[The following guest post is contributed by Nivedita Shankar, Senior Associate, Corporate Law Division, Vinod Kothari & Company. The author may be reached at [email protected]]. An increase in the threshold limit for foreign investment in insurance companies has been hailed as a major thrust for the insurance sector, which has seen very few players. In this background, the Indian...
Trading on Insurance Policies in the Secondary Market
[The following guest post is contributed by Ammu Charles, who is an Associate at K Ramakumar and Associates] The Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015 was passed by Parliament on March 12, 2015, replacing the ordinance promulgated last year. The Bill was first introduced on December 22, 2008 and seeks to amend the provisions in the Insurance Act, 1938, the General Insurance Business...
DIPP Operationalizes Insurance FDI Reforms
The Government had earlier begun the process of enhancing foreign direct investment (FDI) in the insurance sector by increasing the investment cap from 26% to 49%. Given the political stalemate in the Parliament’s legislative process, the Government had initiated the reforms in December 2014 through the promulgation of the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014. Subsequently, the Finance...
IRDA Regulations on Insurance IPOs
Earlier this month, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) issued norms for IPOs by life insurance companies. Referred to as the IRDA (Issuance of Capital by Life Insurance Companies) Regulations, 2011, they set out certain preconditions for life insurance IPOs and also specify additional disclosure requirements. The following are some key points: 1. The regulations impose...
The Issue of Limitation in Consumer Complaints
A recent note discusses the decision of the Supreme Court in Kandimalla Raghavaiah v. National Insurance, concluding that it is being misinterpreted, and lays down dangerous precedent for insurance claims. While the concern highlighted by the abovementioned note, that “consumers will continue to find themselves at the receiving end with genuine complaints being thrown out for being time–barred”...
Insurance policies and the tax/fee distinction
Recently, the Bombay High Court had occasion to consider an important issue regarding the transferability of life insurance policies, and the restrictions that the LIC has the powers to place on such transferability. The background to the facts of this case is provided by another decision of the Bombay High Court in Insure Policy Plus Services v. LIC, decided in 2007. The petitioners in this case...
Insurance Companies and Income Tax
The Bombay High Court, in an important case decided last month, clarified the position on the taxation of insurance companies. This was the decision in ICICI Prudential v. ACIT (2010 Bombay High Court). The controversy stemmed from the implications of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Actuarial Report and Abstract) Regulations, 2000 and the Insurance Regulation and Development...
Bits of Interest
1. Regulation of Credit Rating Agencies Drawing lessons from the role of credit rating agencies (CRAs) in the recent financial crisis, SEBI has imposed additional transparency and disclosure norms for the Indian CRAs. SEBI’s circular issued on May 3, 2010 covers issues such as maintenance of records of the rating process, dealing with conflicts of...
Legal and Economic Fallout of Mumbai Attacks
The key question being posed in legal and financial circles relates to the extent of insurance coverage for loss caused by terror attacks, and also the related liability of various state and private actors involved. In a column in Rediff Money, Kumkum Sen highlights possible issues on liabilities, both civil and criminal. As the columnist notes, the chances of successfully bringing about any...
Bill for Overhauling the Insurance Sector
When debates raged as to the pros and cons of the 123 Agreement on nuclear fuel between India and the U.S., little was it known that its conclusion would benefit the unlikeliest of sectors in the Indian industry. While attention focussed on the fillip it would provide to the Indian energy sector, the political ramifications of the deal, with the departure of the Left, have led to benefits far...
Recent Comments