Prudential shakes up Asian connections

INSURANCE heavyweight Prudential has reportedly begun a shake-up of its Asian business that will see it scale back its ambitions for growth in India and China.

Chief executive Tidjane Thiam is reported to have said that although the firm has no plans to pull out of either country it will push investment into fast-growing economies in south-east Asia, including Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia.

Thiam said that regulators in India and China were "understandably cautious" about relaxing restrictions on foreign ownership of financial firms.