AIA Group Ltd., HSBC Holdings Plc and Standard Chartered Plc dropped at the open in Hong Kong trading after some Chinese cities targeted overseas insurance policies in their latest effort to boost tax revenues.
Offshore insurance policies purchased by mainland Chinese have become the latest targets for increasing tax collection, according to people familiar with the matter. That follows a series of earlier efforts by China to strengthen oversight of cross-border wealth and improve tax transparency.
The moves dragged the benchmark Hang Seng Index 1.4% lower on Thursday morning. AIA shares declined as much as 8.9%, Standard Chartered slid 3.9% and HSBC fell 2.8%. Firms including HSBC and Prudential Plc had tumbled in London trading on Wednesday after media outlet Caixin first reported on the matter.
Since 2025, some policy holders who reside in Beijing and declared dividends from participating insurance products they purchased in Hong Kong have been asked to pay a 20% tax on the realized gain, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
China’s central tax bureau didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
A 20% tax on dividend payouts and interest earned from prepayment of offshore policies could curb demand for insurance sold by a range of companies in Hong Kong, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Steven Lam wrote in a note early Thursday.
He calculated that every 10% drop in new sales from mainland Chinese visitors could drag down new business value by an average of 2% this year. - Bloomberg
