OREANDA-NEWS. The Bank of Russia made changes in the procedure for the insurance reserves and insurers' own funds investments. The relevant Ordinances No. 3973-U and No. 3974-U were officially published on the regulator's website.

The list of eligible assets for insurance reserves investments includes bonds issued under concession agreements providing they meet the Bank of Russia requirements even if the issuer doesn't have rating. The share of such investments is limited to 45% of total insurance reserves.

Moreover, extension of limits was applied to investments in mortgage-backed securities along with stricter quality requirements.

Therefore, life insurers will be able to invest up to 45% of the insurance reserves in mortgage-backed bonds guaranteed by the AHML or the government. For composite insurance companies the limit for this asset is set to 10% of total insurance reserves. Besides, the limit for investments of insurers' own funds in these bonds increased by 2.5 times.

Igor Zhuk, Director of the Insurance Market Department, says: "Changes in the Bank of Russia regulations aim at extending investment options and boosting insurers interest in quality and reliable assets".