While the consumer sentiment is getting better by the day and expansion is slated to happen across industries but the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) has recently said that it is in the process to introduce stringent disclosure norms for firms that plan to list on the stock market.

It is to be mentioned here that IRDA is a regulator for the Insurance industry and it is expected that the regulator will make it mandatory for an insurance company to disclose financial statements of the last five years before it files for an initial public offer (IPO).

While the aim to raise money from the stock markets to bolster its capital base for the insurance companies is expected to get tough in times to come, it is expected that it will also facilitate comparison across different insurance companies.

It may be noted here that HDFC Standard Life was the first company in the industry to disclose that it has an embedded value at Rs 3,380 crore as on March 31, 2010. It is expected that players like Reliance Life and ICICI Prudential will opt for an IPO in times to come.