Japan's major property insurers are suspected of having colluded over insurance premiums for corporate customers such as oil refiners, steel companies and public transportation operators, sources close to the matter said Wednesday.
The Financial Services Agency is expected to order Japan's four major insurers, including Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., to submit records of contracts for which they allegedly arranged premium levels to avoid competition, according to the sources.
The agency suspects that alleged cartel activities took place when the insurers jointly underwrote coverage for large infrastructure companies such as ENEOS Holdings Inc., East Japan Railway Co. and Narita International Airport Corp., the sources said.
The other three insurers are Sompo Japan Insurance Inc., Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. and Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Co.
The allegation comes on top of policy price-fixing involving joint coverage for railway company Tokyu Corp. by the same four insurers.
In June, the insurers admitted collusion for Tokyu's contract and began investigating whether there were other anti-competitive practices in selling other policies.
Dozens of suspected price-fixing cases at the insurers surfaced after employees were asked to report suspected antitrust business activities within their companies following the Tokyu incident, the sources said.
Ahead of any potential investigations or penalties from the Japan Fair Trade Commission, insurance companies have conducted independent probes into suspicious deals, aiming to submit any evidence of cartel activities to authorities for leniency, they said.
"There are suspicious contracts with companies in a wide variety of industries in addition to railway firms, oil refiners and steel companies," one of the sources said.
Insurers typically provide coverage jointly for large companies to protect themselves against potentially large compensation demands.
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