Taiwan insurers take Formosa bonds over structured credit

Growth of renminbi assets ends Taiwan insurers' love affair with structured credit

The relaxation on rules relating to Taiwan insurers' use of Formosa bonds – renminbi-denominated locally issued paper – in May last year has finally ended the demand for structured credit products from a sector which was a major buyer of the asset class prior to the global financial crisis in 2008.

While the market for Chinese currency denominated bonds has been active in Taiwan since 2013, a move by the Taiwan Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) in May 2014 to no longer count these assets as