Punjab National Bank To Divest Its Stakes In Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance: Report

The Punjab National Bank (PNB) is set to divest its stakes in the Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Co that it had obtained following the state-run lender’s merger with the Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) in the previous fiscal year.

“The bank intends to divest its stake in Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Co. Ltd, an associate of the bank, at an appropriate time depending upon market conditions and available options,” PNB mentioned in a regulatory filing, as quoted by the Economic Times.

Actually, the OBC maintained a 23 per cent stake in the life insurer that had subsequently come in PNB’s quota after the aforementioned merger. The Canara Bank and HSBC Insurance (Asia Pacific) Holdings Ltd are the owners of the rest of the 51 per cent and 26 per cent shares in the company.

As of now, the PNB has not revealed as to how much stake it is set to dilute in the Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance.

However, the bank also holds 30 per cent stakes in the PNB Metlife Insurance and the extant guidelines of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) clarify that a single promoter cannot own more than 10 per cent stakes in two insurance ventures.