With the prior approval of the Commissioner, an insurer may deposit within or outside this state or arrange for the deposit within or outside this state of securities held in or purchased for its general account and its separate accounts in a clearing corporation or a securities broker-dealer which is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission or in the Federal Reserve book-entry system. When securities are deposited with a clearing corporation or securities broker-dealer, certificates representing securities of the same class of the same issuer may be merged and held in bulk in the name of the nominee of such clearing corporation or securities broker-dealer with any other securities deposited with such clearing corporation or securities broker-dealer by any person, regardless of the ownership of such securities, and certificates representing securities of small denominations may be merged into one or more certificates of larger denominations. The records of any custodian through which an insurer holds securities in the Federal Reserve book-entry system, or in a clearing corporation or by a securities broker-dealer, shall at all times show that such securities are held for such insurer and for which accounts thereof. Ownership of, and other interests in, such securities may be transferred by bookkeeping entry on the books of such clearing corporation or securities broker-dealer or in the Federal Reserve book-entry system without, in either case, physical delivery of certificates representing such securities.