Japanese Agency Rebukes AXA Subsidiaries

By Staff Writer

July 10, 2001 at 08:00 PM

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NU Online News Service, July 10, 4:23 p.m. – The Financial Services Agency of Japan says it is "strengthening its oversight" over AXA Life Insurance Company and AXA Group Life Insurance Company, two Japanese subsidiaries of AXA, Paris:

The agency has accused the units of selling group welfare insurance to ineligible individuals, the company says.

AXA has promised to strengthen its education and verification programs, and to conduct an internal examination to prevent similar sales problems from cropping up again, according to a statement posted on the Web, at http://www2.axa.co.jp/release/news_c.html

The charges may be part of ongoing efforts by the FSA to crack down on the illegal but widely used practice of luring new customers by offering individual customers group insurance rates, according to Kyoto Tonsin, a Japanese news agency. (See AFLAC Japan 'Self-Polices' Sales Networks at http://www.nunews.com/archives/lh_archive/2000/l12-04/l200049aflac.asp)

The FSA has also posted a statement on the matter, at http://www.fsa.go.jp/news/newsj/hoken/f-20010706-5.html

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