Association: Banks would operate fairly in insurance market

Chilean banks would operate in the local annuities market in a transparent and professional manner if they were allowed to sell retirement product through their insurance brokerages, newspaper El Diario Financiero quoted Jorge Larroucau, chairman of Chile's bancassurance association, as saying. The government has sent a bill to congress that contemplates changes to the current annuities law in order to boost competition and reduce costs. Larroucau rejected the claims of certain insurers that banks would operate "package deals" illegally offering clients incentives to purchase insurance and banking service linked products. In common with banks, department stores operate insurance brokerages and no instances of "package deals" has been detected, Larroucau said, adding that the banking system's credit operations are strictly supervised by the country's banking regulator. The option of selling annuities through their insurance brokerages would be "very positive" for Chilean banks as it would generate handsome revenues and help to boost client loyalty, banking analyst Carlos Ballon at local brokerage Larrain Vial told BNamericas last month.