SINGAPORE — The ultimate decision to amend the Insurance Act — which would prevent the current form of the Allianz-Income deal from going through — was made by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong himself, together with the Cabinet. Law and Home Affairs Minister K.
The Singapore Government had announced in October that the deal between German insurer Allianz and Income Insurance in its current form had been called off.SINGAPORE — The ultimate decision to amend the Insurance Act — which would prevent the current form of the Allianz-Income deal from going through — was made by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong himself, together with the Cabinet.
It then rushed through an amendment to the Insurance Act to allow the approval of the deal to be withheld. This paved the way for the Monetary Authority of Singapore to consider the views of the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth in future applications related to insurers that are cooperatives or are linked to them.
He added that he sensed that Shanmugam "played a pivotal role in the internal deliberations that ultimately led to halting the deal.""The deal, and views on the deal, do not fall within my purview. I was a conduit, sending his views on to the relevant ministers," he said. Shanmugam said that those with this view assumed that MCCY had known about the deal from the beginning, but this was not the case.
"Deals of such commercial sensitivities cannot be disclosed to third parties, except to the regulatory bodies — to do so would be illegal. In this case, both NE and Allianz respected and followed the law," he said. Shanmugam said that it would not be practical for the Government as a whole to know everything about the deal when it was announced in July.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Platform in talks to relist Income shares as some shareholders express uncertainty over Allianz dealAlta was earlier ordered to cease this service by Oct 17, in the light of the German insurer's offer.
Read more »
Allianz-Income deal off, ‘not in the public interest’ to proceed in current form: Edwin TongThe scrapping of the deal was announced in Parliament on Oct 14.
Read more »
Ministerial statement: Edwin Tong on blocking of Income-Allianz dealThe Singapore Government has intervened to stop the proposed deal between NTUC Income and German insurer Allianz, under which Allianz would have acquired a majority stake in Income. The announcement of the deal had earlier sparked a public outcry amid concerns about whether Income would maintain its social mission.
Read more »
Fraying of Allianz-Income deal shocks insiders; coming up with new proposal no easy taskAllianz and NTUC Enterprise were informed of the rejection shortly before the government decision was made public.
Read more »
Govt halts Income-Allianz deal in current form, remains open if public-interest concerns are addressedThe government will put a halt to the deal between NTUC Income and German insurer Allianz to protect public interest, said Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong.
Read more »
MPs raise questions over communication, business uncertainty in move to block Allianz-Income dealThese issues and more were raised in a lengthy Parliament debate lasting four hours.
Read more »