Universal Sompo General Insurance Co. Ltd. (USGICL) has signed an agreement with Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) to distribute its products across selected branches. USGICL was formed as a joint venture with Indian Overseas Bank, Allahabad Bank, Karnataka Bank, Dabur Investments and Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. O.N. Singh, executive chairman, USGICL said, “Though it took us a long time to commence our operations due to various reasons, we are confident of achieving our target. We have put everything in place and are geared up to take off in a big way.” 

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) is all set to increase 'Terror Insurance Pool' set up by the insurance industry. The chairman of IRDA, J. Hari Narayan said that Rs. 750-crore corpus of the 'Terror Insurance Pool' is felt insufficient as terror activities are increasing day by day and damage caused by such activities is difficult to full fill due to large scale losses.

Private sector insurer MetLife India has decided to expand its network in coming times. It would recruit about 2,000 managers and 30,000 advisors in line with its growth strategy. Its board of directors has already approved to infuse Rs 100 crore of additional equity capital into the company.

Besides, it would also open new branches across major towns to ensure the success of existing and new products of the company. Interestingly, leading companies are adopting large scale lay-offs following the global financial crisis.

Zurich - Switzerland's reinsurance giant Swiss Re reported a surprise third-quarter loss Tuesday, slipping 304 million Swiss francs (259 million dollars) into the red after registering a profit of

The union government has approved the proposal to increase FDI limit in insurance sector to 49 percent. FDI limit in insurance sector is currently 26 percent. The government took decision on the matter in the recent meting of union cabinet. It would introduce a bill in parliament in the forthcoming session to effect this change. However, the bill is unlikely to pass due to lack of time and opposition of the communist parties.

Union finance minister, P Chidambaram said that the government would introduce Insurance (Amendment) Bill, 2008 to amend the Insurance Act 1938, General Insurance Business (Nationalization) Act, 1972 and Insurance Regulatory and Development Act, 1999. The government would introduce it in the upper house of parliament as it is not a money bill.