Aviva has been granted permission to establish a life insurance joint venture in Taiwan by The Financial Supervisory Commission.

The new company, to be called First-Aviva, is a joint venture between Aviva and First Financial Holdings (FFHC). Aviva has first received approval from the board of directors of the FFHC to form a joint venture. Since then, it has been working to seek Financial Supervisory Commission’s (FSC) regulatory permission for its establishment. First-Aviva is now preparing for the next stage which is to get ready for FSC’s approval of its operational license.

FFHC will hold 51% of the equity share capital of First-Aviva, with Aviva holding the remaining 49%. Aviva has reported that this agreement will be the first joint venture between a local financial holding company and a foreign insurance group.

First-Aviva will manufacture long-term savings and pension products in Taiwan and distribute them through an exclusive bancassurance agreement with First Commercial Bank, a subsidiary of FFHC.