ING Taiwan has $34 million in Lehman, Merrill and AIG exposure

By Faith Hung

TAIPEI (Reuters) - ING Groep's Taiwan life insurance unit has T$1.1 billion ($34 million) in collective exposure to Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and AIG, an executive said on Tuesday.

About a quarter of the total figure is tied up in Lehman-related business, John Wylie, chief executive officer of ING Life Taiwan, told Reuters on the sidelines of a company event.

"Our exposure is very small," Wylie said, adding the T$1.1 billion in exposure accounts for only 0.2 percent of the company's assets.

Meanwhile, AIG's Taiwan business faces greater uncertainty due to links to its troubled parent.

Troubles at U.S.-based AIG, much like those of some of its Wall Street peers, stem from guarantees it wrote on mortgage-linked derivatives that have left it with a total of $18 billion in losses over the past three quarters.

But AIG Taiwan said its operations remain normal and its clients would not be affected, Taiwan media reported.

Officials of AIG Taiwan could not be reached for comment.

Taiwan financial firms and retail investors had about $2.5 billion worth of investments in Lehman products, the island's top financial regulator said on Monday.

Cathay Financial, parent of Taiwan's biggest insurer, had T$1.05 billion in exposure to Lehman, and Shin Kong Financial, parent of the No. 2 insurer, had T$2.5 billion.

($1=T$32.2) (Reporting by Faith Hung; Editing by Ken Wills and Keiron Henderson)