Which Authority issued code on Stewardship for Insurer in India? What are the Principles of such Guidelines ?

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) had issued a code for stewardship for the insurance companies vide its circular ref: IRDA/F&A/GDL/CMP/059/03/2017 on 20th March, 2017. The code was in the form of a set of principles which the insurance companies needed to adopt and made applicable from FY 2017-18. Guidelines for each principle under the code had also been prescribed by IRDAI. As per the code, insurer should have a board approved stewardship policy which should identify and define the stewardship responsibilities that the insurer wishes to undertake and how the policy intends to fulfill the responsibilities to enhance the wealth of its policyholders who are ultimate beneficiaries. Further, the IRDAI decided to review the existing guidelines on stewardship code based on the experience in implementation, compliance by the insurers and the recent developments in this regard. Accordingly, a revised guidance on stewardship code has been prepared and known as Revised Guidelines on Stewardship Code for Insurers in India. The Principles under this code are: S. No. Principles 1 Insurers should formulate a policy on the discharge of their stewardship responsibilities and publicly disclose it. 2 Insurers should have a clear policy on how they manage conflicts of interest in fulfilling their stewardship responsibilities and publicly disclose it. 3 Insurers should monitor their investee companies. 4 Insurers should have a clear policy on intervention in their investee companies. 5 Insurers should have a clear policy for collaboration with other institutional investors, where required, to preserve the interests of the policyholders (ultimate investors), which should be disclosed. 6 Insurers should have a clear policy on voting and disclosure of voting activity. 7 Insurers should report periodically on their stewardship activities.