HONG KONG (April 8): Canadian insurer Manulife Financial Corp is close to a deal worth about US$1 billion ($1.36 billion) to sell products through Singapore lender DBS Group Holdings' branch network across Asia, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Manulife would pay cash to the Singaporean bank over the life of the 15-year contract, the person said, declining to be named as the details of the transaction were not yet public.

A DBS spokeswoman declined to comment and Manulife was not immediately available to comment.

The agreement is known as a "bancassurance" deal, where the insurance products are distributed through a bank's branch network rather than through individual agents.

The "bancassurance" model - as opposed to the traditional agency model - is lucrative for commercial banks in Asia because global insurers are willing to pay hefty fees for access to lenders' branch networks.

In similar moves, AIA Group struck a 15-year exclusive deal with Citibank in Asia in 2013, for which AIA said it paid an US$800 million upfront payment.

Prudential Plc also struck an agreement last year with Standard Chartered, agreeing to pay US$1.25 billion in fees, to extend its current agreement for 15 years.

Reuters reported last October that DBS Group had hired Morgan Stanley to find a partner to sell life insurance products in Asia under a new deal, after its pact with Aviva ends in 2015.