International Financial Service Centre Insurance Offices undertaking life insurance business are subject to the 2023 framework. An IIO established in an unincorporated form is excluded from solvency margin and related requirements, but must comply with the related requirement prescribed under regulation 17(4) of the Registration of Insurance Business Regulations, 2021. The exclusion does not affect the obligation to use the specified reporting formats.

International Financial Services Centres Authority (Assets, Liabilities, Solvency Margin and Abstract of Actuarial Report for Life Insurance Business) Regulations, 2023 address assets, liabilities, solvency margin and the abstract of actuarial report for life insurance business. Regulation 1 assigns their short title and brings them into force upon publication in the Official Gazette.

IIOs must calculate Available Solvency Margin as the excess of adjusted assets over liabilities and determine the solvency ratio by dividing ASM by Required Solvency Margin. A minimum solvency ratio of 150% applies as the control level of solvency. RSM is the higher of aggregate premium-based and incurred-claims-based requirements, calculated using prescribed gross and net premium and claims data. The solvency-margin statement separately records policyholders' and shareholders' funds and requires statutory auditor certification with prescribed countersignatures.

Technical reserves must be valued separately for each line of business and comprise premium reserves and claims reserves. Premium reserves include UPR, PDR and their aggregate, URR; claims reserves comprise OCR and IBNR. Known outstanding claims require full provision, while estimated claims may be valued case by case or, where appropriate, through actuarially certified statistical methods. Insurers must also value specified other liabilities and submit Form ALSM-GI-L showing gross and net reserves. The statement requires certifications by the Statutory Auditor, Appointed Actuary, Principal Officer and Chief Financial Officer.

Insurers must value specified inadmissible assets at zero for solvency, including unrealisable receivables, certain outstanding co-insurer and re-insurer balances, deferred expenses, fixed operational assets, fictitious assets and unutilised Goods and Services Tax credit beyond the prescribed period. The ALSM-GI-A statement must reconcile audited-balance-sheet assets, separately identify inadmissible assets, and calculate admissible assets after deducting inadmissible assets, current liabilities and provisions. It requires certification by the appointed actuary, statutory auditor and chief executive officer.

Regulation 9 disapplies, from commencement, the 2016 framework on assets, liabilities and solvency margin, including related circulars and guidelines, within International Financial Services Centres. Prior actions under that framework are preserved and deemed taken under corresponding provisions. An IIO already operating in an International Financial Services Centre must satisfy any additional applicable requirements within six months of commencement or within an extended period specified by the Authority.

The Authority may issue guidance notes or circulars to clarify difficulties in the application or interpretation of the regulations. It may also relax strict enforcement of any provision on an application accompanied by the specified non-refundable processing fee, with reasons recorded in writing.

Regulation 7 empowers the Authority to specify norms, procedures, processes and manners of compliance for IIOs, for implementation of the assets, liabilities and solvency margin requirements and incidental matters. It supplies the procedural mechanism through which IIOs comply with specified measures for the regulatory framework governing general, health and re-insurance business.

Inspection, investigation, information and disclosure powers enable the Authority to examine the affairs of an IIO. Information may be required from the IIO or its parent entity, and the Authority may prescribe disclosures that an IIO must make regarding its activities.

International Insurance Offices must submit prescribed statements of admissible assets, liabilities and solvency margin in the applicable forms and at the specified periodicity. They must also file an Annual Actuarial Report, valuation of assets and liabilities, and a solvency-margin computation certified by the Appointed Actuary. Additional reports may be required. These obligations apply even where capital is maintained under home-country regulations.

Claim reserves comprise outstanding claim reserves and incurred-but-not-reported claim reserves. Outstanding claim reserves cover reported claims outstanding at the accounting date, including allocated loss adjustment expenses. Incurred-but-not-reported claim reserves include reopened, unreported and in-transit claims, allocated loss adjustment expenses, and reserves for expected changes in reported-claim estimates. Unexpired risk reserves comprise unearned premium reserves and premium deficiency reserves for unexpired policy risks and expected deficiencies in meeting claims and related expenses.

Regulation 3 specifies that capital and solvency requirements govern IIOs undertaking general, health, or re-insurance business. Its objective is to prescribe requirements related to capital and solvency for IIOs carrying on these business categories under the International Financial Services Centres Authority (Assets, Liabilities, and Solvency Margin of General, Health and Re-Insurance Business) Regulations, 2023.

International Financial Service Centre Insurance Offices undertaking general, health or re-insurance business are subject to the framework governing assets, liabilities and solvency margin. Unincorporated Insurance Offices are not subject to solvency margin and related requirements, but must comply with the related registration-framework requirement. Prescribed reporting formats continue to apply to unincorporated Insurance Offices despite that exclusion.

Assets, liabilities and solvency margin matters for general, health and re-insurance business in International Financial Services Centres are governed by the 2023 framework. Statutory authority derives from the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019 and the Insurance Act, 1938. The framework takes effect for the specified business categories upon publication in the Official Gazette.

Classification as a re-insurance contract requires risk transfer for the relevant accounting year and protection for the ceding insurer or retrocessionaire against negative financial effects of underlying business. In alternative risk transfer arrangements combining re-insurance and financing, separable elements are accounted for individually under the IIO's accounting standards; inseparable arrangements are treated as financial transactions, with accounting determined by substance over form. Each IIO must adopt a Board-approved segment-wise retention policy, maximise retention according to financial strength and risk quality, avoid fronting, and meet any specified minimum retention.

Lending of securities under the Securities Lending Scheme, 1997 is a taxable supply of services because temporary lending does not amount to disposal of securities. The lending fee received by the lender is consideration and attracts GST, while intermediary services for facilitating lending and borrowing are separately taxable. Securities lending is taxable at 18 per cent. The lender was liable under forward charge for the earlier period, whereas the borrower is liable to pay IGST under reverse charge from 1 October 2019.

Monthly wages of Rs. 25,000 are prescribed as the wage ceiling for Chapter III of the Code on Social Security, 2020, governing the Provident Fund Scheme and EPF contributions. The ceiling takes effect upon publication in the Official Gazette. It supersedes the earlier wage-ceiling notification while preserving actions taken or omitted before the supersession.

Authorised officers for food-import controls are designated under the Food Safety and Standards Act and the FSS (Import) Regulations at notified points of entry. ICD Dhanakya, Jaipur is added as a food-import point of entry, with a Superintendent, Appraiser, Inspector or Examiner designated as authorised officer. The updated schedule identifies 172 points of entry across airports, inland container depots and SEZs, land customs stations and seaports. The earlier customs instruction is modified to reflect this addition.

Rupee appreciation against the US dollar followed lower crude oil prices, improved global risk sentiment, positive domestic equity markets, and softer US Treasury yields. Dollar index strength, geopolitical developments, and possible increases in oil supplies remained relevant to currency movements. Market commentary anticipated a slight positive rupee bias if crude oil prices continued to ease, while renewed geopolitical tensions could weaken risk sentiment. Net foreign institutional investment and a decline in foreign exchange reserves also formed part of the market context.

Special Economic Zone de-notification removes 10.23 hectares from the IT/ITES Special Economic Zone established for M/s GOCL Corporation Limited at Kattigenahalli and Venkatala Villages. The SEZ, originally notified over 12.14 hectares, consequently retains a total notified area of 1.91 hectares. The action follows the developer's proposal, State approval, Development Commissioner recommendation, and satisfaction of statutory and related requirements.