IRDAI asks Universal Sompo General Insurance’s Japanese MD to step down

The Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority of India has ordered Universal Sompo General Insurance Company’s managing director Taketoshi Nagaoka to step down immediately due to his foreign origin.

IRDAI has also asked the current chairman ON Singh to continue as an executive till a new MD with local origin takes charge. Once a local MD is appointed, Singh will take up a lesser role as a non-executive chairman, as part of new management structure.

The local joint venture has begun the management level restructuring to comply with the new foreign direct investment rules, which call for full Indian management control.

It has proposed to make the chairman’s position a non-executive one, a deviation of a policy practised all along. It has also started scouting for a local chief executive.

“Till we appoint a new managing director, I will continue as the executive chairman,” said ON Singh, who has been in the executive role since inception. “The appointment process should be over by mid-July and then I will become the non-executive chairman.” Singh told.