(Bloomberg) — Aegon NV, the Dutch owner of U.S. insurer Transamerica Corp., has been added to a list of insurers deemed systemically important by global financial rule makers, while Italy's Assicurazioni Generali SpA was removed.
The updated list of nine too-big-to-fail insurers was published by the Financial Stability Board, the Basel, Switzerland-based organization set up by the Group of 20 nations. The inclusion of these companies means they may face tougher capital standards and tighter regulation. The list was first published in 2013.
Aegon said Tuesday that it will "work closely" with regulators in planned consultations over the framework for systemically important insurers. About two-thirds of the company's income comes from Transamerica.
The FSB, led by Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, is among regulators seeking to limit risk at the biggest financial firms to avoid a repeat of government bailouts that were required in the credit crisis. While more rescue funds went to banks, the U.S. had to prop up insurers led by New York-based American International Group Inc., which was hobbled by losses on derivative bets on subprime mortgages.
