[Bharat Harne is a IV year student at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore] On 3 December 2022, the Department of Financial Services invited comments on a host of proposed amendments to the Insurance Act, 1938 and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, of 1999. One of the proposals is to add a definition of ‘captive insurer’ by adding section 2 (4B) to the...
FDI Limit Hiked to 74%: An Impetus for the Insurance Sector
[Ekta Janghu is an Associate at Wadia Ghandy & Co., Mumbai and Riya Gupta is an Associate at Algo Legal, Mumbai] On February 1, 2021, the Finance Minister announced a host of reforms vide its first paperless budget. Amongst these, was the proposal to increase the threshold for foreign investment in the Indian insurance sector to 74% from the erstwhile threshold of 49%. The announcement was...
Supreme Court’s Enunciation of Insurance Law in India
[Kamakshi Puri is a final year student at Jindal Global Law School] In a series of cases last year, a Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Dhananjaya Chandrachud and Justice Hemant Mehta delivered judgments on important aspects of insurance law. Oriental Insurance Company v Mahindra Construction, Life Insurance Corporation of India v Manish Gupta and Reliance Life Insurance Company Limited v...
Enforcing a Pledge over an Insurance Company’s Shares
A transfer of shares of an insurance company requires the prior approval of the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority of India (IRDAI) in certain circumstances. Section 6A(4)(b)(iii) of the Insurance Act, 1938 provides: “(4) A public company as aforesaid which carries on life insurance business- … (b) shall not register any transfer of shares … (ii) where, after the transfer, the total...
Can IBC be Invoked against a Financial Service Provider?
[Anirudh Agrawal is a fourth year student of Nalsar University of Law, Hyderabad] Recently, a two-member bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Apeejay Trust v. Aviva Life Insurance Co. India Ltd instituted insolvency proceedings against one of the leading insurance companies of the country – Aviva Life Insurance. Given the exclusion of ‘financial service providers’ from the...
Representations & Warranties Insurance in Mergers & Acquisitions
[Ajay Krishna is a 4th-year B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) Student at The National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi] Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions have been steadily growing in India and some of the most highly negotiated provisions in these transactions are those of indemnities in case of breach of representations and warranties. Globally there has been a rapid growth in the use...
Supreme Court on Conflict in Arbitration Agreement of Insurance Policy
[Nikhil Singh is a 2nd Year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) Student at The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata] Introduction Recently, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court in the case of Oriental Insurance Co Ltd v. Narbheram Power and Steel Pvt Ltd analysed a contentious dispute redressal clause commonly found in insurance agreements. The Court, while finding in favor of...
Stewardship Code for Insurance Companies
Historically, the passivity of institutional investors in India has led to less than significant monitoring of managements and controlling shareholders of companies. However, as I had noted in an earlier paper, the Indian markets began witnessing greater levels of shareholder activism in more recent years. Among the regulatory efforts that have engendered activism, one relates to a 2010 circular...
Assignability of Life Insurance Policies
The controversial practice of companies taking out “dead peasants” insurance on the life of their employees was depicted by Michael Moore in his film “Capitalism: A Love Story”. In this, companies took insurance policies on the lives of their employees and also paid the premium on them. In case of the death of their employees, the claims would be paid out to the employer, and the family of the...
Insurance Companies: IRDA Seeks Control in Indian Hands
[The following post is contributed by Vinod Kothari of Vinod Kothari & Co. He may be contacted at [email protected]] The issue of ownership and control of insurance companies in India has been in a state of flux since early this year. While the intent of the Government was clear – to permit FDI up to 49% in the insurance sector – the Rules framed by the Ministry of Finance in February...
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