10 february 2002

tata aig insurance to tap rural market
bangalore: tata aig life insurance company is planning to launch a life insurance product for the rural market by march this year. the product will be introduced in tamil nadu.

the product has already been designed and developed and the company is currently in the process of training agents.

tata aig has tied up with the bridge foundation (tbf), a bangalore-based ngo engaged in micro enterprise development, to help create insurance awareness in the rural sector.

through its rural credit programme, the bridge foundation has already disbursed micro loans to the tune of rs 95.5 lakh to 18,215 households across 1,540 villages in the country during the last fiscal.

9 february 2002

uti pares stake in icici to 6.11%
mumbai: the unit trust of india (uti) has reduced its share holding in icici by more than 12 lakh shares from 6.27 per cent to 6.11 per cent during september 2001 to january 2002.

during the same period, emerging market growth fund inc increased its holding by 13.82 lakh shares from 1.69 per cent to 1.87 per cent. from december 2001 to january 2002, the fund hiked its stake marginally to 1.87 per cent from 1.76 per cent.

mutual funds collectively have reduced their holding in icici to 0.80 per cent in january 2002, down from 1.26 per cent in september 2001.

peerless mulls deal with hdfc standard life
kolkata: peerless general finance & investment is planning to come up with deposit schemes having life insurance cover from hdfc standard life.

peerless has launched multi protector, a 3-year fixed deposit scheme with accidental death and critical illness cover from iffco tokio general insurance.

peerless has decided to invest 90% of its funds in government securities to ensure safety of depositors money.

hsbc unveils financial planning service
mumbai: hsbc has launched its financial planning service for its premier and powervantage customers.

the fps is a comprehensive, integrated service that will assist customers in executing long-term savings and investment plans that are designed to achieve individual financial goals.

the fps will quantify the resources of customers in terms of his/her personal finance -- both the present and the future. it will also quantify his/her personal obligations -- at what time would there be an outflow, of how much, and then identify the resources and obligations. it will help plan and manage existing and future savings to achieve life goals.

the threshold limit for the bank's premier banking is at rs 1 lakh, while for powervantage, it is rs 25 lakh. this money could be in the form of investments in shares or fixed deposits.

8 february 2002

idbi to infuse rs 150cr into ifci
new delhi: idbi will shortly infuse rs 150 crore into ifci as part of the rs 1,000-crore assistance announced by the government in august 2001.

idbi has so far infused only rs 50 crore against the agreed rs 200 crore.

the other stakeholders -- life insurance corporation and state bank of india -- have already invested rs 200 crore each in ifci.

earlier, the government infused rs 400 crore of the total rs 1,000-crore bailout package to ifci announced in august.

7 february 2002

csb posts growth in deposits in q3
thrissur: the catholic syrian bank recorded rs 396.59 crore deposits and advances during the third quarter of the current financial year ended december 2001 against rs 113.61 crore in the corresponding period previous year.

the total investment of the bank increased to rs 1427.34 crore as on 31 december last from rs 1158.00 crore the same day the previous year, an increase of 23.25 per cent.

the operating profit (unaudited) of the bank touched rs 50.38 crore compared to rs 27.68 crore for the corresponding period previous year, an increase of 82 per cent.

the net profit (unaudited) of the bank reached rs 15.70 crore compared to rs 7.60 crore for the corresponding period previous year, an increase of 106.58 per cent.

abn amro eyes six pvt banks
mumbai: dutch financial powerhouse abn amro bank has identified centurion bank, indusind bank, global trust bank, federal bank, south indian bank, and karur vysya bank for takeover bid.

abn amro bank is awaiting further clarity on the 49 per cent foreign direct investment cap before driving ahead.

there is a 20 per cent cap on foreign holdings in the banking sector at present.

home trade launches 2 products
hyderabad: home trade ltd, the worlds first fast moving financial goods (fmfg) company, launched two fmfg products in the hyderabad market endorsed by sachin tendulkar, hrithik roshan and sharukh khan.

the two products launched are: lets learn about money (llam) - investing for beginners is an innovative solution for average consumer for learning the basics of investment; and home trade one (ht one) - a multi-purpose investment account which will be introduced in two versions.

home trade leverages the expertise of leading companies like at kearney, pwc, siebel, compaq, wipro, reuters, arthur andersen, etc. the company is planning direct sales to push the niche products and the retail sales channel in 12 cities and is likely to be extended in a phased manner to cover more than 30 cities by september 2002 for the mass fmfg products.

ramachandran is stanchart consumer banking head
mumbai: standard chartered bank has appointed vishu ramachandran as head of consumer bank, india.

ramachandran will oversee the strategic direction and growth of the five consumer banking value centres -- secured loans, unsecured loans, wealth management, branch banking and standard chartered finance. he will be responsible for product development, sales and marketing, service delivery, building a strong brand and team to acquire critical competencies for consumer banking.

prior to this, ramachandran was heading standard chartered's global products in the area of mortgages and auto, based in singapore. he joined the bank in india in 1986 and has held several portfolios in the consumer bank both in india and singapore.

6 february 2002

icici gets 5.73 pc stake in george williamson
kolkata: the b.m. khaitan group has transferred 5.73 per cent of its stake in george williamson (assam) ltd to icici ltd as an upfront fee payment for restructuring the debt of its flagship battery company, eveready industries india ltd.

the transferred shares have been valued at rs 80 per share.

khaitans still have around 8 to 9 per cent stake in george williamson.

canbank computer granted iso 9001
bangalore: canbank computer services ltd, a subsidiary of canara bank providing solutions for banking and finance sectors, has been awarded the revised iso certification, iso 9001:2000, by bvqi.

the certification was a significant milestone for the company as it guarantees customers a systematic adherence to process of software development with minimum risk of defects.

adb mulls $2 bn aid to india
new delhi: the asian development bank is considering hiking annual assistance to india by more than 50 per cent to $2.0 billion.

according to official estimates, india needs $5.0 billion from multilateral agencies in the coming years to ensure a higher growth rate. the government has sought $2.0 billion from adb, of the total $5.0 billion.

adb has provided a total $10.3 billion for 52 projects since 1986. currently loans totalling $5.4 billion are being utilised in 24 projects.

the manila-based bank, in which india is the fourth largest shareholder, has also provided $285 million to the private sector and about $71.3 million worth of technical assistance to indian corporates

5 february 2002

icici to issue safety bonds from 8 feb
mumbai: icici is coming up with a rs 600-crore offering of its safety bonds from 8 february to 4 march.

icici has added an option to its tax saving bond and also introduced a new bond called monthly income bond. it has offered a quarter percentage point higher return under the new, six-year option.

the other options under the tax saving bond are in the nature of deep discount bonds. idbi too had hiked the rates of interest on its bonds by about 25 basis points.

however, the yields offered by both the institutions are almost the same. icici has reduced the options in its money multiplier bond to one and reduced the rate of interest by about 30 basis points.

interest rates have also been slashed on regular income bonds. the peak rate offered on the bond has come down from 10 per cent to 9.5 per cent.

lic to invest rs 2,000cr in equity market
kolkata: life insurance corporation of india would invest 8 per cent of its estimated rs 50,000 crore investment surplus this fiscal in equity market.

"we had always been providing strength to equity market and even when bse index touched a low of 2586 points, lic was net buyer in the equity market and will continue to do so," lic chairman g n bajpai said at a meeting organised by indian chamber of commerce here.

the chairman said in the last fiscal ended march, 2001, the corporation had invested about 6 per cent of total investment surplus of rs 32,000 crore or rs 1,920 crore in the equity market.

he said lic had already invested close to rs 2,000 crore in equity market this fiscal.

indusind bank q3 net at rs 16.50cr
kochi: indusind bank has posted a net profit of rs 16.50 crore for the third quarter ended december 2001.
the profit in the corresponding period the previous year was rs 16.33 crore.

the operating profit during the current quarter stands at rs 39.34 crore as against rs 33.96 crore for the same period the previous year, showing an increase of 15.84 per cent.

the total income during this current quarter was rs 187.48 crore, as against rs 201.57 crore in the corresponding quarter ended december 2000.

nabard cuts refinance rate to 8.5 per cent
ahmedabad: the national bank for agriculture and rural development (nabard) has reduced the rate of interest on its refinance in respect of loans for purchase of tractors, rural godowns, agriclinics and agribusiness to 8.5 per cent from 10 per cent per annum with effect from 1 february 2002.

united india to underwrite ongc assets
chennai: united india insurance company has bagged the mandate to underwrite the assets of oil and natural gas corporation (ongc) during fiscal 2003-04. the cover would also include terrorist attacks, apart from covering natural calamities including earthquake.

united india would provide a comprehensive one-year insurance cover for a sum assured of $12 billion.
united india would admit a maximum claim of us$ 750 million on first loss basis. the first loss basis includes five sections -- offshore, onshore, expenses (well centers), liabilities and terrorist cover -- apart from natural calamities including earthquake.

rabo to buy partners out of nbfc
new delhi: the three indian partners of dutch banking major rabobank - ashok kapur, rana kapoor and harkirat singh - are set to exit rabo india finance company.

the three resident partners, who together hold 25 per cent stake in the nbfc, have decided to pick 80 per cent shareholding in the proposed bank.

as a first step, rabobank will bring in an additional $31.25 million into rabo india finance to ramp up the fdi in the jv to $50 million.

subsequently - within 18 months - it will buy out the three finance professionals from the jv converting the nbfc into a wholly-owned subsidiary.

4 february 2002

film finances jv plan spiked
new delhi: the government has spiked the proposal of film finances inc, one of the largest issuers of film completion bonds, on the ground that the company has not been able to meet the minimum capital requirement norms.

while the minimum capital requirement for entering the entertainment sector is $10 million, the company, along with its indian partner, kaleidoscope (india) private ltd, controlled by bobby bedi, co-producer of the film bandit queen, had approached the fipb for approval to set up a joint venture company with a paid-up capital of rs 49 lakh.

the proposed joint venture company had cited the issue of film completion bonds in india as its business activity.

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