Among other issues, the meeting, the last one under chairmanship of Debasish Panda, may consider granting approvals –R2-to the first private sector reinsurance company, Value Attics Reinsurance Limited, set up by Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa’s Fairfax group and Kamlesh Goyal
Hyderabad: Insurance regulator IRDAI will have a board meeting on Wednesday.
It will be the last board meeting of the IRDAI under the chairmanship of Debasish Panda, who will be completing his three-year tenure at the regulatory body on Mar 13.
The Board meeting was orginally scheduled on Mar 24 but was preponed to March 12.
Among other issues, the meeting may consider granting approvals –R2-to the first private sector reinsurance company, Value Attics Reinsurance Limited, set up by Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa’s Fairfax group and Kamlesh Goyal.
It was expected that many new promoters, like Westbridge Capital joint venture(JV) with Nilesh Garg, Sam Ghosh’s Cosmea Financial Holding along with a partnership Qatar Insurance Group, M Pallonji Group JV with True North, for setting up general insurance companies will be lining up for getting licenses, R2, from the IRDAI which could have been discussed on its March 12 Board meeting. But that is not happening.
The other details of the IRDAI’s board agenda are not known yet.
The IRDAI Board will also have a new part time member from the government as M.P. Tangirala additional secretary, Department of Financial Services (DFS), who has been a government’s part-time member in the IRDAI, has been shifted to TRAI as a whole-time member of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India(TRAI).
The government is yet to post a new additional secretary at the DFS.
Panda will be completing his three-year tenure on Mar 13 and though expectations were running high that Panda may get extension to pursue his high growth agenda for the industry for some more time, it has not happened and the government has already advertised for the post on Sunday evening.
Though Watsa’s Fairfax group and Goyal, who are already promoted general insurance company Go Digit General Insurance and Go Digit Life Insurance, had announced their plans to set up a private domestic reinsurance company in the country some time ago, the proposal had not moved ahead in the IRDAI earlier.
If Value Attics Reinsurance Ltd gets the IRDAI approval and starts operations after bringing in the required capital, it will be the first private sector reinsurer in the country to do it and will have a capital base of over Rs 200 crore.
In December 2018, the IRDAI rejected a proposal from Go Digit, to acquire ITI Re, which got a license from the IRDAI in 2016 but surrendered it back to the regulator after two years without doing any business .
ITI Re was set up by Sudhir Valia backed The Investment Trust of India.
Currently, state owned GIC Re is only Indian reinsurer and enjoys the advantage of first right to refusal and obligatory cession. There are also 12 foreign reinsurance branches(FRBs), set up by global reinsurance companies, including Munih Re, Swiss Re, Lloyd’s of London, operating in India.