China takes over Anbang Insurance, prosecutes ex-chair

BEIJING: China's insurance regulator today said it had taken over Anbang Insurance Group for a year and was prosecuting its former chairman for "economic crimes" as the government stepped up its battle against corruption and excessive corporate debt.

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission said Anbang, which emerged from obscurity in recent years to make a number of high-profile foreign acquisitions, had violated insurance regulations, "severely" impairing its ability to pay back debts.