Mumbai: Ernst & Young has been appointed the internal auditors of Tata Finance (TFL), TFL chairman Ishaat Hussain has said.

Explaining this, a company official later said Ernst & Young has not replaced anyone. "TFLs existing internal audit team will continue, with the new appointee overseeing the process. All resolutions were passed at the AGM on 30 September 2002."

According to the 2001-02 annual report, as of 31 March 2002 TFLs credit cards division had 67,500 card members, up from 24,700 members of 30 June 2001. SmartFleet, a co-branded smart chip-based card with Bharat Petroleum, is the other product of the division.

"The company is negotiating for the sale of this division, in view of the substantial resources that need to be invested to expand the division to an economical size," the report said. Replying to shareholders queries, Hussain said TFL aims to achieve capital adequacy by March 2003. He outlined the companys return to core competence as basically a revived focus on auto financing.

The company, originally set up to finance the sale of trucks from Tata Engineering, has lost the race in the car financing business, needing much investment afresh if it were to catch up, he conceded. "But it enjoys adequate returns in the truck finance business and has so far done well in its foray into two-wheeler financing."