Principal Financial Group Inc. agreed to sell $200 million of deposits from its savings and loan unit in a deal with BofI Holding Inc., an article in the American Banker reported. 

Principal plans to divest commercial loans as part of an effort to limit the insurer’s role in banking amid greater U.S. supervision, the article said. 

Quite a few insurers, including MetLife and Allstate Corp., have sold deposits or retreated from banking as regulatory oversight increases.

“Principal Bank will need to divest of all commercial and commercial real estate loans before Principal Financial Group can formally be deregistered,” Sonja Sorrel, a spokeswoman for the company, said in an e-mail. “We are working on those transactions and the regulatory approvals they will require. We are still on track in our efforts to accomplish deregistration by year-end.”