TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
International Financial Services Centres Authority (Management Control, Administrative Control and Market Conduct of insurance business) Regulations, 2023
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....y shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette. (3) These regulations shall be applicable to all International Financial Services Centres Insurance Offices (IIOs), and also to the International Insurance Intermediary Offices (IIIOs), to the extent specified hereunder. 2. Objective - These regulations aim to put in place the regulatory framework related to Management Control, Administrative Control and Market Conduct of insurance business carried out by an IIO or IIIO. 3. Definitions - (1) In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires - (a) 'Act' means the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019 (50 of 2019); (b) 'Authority' or 'IFSCA' means the International Financial Services Centres Authority established under sub-section (1) of Section 4 of the Act; (c) 'benefits' refers to any promise or payment of incentive, direct or indirect, or both, in the nature of commissions, compensations, coupons, incentives, performance-based bonuses, rewards, remunerations, stock options, gratuity, insurance protection, cost of setting up infrastructure, competition prizes etc. ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....'- (i) in relation to a foreign entity, means information in any material form relating to a foreign authority being a foreign financial regulatory authority and/or information relating to any other foreign financial entity; (ii) in relation to a domestic entity, shall be as defined in Section 2 (f) of The Right to Information Act 2005; (n) 'regulated entity' means an entity registered with the Authority for carrying insurance or re- insurance business in the International Financial Services Centre and includes an entity which has applied for carrying out insurance or re-insurance business in the International Financial Services Centre; (o) 'requesting authority' means the authority making request to other authority for information under these regulations; (p) 'requested authority' means the authority to whom request for information is made under these regulations; (q) 'subordinated debt' for the purposes of these regulations means "Debenture" as defined in Section 2(30) of the Companies Act, 2013 and includes any other debt instrument permitted by the Authority. (2) Words and expressions used and not defined in these r....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....y, where - (a) the solvency ratio is below the minimum Control Level of Solvency, as specified by the Authority; (b) the impact of such accrual/ payment would result in the Control Level of Solvency falling or remaining below the specified regulatory requirement; or (c) payment of dividend or interest (including accrued interest) would result in net loss or increase the net loss. (8) provide complete details to the Authority in advance, about the shareholders or any other entities which may be eligible for compensation due to portfolio transfer or change in control; 7. The Authority may specify the hair-cut norms on different type of instruments for the purposes of computing 'Available Solvency Margin'; 8. The Authority may issue guidelines in relation to issuance and allocation of capital of the IIOs; 9. In case of a merger, amalgamation or transfer involving an IIO, such IIO shall obtain prior approval of the Authority and shall also ensure that - (a) the available solvency margin of the proposed merged entity will not be lower than the required solvency margin; (b) the scheme is compliant with all applicable laws and....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....efore opening or closing of a place of business; (3) Every IIO, while closing a place of business, shall mitigate the risks involved on account of such closure, including but not limited to, providing alternate facilities to existing policyholders ensuring uninterrupted access to insurance services, as well as servicing of their claims. 13. Outsourcing of Activities - (1) Every IIO shall ensure - (a) that it follows prudent practices on management of risks arising out of outsourcing with a view to preventing negative systemic impact and to protect the interests of the policyholders; (b) that sound and responsive management practices are followed for effective oversight and adequate due diligence is maintained while outsourcing the activities; (c) the privacy of data in respect of all policyholders. (2) Every IIO shall, prior to sharing of data related to policyholders, either executea non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with the outsourcing agency or include relevant clauses of NDA in the service level agreement executed with such agency. (3) Every IIO shall comply with other requirements regarding outsourcing arrangement....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... or (b) non- sharable information. (4) The assessment on shareability of the information not available in the public domain would be guided by the following broad consideration - (a) convincing reason for the request made - whether such reasons are to assist the lawful performance of the duties of such authorities; (b) nature of information sought (not proprietary); (c) maintenance of confidentiality of the information sought; and (d) reciprocity of the request made. (5) (i) Each request for information under these regulations shall be considered on its merit. (ii) While taking a decision on whether to share the information sought regarding an entity or not, the IFSCA shall be guided by the following principles- (a) whether the information sought is confidential and is likely to adversely affect the entity, commercially or otherwise; or (b) whether the information sought could be used by the competitors of the entity for their gain. (6) The requested authority may not share any information which in its opinion could possibly impact the stability of its regulated entity or the insurance industr....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... (2) All advertisements issued by an IIO and IIIO, as the case may be, through any mode or medium shall - (a) be relevant, fair and be in simple language, enabling informed decision making by prospect; (b) contain truthful and honest representation; (c) contain accurate data and be capable of substantiation; (d) ensure that the advertisement is in compliance with all applicable advertisement standards and relevant laws in India. (3) An IIO and IIIO, as the case may be, shall be responsible for the accuracy of the communications in all forms of advertisements issued on its behalf; (4) An IIO shall ensure that policy issued to the policyholder is in conformity with the advertisements issued on its behalf. 19. Policyholders' Protection:- (1) The provisions of this regulation shall be applicable to every IIO for all their direct insurance businesses. (2) Every IIO and IIIO shall formulate a policy, duly approved by its Board, for protection of interest of the policyholders; (3) Such policy shall, inter-alia, include the following - (a) steps to be taken for enhancing insurance awareness so as t....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
...., as the case may be. 22. Power to remove difficulties and relax strict enforcement of the regulations: (1) In order to remove any difficulty in the application or interpretations of the provisions of these regulations, the Authority may issue clarifications through guidance notes or circulars; (2) On an application, received along with the specified non-refundable processing fees, the Authority, may for the reasons to be recorded in writing, relax the strict enforcement of any of the provisions of these regulations. 23. Non-applicability of certain regulations and savings - (1) On and from the commencement of these regulations, following regulations, circulars or guidelines issued thereunder shall cease to apply in International Financial Services Centres. (i) the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Distributions of Surplus) Regulations, 2002; (ii) the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Scheme of Amalgamation and Transfer of General Insurance Business) Regulations, 2011; (iii) the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Sharing of Confidential Information Concerning Domestic or Foreign Ent....