Panel okays scrapping 10% cap on voting rights in banks
New Delhi: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance has given its green signal to the government to go ahead with the move to scrap the 10 per cent cap on voting right in banks by amending the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. The scrapping of the ceiling would allow promoters of foreign banks and promoters of other Indian private banks to exercise voting rights proportionate to their holding in the banks.

"The Committee feels that removal of restriction on voting rights is a step in the right direction and it will facilitate the inflow of foreign capital and expertise in the country's banking sector," the Committee has said in its report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday. The proposal to remove the ceiling by deleting Section 12 (2) of the Banking Regulation Act was mooted by the finance minister, Jaswant Singh, in his Budget speech for 2003-04.
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Govt launches credit package for small sector
New Delhi: The Indian government has unveiled a package that provides for a 200 basis-point reduction of interest on all outstanding loans of state financial corporations and a rebate of 2 percentage points on future refinance by the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). The package, which was laid in Parliament by the Minister of State For Finance, Anandrao Adsul in the Lok Sabha, also allows for a moratorium of one year for repayment of all existing dues by SFCs.

To balance off the estimated Rs 900-crore impact on SIDBI due to the sops, the government has decided to defer payment of all interest by SIDBI on SIDBI bonds for a period of 10 years. This will amount to deferment of payment of about Rs 1,740 crore in the ten years. The SFCs have also been advised to bring down their non-performing assets to less than 10 per cent, along with moves to downsize their staff. NPAs of SFCs account for 60 per cent of the total assets, Adsul said.
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PF subscribers above 55 can draw 90% for pension scheme
New Delhi: The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has decided to allow provident fund subscribers above the age of 55 to withdraw up to 90 per cent of the accruals for investment in the Varishta Pension Bima Yojana run by the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). The decision to this effect was taken by the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of the EPFO which met here on Tuesday.

"The move will call for amendment in the EPFO Act which will be taken up soon," government sources were quoted as saying. They added that the objective of the entire exercise is to ensure that senior citizens take the maximum advantage by investing in both the schemes simultaneously. On one hand, the subscriber gets all the advantages of what he is entitled to under the EPF Act as well as, on the other, reaps the benefits of the Varistha Pension scheme.
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AMP Sanmar plans to double premium income
Hyderabad: AMP Sanmar, the life insurance joint venture between the Australian insurance major AMP and the Chennai-based industrial major Sanmar group, expects to double its premium income during the current fiscal and hopes to repeat similar performance in the next couple of years, says its managing director, Graham Meyer.

Addressing the media here on the eve of the India visit of AMP Sanmar's brand ambassador and Australian cricket star, Steve Waugh, he said the company found its performance during the last fiscal "more than satisfactory and ahead of target." Graham Meyer attributed the low premium income levels to the late entry of the company into the Indian insurance industry. He said the company was highly optimistic of its better performance during the next few years.
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