IGI Logo

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) on Wednesday allowed foreign reinsurance branches (FRB) and Lloyd's India to repatriate excess capital.

According to the IRDAI, to ensure sufficient reinsurance capacity in India and to attract more players for offering reinsurance at a competitive price, the free movement of assigned capital for foreign reinsurance branches is required.

The Indian insurance regulator has allowed repatriation of excess capital by FRBs and Lloyd's India with prior permission and subject to the following provisions.

The request to repatriate the assigned capital shall be submitted by the foreign reinsurer, who is engaged in reinsurance business through a branch established in India, justifying the reasons for such request.

A certificate will be issued from the foreign reinsurer stating that the reinsurer has net owned funds of Rs 5,000 crore or such amount as prescribed under Sec 6 (2) of the Insurance Act, 1938, as per the last audited balance sheet.

A minimum assigned capital of Rs 100 crore or such higher sum, as specified by IRDAI, at the time of grant of certificate of registration net of provisions, as per regulations, shall always be ensured.

The solvency ratio after the repatriation is at least 50 bps higher than the control level of solvency i.e. 200 per cent as specified by the IRDAI.

Such withdrawal shall not exceed 20 per cent of assigned capital as at the end of last financial year, and only one request in a financial year can be made by the foreign reinsurer.