Insurance regulator yet to get report from Tata AIG

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New Delhi, Sep 26 : Almost ten days after the collapse of global insurance major American International Group (AIG), India’s insurance regulator IRDA is yet to get a report it had sought from AIG’s domestic joint venture in the general and life insurance business, Tata AIG. Though the Tata group had assured finance minister P Chidambaram that Tata-AIG would honour all its commitments to policyholders, the regulator had first sought a report on the company’s business and financials.

Speaking in the capital on Friday, IRDA member R Kannan said, “What is the local partner going to do? As a regulator, we wanted to know.” In an earlier release, the IRDA had noted that the accounts of these two firms as on March 31, 2008 indicate that both companies have satisfactory solvency margins which are adequate to meet their liabilities. Kannan’s comment is significant as it indicates that the regulator’s concerns go beyond the insurer’s solvency margins. The change in ownership of AIG, for one, could have repercussions on Tata AIG’s operations and clearances. AIG, which has a 24% stake in the joint venture with Tata, was given an $85 billion lifeline by the US Federal Reserve to rescue it from bankruptcy.