Gareth Hewett, a spokesman for HSBC in Hong Kong, declined to comment on the sale process. Spokespeople for MS&AD, Japan's biggest non-life insurer, and Axa, Europe's second-largest insurer, also declined to comment. TOUGHER RULES HSBC, Europe's largest bank, reported $1 billion of "net written insurance premiums" for its non-life business last year, down from $1.1 billion in 2009, according to its annual report. Net premiums in Asia accounted for about a third of the total, while Latin America made up 42 per cent, the report showed. Chief Executive Officer Stuart Gulliver is reversing HSBC's expansion over the past two decades, selling assets and cutting jobs as the euro-area debt crisis saps profit and regulators demand thicker capital buffers.