The Board of Directors (BD) of the Competition Superintendence (CS) authorized the acquisition of the insurance company Aseguradora Suiza Salvadoreña, S. A. by Seguros Suramericana, S. A. Pursuant to the analysis carried out, the CS issued important orders and recommendations to improve competition in the identified relevant markets.

1. Press Release C. 18-12
El Salvador, June 18th, 2012.
CS authorized acquisition of ASESUISA by
Suramericana
The Board of Directors (BD) of the Competition Superintendence (CS) authorized the acquisition of the
insurance company Aseguradora Suiza Salvadoreña, S. A. by Seguros Suramericana, S. A. Pursuant to
the analysis carried out, the CS issued important orders and recommendations to improve competition in
the identified relevant markets.
In the aforementioned operation, the insurance company Seguros Suramericana,
“This acquisition was S. A. shall purchase 97.03% of the capital stock of Aseguradora Suiza
authorized yet important Salvadoreña, S. A.
recommendations were
made¸ primarily to The companies Seguros Suramericana, S. A.; Seguros Generales Suramericana, S.
guarantee that the sector´s A.; and, Administradora de Fondos de Pensiones Crecer, S. A. (AFP Crecer, S. A.)
procurement processes form the acquiring group. The companies Banagrícola, S. A.; Inversiones
are carried out in Financieras Banco Agrícola, S. A.; Aseguradora Suiza Salvadoreña, S. A.; and,
compliance with Asesuisa Vida, S. A. Seguros de Personas form the selling group or Bancolombia
competition rules”, Group.
asserted Francisco Diaz
Rodriguez, Chairman of The economic activities of both groups are complementary. On one hand, those
the BD of the CS. of the selling group include insurance services such as: insurances against fires
and related events; car insurances; individual and collective life and medical
insurances; insurances in case of accidents; as well as pension fund insurances. While on the other hand, the
acquiring group offers pension fund insurances to pension funds administrators.
The technical, legal, and economic analysis executed by the CS included amongst others: the review of the
market´s concentration levels; the evaluation of entry barriers for new competitors; and the existing rivalry levels,
in order to determine if as a result of the acquisition, the probabilities of committing anticompetitive practices or of
significantly limiting competition could increase. Pursuant to the aforementioned analysis, the CS determined that
this operation did not later the current conditions of the identified relevant markets.
In agreement with the above cited analysis, the CS issued recommendations to the Financial System
Superintendence and to the Associate Pension Funds Superintendence (in Spanish, Superintendencia del Sistema
Financiero and Superintendencia Adjunta de Pensiones, respectively), to promote competition and encourage
mechanisms to regulate the procurement procedures carried out by the pension funds administrators to obtain
disability and survivors insurances, to assure that said processes are executed without discrimination of any kind,
redundancy, or manipulation, according to objective criteria, in order not to harm competing economic agents.
Furthermore, the CS recommended the preparation of amendment drafts to the relevant legal framework with the
purpose of promoting competition amongst the pension funds administrators and the insurance companies,

2. creating the possibility that the savings resulting from competition are transferred as direct benefits to consumers
and employers, either by reducing commissions or by rendering additional services.
Moreover, the BD of the CS recommended publishing in the main written communications media the amendments
to the Pensions Savings System Law approved by means of the Legislative Decree number 1,036 dated March 29th,
2012 in order make those amendments of general knowledge. Said publication should be made once a month for
two months after the resolution has been notified.
Finally, the BD ordered the pension funds administrator, AFP Crecer, S. A., a vertically integrated economic agent
resulting from this acquisition, to execute its procurement procedures to obtain disability and survivors insurances
pursuant to competition principles; and to file with the CS, for three months after the resolution has been notified,
certified copies of all the documents related with the procurement processes carried out to obtain disability and
survivors insurances. In addition, to encourage the participation of insurance companies by complying with article
9, paragraph 11 of the “Regulations to obtain disability and survivors insurances for pension funds administrators”,
complementing said regulations with, at least, three additional publications in the main written communications
media, thirty days prior to the reception of tenders within the procurement procedures carried out for the above
cited purposes.
Background
January 4th, 2012 The CS received the acquisition authorization request.
January 17th, 2012 The CS requested complementary information.
February 28th, 2012 The CS requested complementary information.
March 15th, 2012 The solicitor filed the complementary information.
March 21st, 2012 The BD of the CS admitted for analysis the acquisition authorization request.
April 18th, 2012 The BD of the CS requested for analysis information to the sector´s economic agents.
April 13th, 2012 The BD of the CS authorized the acquisition.
1
Article 9 paragraph 1 of the “Regulations to obtain disability and survivors insurances for pension funds administrators”: To
initiate a procurement process the pension funds administrator must publish in one newspaper of national coverage a calling
notice thirty days prior to the reception of tenders.