The government has appointed MDs of four public lenders, including UCO Bank, Corporation Bank and Andhra Bank.Suresh N Patel, Executive Director of Oriental Bank of Commerce, has been appointed managing director of the Hyderabad-based Andhra Bank.R K Takkar, ED, Dena Bank, will now head the Kolkata-based UCO Bank while J K Garg has been named as the MD of Corporation Bank.The incumbent CMD of Corporation Bank retires in January.Mahesh Kumar Jain, ED, Indian Bank, has been elevated as the MD and CEO for three years from the date of taking charge or till the date of his superannuation or till further orders, whichever is earliest, the bank said in a statement.Jain assumed charge as MD of Indian Bank on 2 November, it added.(PTI)
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By Naval Goel Alka Tripathi, the widow of Late Rakesh Tripathi, got the shock of her life after her deceased husband's life insurance company rejected her claim. Rakesh was the only earning member in her family and Alka with their daughter Rajni were financially dependent on Rakesh's income. Even if that was not the case, it was their right to receive the life insurance claim amount. But what happened? Why did their insurance company reject the claim? There were certain reasons. The sudden demise of Rakesh in a car accident sent the entire family in a state of shock. This was natural. It was an unfortunate accident and it took the family several months to recover from this loss. Amidst the state of grief and emotional turbulence, they did not think about the life insurance policy which Rakesh had been maintaining. After almost four months, Alka got over the situation and gained some strength to get their life back on track. But the life insurance company repudiated the claim outright. Their argument was that they had to be informed within a few days of the death of the policy holder. This was the condition and was part of the terms and conditions. This life insurance company was the leading private sector insurance company with a great claim settlement ratio of over 98 per cent. Of course, this ratio is a key indicator of how an insurer treats such cases. One should always look into the claim settlement ratio of a company before buying insurance from it. But it is never a guarantee if there are gaps in the process, especially from the consumer end. Knowing the processEvery person who is concerned with a life insurance policy as a holder or nominee must know about the claim settlement process laid out by their insurer. It is more prudent to be practical and not shy away from the essential processes which are central in meeting the objectives set out by the policy holder towards financial security of his or her dependents. First and foremost, the concerned insurance company must be informed about demise of policy holder within a week of death. It is a very simple step which many people ignore. Once the company receives the intimation of policy holder's death, it asks for the below set of documents:Claim form, duly filled with all necessary detailsDeath Certificate issued by concerned Civic AuthorityLife Insurance Policy DocumentPhoto ID card of nomineeAddress proofIf the policy is taken by the help of an agent, then this agent must be able to assist to complete this process of submitting the above mentioned documents. One should always keep the photo copies of these documents handy. Apart from the above set of documents, a nominee may also be asked for additional supporting documents, in order to settle the claim in proper manner. In addition, one may also be required to submit post-mortem report, medical attendant certificate, hospital certificate and employer's certificate, depending upon the reasons and circumstances under which the policy holder lost his or her life. Claim settlement ratios: An overview Not many people know about claim settlement ratios operated by companies in India. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority in India (IRDAI) maintain this data with it centrally for all the insurance companies running in India. All companies have to mandatorily submit this data to the Regulator, without any exception. It is a public data and anyone can refer to it. For FY2014-15, this central authority is yet to release this data set in the public domain; however, as far as the figures from the preceding financial year i.e. FY2013-14 is concerned, it is very much on the charts. Going by the said data, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India remains the most impressive company in terms of its claim settlement ratio. It boasts of 99.52 per cent ratio, which is amazing. The company is a giant from the public sector and is the largest insurance company in India. It's market share if more than half of the total market. After all, it has a first mover advantage in this space, with monopoly of several decades. Other private sector companies are also putting their efforts to manage good ratios. However, many times, it is seen that some companies just try to find reasons to reject claims and get away from the liability of settling claims. Ultimately, this hurts their brand reputation in the market. In overall terms, private sector registered claim settlement ratio of 88.31 per cent in FY 2013-14. But there are companies which are offering great ratios indeed. Take Kotak Life, for instance. This company is matching LIC's numbers when it comes to claim settlement ratios. It registered the ratio of 98.29 per cent during the FY 2013-14. That is quite an amazing performance on this scale, from a private sector insurance company. Max Life Insurance is also leading on this front. Their claim settlement ratio stands at 97.23 per cent. These two companies are among the best ones in the space where more than two dozen insurance companies are operating. The scenario is improving fast and most companies are striving to respect claims raised by their customers. The IRDAI is also quite serious on this front and is overseeing companies on this parameter with great caution. (The author, Naval Goel, CEO & Founder, PolicyX.com)
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Australia's central bank kept its cash rate steady at a record low of 2.0 per cent on Tuesday (03 November), but said subdued inflation meant there might be room for a further easing if needed to support the economy.The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) disappointed some by not cutting straight away at its monthly policy meeting, though the shift to an explicit easing bias kept alive the prospect of a move at some stage.In a brief statement, RBA Governor Glenn Stevens said the outlook for the economy had actually "firmed a little" in recent months with business conditions improving and employment stronger than expected."(Board) Members also observed that the outlook for inflation may afford scope for further easing of policy, should that be appropriate to lend support to demand," he added.That was a change from the October statement when no guidance on policy was offered."They've obviously left the door open to cut rates but something needs to happen to get that rate cut over the line," said Michael Blythe, chief economist at CBA."It's probably the mix you want to make sure you don't see the Aussie dollar charging up."The central bank has long argued that a softer local currency was needed to help offset weak prices for Australia's major resource exports. The dollar was a shade firmer at $0.7188 after the RBA statement.Debt markets seemed to suggest investors were not counting on the RBA cutting by year end. Interbank futures for December slid to imply around a 36 percent chance of an easing, from above 70 percent earlier in the day.A drop to 1.75 per cent is fully priced in by April.Since last easing in May, RBA officials have sounded reluctant to cut even further in part for fear of inflating a debt-driven bubble in home prices.There have also been hopeful signs of a pick up in non-mining investment with business conditions, confidence and borrowing all improving.Yet, speculation about a cut had mounted after Australia's major banks last month decided to lift mortgage rates in an effort to shield profits from rising regulatory costs.A surprisingly low reading on price pressures out last week had added to the talk. Underlying inflation slowed to an annual 2.15 per cent in the third quarter, near the floor of the RBA's long-term target band of 2 to 3 per cent.With the broader economy still weighed by falling mining investment and weak commodity prices, some analysts had argued an easing would be warranted in the next few months.(Reuters)
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Standard Chartered Plc announced plans on Tuesday (03 November) to raise $5.1 billion in new capital via a rights issue, as well as new goals for cost cutting and core capital ratio as new Chief Executive Bill Winters set out his strategy for the lender.The announcement came as Asia-focused Standard Chartered (StanChart) posted a third-quarter operating loss of $139 million due to growing regulatory costs and rising loan impairments in India.The capital-raising plan came as part of a completed strategic review, that will also see the bank restructure businesses that together consume $100 billion in risk weighted assets, one-third of the group's total.Those include exiting low returning client relationships worth $50 billion and trimming $30 billion of risk weighted assets in some unnamed underperforming countries.StanChart shares fell 4 per cent in Hong Kong after the announcement, while the benchmark Hang Seng Index was up 1.3 percent.The capital raise and restructuring will together push the bank towards a new common equity tier-1 capital (CET1) ratio goal of 12-13 percent, the bank said.The bank's current CET1 ratio - a core measure of financial strength - fell slightly in the third quarter to 11.4 percent, StanChart said in its results filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.The loss for the July-September quarter compares with a $1.5 billion profit in the same period a year ago.StanChart formally reports earnings every half-year, but since 2013 began giving more details of quarterly progress in its 'interim management statement'.StanChart also said it will not pay any final dividend for the financial year ending 31 December, 2015.(Reuters)
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UBS, Switzerland's biggest bank, on Tuesday (03 November) posted a bigger than expected year-on-year rise in third-quarter net profit.Net profit for the three months to end-September was 2.1 billion Swiss francs ($2.13 billion), up from 762 million francs a year earlier and ahead of a forecast for 1.758 million francs in a Reuters poll of four analysts.Earnings for the same period last year were hit by the bank setting aside 1.8 billion francs in legal reserves.($1 = 0.9870 Swiss francs)(Reuters)
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Claiming that millions of dollars in illicit funds are flowing out of India, HSBC whistleblower Herve Falciani has said he is willing to "cooperate" with the Indian investigative agencies in their black money probe but would need "protection". Falciani is facing charges in Switzerland of leaking details of bank account holders in Geneva branch of HSBC -- a list which later reached French government that later shared with India the information relating to Indian clients of the bank. Addressing mediapersons through Skype link, Falciani claimed that millions of crores worth illicit funds are flowing out of India. "It is not about money. I don't intend to become rich," Falciani said on Monday when asked whether he is looking for money to share information with India. "We are not here to talk about merely figures but about possible solutions," Falciani said. He stressed that governments should ensure that whistleblowers are protected. "We need just simple protection," he added. "We are not protected... If I am coming to India, I will be arrested," he said, adding that people need to understand that there is no offer of new kind to fight black money. The 43-year-old lives in Divonne, France, a short distance from the Swiss border. As a French national, he cannot be extradited to Switzerland and has said that he would not travel to Switzerland. Falciani has been described as the 'Edward Snowden of tax evasion' after his leaks uncovered the massive tax evasion scandal at HSBC. (Agencies)
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Visa Inc said on Monday it would buy former subsidiary Visa Europe Ltd for up to $23.3 billion in a deal that will give the world's largest payments network a chance to cut costs over the long term and raise fees in the second-biggest card market. The price for the long-anticipated deal was higher than many had expected, but ended a period of strategic uncertainty that had dogged Visa in recent months. Visa Inc and Visa Europe, a cooperative of European banks with more than 500 million cards, were part of a global bank-owned network until 2007. Most of the units merged to form Visa Inc, which went public in 2008, leaving Visa Europe as a separate entity. The deal brings all of Visa's networks under one roof again, cementing its lead over nearest-rival MasterCard Inc. By value of payments, Visa Europe had a 52.2 percent share of the European card market in 2013. Visa said it would pay 16.5 billion euros up front in cash and convertible preferred stock, with potential for an additional payment of up to 4.7 billion euros based on revenue targets four years after the deal closes. More than 3,000 companies stand to profit from the deal. Barclays Plc, the most active bank in the Visa Europe network, is likely to be the biggest winner, Bernstein analyst Chirantan Barua wrote in a note. Barclays said in a statement that it expected an after-tax profit of about 400 million pounds ($619 million) next year when the deal closes. The bank could receive up to 1.2 billion euros in total, a person familiar with the matter said. Lloyds Banking Group Plc said it expected a pretax gain of about 300 million pounds when the deal closes, while payment services provider Worldpay Group Plc said it expected about 1.25 billion euros from the deal, including 592 million euros when it closes. Visa said it was targeting savings of $200 million from the deal in 2020, a 30 percent reduction from the current run rate. Much of the savings will come from integration of technology. High PriceCurrently, Visa Europe charges the banks - its owners - less than MasterCard. That is likely to change, analysts said. "We will work with our banks, who formally were members, to come up with relationships that are more commercial than what you might have struck when you were dealing with an owner," Chief Financial Officer Vasant Prabhu told Reuters. Chief Executive Charlie Scharf declined to disclose details on pricing in Europe on a call with analysts. Wedbush Securities analyst Gil Luria was among those who had expected Visa to pay a lower price. Luria and others had expected a deal worth $20 billion-$21 billion. Visa, whose shares were down 3.4 percent at $74.98 in afternoon trading, also reported a slightly lower-than-expected quarterly profit, due mainly to higher costs. The deal, which will be partly funded by the issue of senior unsecured debt of up to $16 billion, is expected to be dilutive to full-year adjusted earnings in fiscal 2016, but accretive to revenue and earnings growth in 2017. Visa said it would increase a buyback program by $5 billion for Class A common stock in 2016 and 2017 to offset the effects of issuing the preferred stock. Visa said its fourth-quarter net income jumped about 41 percent to $1.51 billion, or 62 cents per diluted class A share, in the three months ended Sept. 30, just short of the average analyst estimate of 63 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. UBS and Morgan Stanley advised Visa Europe, while Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan advised Visa Inc on the deal. (Reuters)
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By Sunil Dhawan As an industry first, Bajaj Finserv launches an app for making loan approval quicker and easier Owning gadgets and other lifestyle products is fast becoming a part of our fast-paced life. And these goods don't come cheap either. To own them outright is not everyone's piece of wallet but then there are financing options available to get hold of them. While on one side, there are product manufacturers crafting merchandise, there are lenders on the other side to not let the dream of owning an expensive item remain unfulfilled. And to make the entire process of owning such expensive stuff easier, companies are making use of the online medium as well. What better way than brining the financing to one's fingertips right through a smartphone App. Bajaj Finserv, the undisputed leader in consumer durable finance has unveiled India's first EMI finance App called Bajaj Finserv Experia. Through an industry first initiative, the app gives consumers the freedom to apply for an instant EMI finance anytime, anywhere. Using the revolutionary app, consumers can get instant approval with a unique user id to avail EMI offers across over 12,000 stores including the likes of Croma, Vijay Sales, Hometown, Home centre, Urban Ladder, Helios and more. The maximum limit for the pre-approved loan is Rs 3 lakh. With festive season on, discounts and offers rule the roost. On top of it, easy financing options keep the fund flow smooth. "We've seen a strong start of the Festival Season. Our new mobile application has made it possible for customers to get an instant EMI Finance approval even before stepping into the stores for purchase. We have a robust process in place and if the festive season goes as planned, we expect our assets to grow 30-35 per cent", says Rajeev Jain, CEO, Bajaj Finance. So, the next time when you about to buy LED TVs, Smartphones, Furniture, try the App before reaching the merchant store. Once downloaded, one may use Aadhaar Card, Facebook, Twitter or Google+ id's for login. In that case, basic details may not be entered manually. The app asks for your mobile number and city name before it can proceed. "Finding new methods to acquire customers and expanding into new geographies are key in the present times. We continue to simplify EMI financing for customers through digitization initiatives going forward as well" says Devang Mody, President Consumer Finance, Bajaj Finance. Get to know the terms and conditions of the loan before you jump on. And remember, there's always an interest portion in the EMI's, so go shopping keeping your household budget in mind.
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