Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a domestic insurance company may deposit or arrange for the deposit of securities held in or purchased for its general account and its separate accounts in a clearing corporation. When securities are deposited with a clearing corporation, securities 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 with any other securities deposited with such clearing corporation by any person, regardless of the ownership of such securities, and securities 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 insurance company holds securities shall at all times show that such securities are held for such insurance company 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 without physical delivery of securities certificates representing such securities.