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CORRECTED - CORRECTED-IDBI Fortis unaffected by Fortis rejig - official

Mon Sep 29, 2008 5:10pm IST
 
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(Corrects shareholding pattern in third paragraph to say IDBI holds 48 percent in the venture and not the balance stake, and adds Federal Bank has 26 percent)

MUMBAI, Sept 29 (Reuters) - The nationalisation of parts of banking and insurance group, Fortis (FOR.BR: Quote, Profile, Research), is not going to impact its Indian insurance joint venture, a top official said on Monday.

Earlier, the Belgian, Dutch and Luxembourg governments agreed to inject 11.2 billion euros ($16.4 billion) into the financial group in a bid to prevent U.S.-style financial contagion engulfing one of Europe's top 20 banks. In India, Fortis has 26 percent stake in a life insurance JV with state-run IDBI Ltd (IDBI.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) and Federal Bank, the maximum a foreign firm can own in insurance firms. IDBI holds 48 percent while Federal Bank (FED.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) holds 26 percent in the joint venture.

"Its not going to have any impact on IDBI Fortis," the JV's Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer G.V. Nageswara Rao told Reuters.

IDBI Fortis Life Insurance Co Ltd has a capital base of 2 billion rupees, he said.

"Our solvency margin is way above the regulatory requirement."

Indian regulation requires a solvency margin, the extent to which an insurance company's assets exceed its liabilities, of 150 percent. (Reporting by Kaustav Roy; Editing by Harish Nambiar)

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