Japan’s financial regulator has ordered the nation’s four major property insurers to change their business operations after it was discovered they engaged in a price fixing collusion scheme that inflated the insurance premiums for corporate customers and government agencies.
The four companies are Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Sompo Japan Insurance Inc., Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. and Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Co.
According to Kyodo News, this is the first time since 2007 when the regulator issued a collective administrative punishment against insurance companies. The new order requires the companies to identify the depth of their management’s awareness of the collusion and to introduce internal reforms to upgrade their compliance.
Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki criticized the companies, stating their “inappropriate behavior was widespread, repeated, and continuous, which I think was highly malicious.” Another government agency, the Japan Fair Trade Commission, is conducting its own investigation to determine if the companies ran afoul of anti-monopoly laws.
