Insurance regulator IRDAI has clarified that bonds/debentures held by insurers in the erstwhile HDFC under the ‘housing and infrastructure’ category as on April 4, 2022, when the merger of the mortgage lender with HDFC Bank was announced, will be treated as investments in the same category till maturity of the respective instruments.
It also exempted the insurers from complying with the single investee equity exposure norms, under IRDAI regulations, for individual segregated fund at SFIN level with regard to shares of HDFC Bank (post-merger) till June 30, 2024. The exemption will only be with respect to holdings of the respective insurers as on June 30, 2023, and the same shall be scaled down to the extent of sale of shares thereafter, the regulator said in a circular.
Insurers had earlier approached IRDAI for a clarification, in the wake of HDFC Bank’s merger with its parent, as to whether their investments in HDFC bonds would continue to be classified under ‘housing and infrastructure sector’. They had also sought exemption from the single investee equity exposure limits prescribed for segregated funds of ULIP with respect to investments in the equity shares of HDFC Bank (post-merger), Ammu Venkata Ramana, General Manager (F&I) at IRDAI, said in the circular.
Published – August 04, 2023 10:05 pm IST