The Financial Services Agency on Tuesday ordered all 39 life insurance companies operating in Japan to investigate and report by the end of September whether they failed to make due payouts to policyholders over the past five years.
The news comes at a time when Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co., one of Japan's top four life insurers, disclosed on two occasions over the last six months that it had unfairly withheld death benefits -- news that stunned many insurance policyholders.
The industry has taken the position that the improper withholding of policy payouts was a problem unique to Meiji Yasuda. But analysts said the FSA's investigation order could expose similar cases at other insurers.