Hong Kong

SIAM Commercial Bank (SCB) has entered into exclusive talks with Hong Kong insurer FWD Group to sell its life insurance arm, which could raise US$3 billion for Thailand's third-biggest lender, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

A successful deal would rank as the largest insurance M&A transaction in South-east Asia, and the biggest in Asia since the merger of two insurance companies in India valued at US$3.2 billion in August 2016, according to Thomson Reuters data.