Upset over the slow progress on India opening its financial services to foreign investors, Lloyd's of London, the world's largest reinsurance market, has decided to withdraw its main representative from Mumbai. Lloyd's has effectively decided to "mothball" its Mumbai office because it has so far been unable to secure a licence to write insurance business locally and believes that it has little prospect of doing so in the near future.
The company will retain the services of two junior employees on the ground in Mumbai, but it has suggested that its senior representative should seek alternative employment, The Sunday Telegraph reported.
Lord Levene of Portsoken, the chairman of Lloyd's, visited India to lobby for the liberalisation of its foreign investment rules on several occasions and is reportedly unhappy that India is now the only major market in the world to block overseas companies from participating in the domestic reinsurance market.
Lloyd's is estimated to write 400 million dollars in business for the Indian market from London every year, but believes it could gain a much greater share of the reinsurance sector if it were allowed to write business locally.
"We were very heartened by the discussions between the then Chancellor and the Indian government in early 2007 that the Indian reinsurance market would be opened up to foreign reinsurers," said Levene.
"On the basis of that we appointed a senior representative, but despite the promises that were made it is now clear that there is absolutely no progress in sight. We are very disappointed," he added
Source: The Financial Express, The Telegraph
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