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* Aussie banks sitting on about $6 bln of insurance assets-sources
* CBA, ANZ seen likely to offload insurance units-sources
* Dai-ichi, Metlife seen among suitors keen to expand in Australia
* Australia viewed as an under-insured market
By Denny Thomas and Swati Pandey
HONG KONG/WELLINGTON, Nov 6 (Reuters) - ANZ Banking Group ANZ.AX and Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX could follow top lender National Australia Bank NAB.AX in selling off stakes in their life insurance business in a bid to meet rising regulatory capital needs, bankers say.
The insurance units of ANZ and CBA, by virtue of their 15 percent market share in Australia's A$86 billion ($61 billion) life sector, are the most promising targets for suitors seeking exposure to an under-insured but profitable market, they said.
NAB last week sold a majority stake in its life insurance unit to Japan's Nippon Life NPNLI.UL for $1.8 billion, coming up with an alternative route to raising capital than a returns-diluting equity issue.
"This transaction may open up a new avenue for banks to release capital," said Marie-Soazic Geffroy Dernoncourt, Asia Pacific head of financial institutions group for Morgan Stanley (N:MS), which advised Nippon Life on the NAB deal.
"It's a step that could lead other banks to consider doing something," said Dernoncourt, adding the next transaction may take some time to materialise, given a recent round of equity fund-raising of about A$20 billion by Australia's major banks.
Among those interested in expanding in Australia is Japan's Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co 8750.T , which bought Tower Australia Group in 2011, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
"We see the banks' operations as good fits for the likes of AIA Group, Metlife Inc and Dai-ichi's existing operations in Australia, with significant synergies available as well," said Arjan van-Veen, analyst with Credit Suisse (VX:CSGN).
Metlife MET.N , AIA 1299.HK , Dai-ichi, ANZ and CBA declined to comment.
Australia's nearly 24 million population may seem too small to tempt overseas life insurers, but with the nation's savers having A$2 trillion in their pension funds and life insurance accounting for just 5.4 percent of GDP, compared to 14.5 percent in Hong Kong, the market holds promise.
Australian banks are sitting on about $6 billion of insurance business on their books, based on their embedded values, bankers and analysts estimate.
New rules require banks to set aside capital for their insurance businesses wholly in equity compared to a mix of assets they could use previously, which is the main driver for banks to reassess the future of what is not their core business.
Banks worldwide are expected to preserve more capital as global and national regulators determine how much more money they would need to survive a repeat of the global financial crisis.
The Australian banks could also strike exclusive distribution agreements with insurance companies to earn a commission and keep ties to a business that is making money. Net profit at Australian life insurers jumped 28 percent in the year to June 2015, according to Fitch Ratings.
But they are expected to give up ownership of insurance assets.
"In the long run, we don't expect any of the Australian banks to be natural owners of the insurance businesses," said Credit Suisse's Arjan. ($1 = 1.3994 Australian dollars)