FIPB Likely To Review ICICI Holding Co Proposal

Mumbai: Three days after it refused ICICI Bank''s proposal to disinvest 24 per cent in ICICI Financial Services, the holding company for the bank''s insurance joint ventures, the Foreign Investment Promotion Board is likely to reexamine the case again after the bank submits a fresh application. The board had refused ICICI Bank''s proposal to disinvest 24 per cent stake in ICICI Financial Services in favour of foreign investors, as a subsidiary could not take part in insurance business. Regulation 2(g)(i) of the IRDA regulations said Indian promoter meant a company formed under the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956), which was not a subsidiary as defined in section 4 of that Act. The IRDA has supported ICICI Bank''s proposal to establish a holding company for its insurance ventures, saying for all practical purposes the parent bank will remain the promoter of the insurance ventures.