch, Low Returns

January 25, 2013Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleCommentsSome Chinese insurers may face a cash crunch this year as many policies mature, and as the sector faces sliding investment returns and rising costs, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) said.

Insurance companies need to broaden their investment channels to improve their returns, the CIRC said late on Thursday in its annual work report. The commission said it would also promote reform on the launch of infrastructure and real estate debt projects and introduce new types of investors.

“We see many more difficulties in ensuring steady growth of the insurance industry this year due to a comparatively lower investment return rate and the imminent peak of due payments on policies,” Xiang Junbo, the commission’s chairman said in the report.

With existing average investment returns for insurers being lower than the interest rate of five-year deposits, more policyholders are expected to surrender their policies — a trend which may cause a number of insurers to face a cash crunch, the CIRC said.

After enjoying an average growth of more than 20 percent in the past two decades, China’s insurance premium income slowed to single-digit growth in 2012.

The premium income increased 8 percent to 1.55 trillion yuan ($249 billion) last year, with health insurance premiums leading the growth, the commission said, while total assets of the insurance industry jumped 22.29 percent on year to 7.35 trillion yuan

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Oklahoma Insurance Agent Headed to Prison for not Filing Tax Returns

May 8, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

An Oklahoma insurance agent has been sentenced to 24 months in federal prison for not filing his federal income tax returns.

Barry G. Brockman of Oklahoma City was sentenced for not filing tax returns for the calendar years 2003 and 2004, according to Sanford C. Coats, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma.

Since 1998, Brockman has worked as an independent insurance agent in Oklahoma City, Moore, and Norman, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported. On April 14, 2010, Brockman was charged with willful failure to file a federal tax return for calendar years 2003, 2004 and 2005.

Court filings showed that Brockman earned more than $1.2 million in gross income from his insurance business during those three years, but did not timely file federal income tax returns. On Oct. 12, 2010, Brockman pled guilty to willfully failing to file a federal tax return for 2003 and 2004.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Doyle W. Argo recently sentenced Brockman to 24 months of imprisonment, followed by one year of supervised release. That sentence includes 12 months of imprisonment on both counts, to be served consecutively. In addition, Brockman was ordered to pay $241,406.21 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service for taxes owed for 2003, 2004 and 2005.

These charges are the result of an investigation conducted by the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chris M. Stephens and Suzanne Mitchell.

Source: Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma

 

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