document.writeln("

Rupee, bonds weak
Mumbai: The rupee depreciated against the dollar on Friday, along with other major currencies closing the day at 46.18.

Forwards: In the forward premia market, the 6-month premium closed at 0.80 (0.85) and the 12-month ended at 0.65 (0.68).

G-secs: The 7.49 per cent-12 year-2017 paper closed at Rs101.995 (7.23 per cent YTM), against Thursday's 7.219 per cent YTM. The 10.25-16 year-2021 paper ended at Rs125.93 (7.41 per cent YTM), lower than Thursday's close at Rs125.96.

Call rates: The call rate closed at 5.25-5.3 per cent. In the first three-day reverse repo auction at the liquidity adjustment facility, the RBI received and accepted 14 bids amounting to Rs9,665 crore. In the second auction, it received and accepted 19 bids for Rs7,210 crore.

CBLO: There were 311 trades for Rs12,380.2 crore in the range of 5.05-5.35 per cent.
Back to News Review index page  

Bajaj Allianz beats ICICI Pru in premium income
Mumbai: Bajaj Allianz has beaten ICICI Prudential Life Insurance in recording the highest collection of monthly premium among private players in September 2005.

Bajaj Allianz' first year premium income in September 2005 was Rs214.42 crore against ICICI Prudential's Rs195.35 crore. Bajaj Allianz's first year premium income in the first half of 2005-06 rose by 237.80 per cent year to Rs643.59 crore.

ICICI Prudential reported a year-on-year growth of 71.39 per cent during the period, with first year premium income of Rs819.75 crore.

Bajaj Allianz's share in first year premium income in the first half of 2005-06 was 5.68 per cent, up from 3.39 in 2004-05.

ICICI Prudential's market share during April-September 2005 was 7.24 per cent against 6.25 per cent in 2004-05.

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance's chief financial officer, Sandeep Batra, said, "Our market share could fluctuate. We don't look at private sector leadership only. We are more interested in our share of the total industry (including Life Insurance Corporation)."
Back to News Review index page  

Bharat Overseas not keen on merging with IOB
Mumbai: Bharat Overseas Bank officials have said that the bank was considering a merger with a small bank like Federal Bank or Bank of Rajasthan as that would be the right fit for BhOB.

Even though the Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) is one of the original promoters of the bank, it is a relatively large bank and, hence, BhOB did not want to be absorbed by it, added the officials.

The officials said BhOB's asset base was less than Rs5,000 crore compared with IOB's asset base of Rs25,000 crore. IOB holds 30 per cent stake in BhOB. The other shareholders of BhOB are Bank of Rajasthan (16 per cent), ING Vysya Bank (14.66 per cent), Federal Bank (10.67 per cent), Karur Vysya Bank (10 per cent), South Indian Bank (10 per cent) and Karnataka Bank (8.67 per cent).

BhOB is planning an initial public offer and is awaiting Reserve Bank of India's approval for the offer. The bank initially planned to tap the market in October itself.

Bharat Overseas plans to raise about Rs100 crore to increase its net worth to Rs300 crore from Rs198.38 crore as on March 31, 2005.
Back to News Review index page  

Money changers to follow KYC norms
Mumbai: Authorised money-changers have been told by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to follow the Know Your Customer (KYC) guidelines. The guidelines, which are part of the anti-money laundering measures, will be implemented before March 31, 2006.

An RBI circular says, "The anti-money laundering (AML) measures formulated should include customer identification procedure - KYC norms, disclosure of suspicious transactions and appointment of a money laundering reporting officer."

The RBI said money-changers, henceforth, must undertake transactions only after ensuring customer's credentials. For this purpose, they should retain photocopies of proof of identification after verifying the documents in original. Money-changers now have to insist on the presentation of passports for identification in all cases of sale of foreign exchange.

Money-changers have also been asked to implement additional measures such as staff training, maintenance of records and audit of transactions. The central bank said the measures should be formulated only after seeking board approval.

Money-changers also need to furnish details pertaining to transactions involving purchase of foreign exchange against payment, in cash exceeding Rs10 lakh from inter-related persons during the one month.
Back to News Review index page  

Bajaj Allianz offers composite micro-insurance products
Mumbai: Bajaj Allianz is among the first insurers to announce a plan for a product to be filed under the new IRDA regulations for micro-insurance. As per the new micro-insurance regulation, life and general insurance companies can tie up to offer composite products.

Sam Ghosh, CEO, Bajaj Allianz Life, said the company's general insurance counterpart will jointly offer a composite micro-insurance product that will be filed for IRDA approval in 5-6 weeks.

The product will combine property, cattle, health as well as life insurance in a single product, said Ghosh.

The company will enter into more tie-ups with NGOs for distribution of this product.

The company's current product portfolio is tilted towards unit-linked insurance plans (ULIPs), which account for 85 per cent of the business. Bajaj Allianz Life plans to launch more ULIPs directed towards the high-end segment.

The company's strategy is to boost its presence in small towns. The company currently had 45-50 per cent of its business from smaller towns, said Ghosh.

Bajaj Allianz Life has set a target of Rs2,000 crore of new business premium by the end of the current fiscal. Bajaj Allianz' first year premium till September this fiscal was Rs643 crore.
Back to News Review index page  

Indian Bank ties up with LIC to launch four insurance products
Chennai: The Indian Bank has tied up with the Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), to offer four insurance products for its account holders - the IB Jeevan Kalyan, a life insurance policy for all customers; IB Griha Jeevan for home loan borrowers; IB Jeevan Vidya for students who have taken educational loans; and IB Insured RD for recurring deposit holders.

Indian Bank is also offering three new savings bank accounts with free insurance cover, a silver bank account with a minimum balance of Rs5,000, a gold account with a minimum balance of Rs10,000, and a platinum account with a minimum balance of Rs 25,000. For the platinum account holders in the age group between 18 and 45 years, an additional life insurance cover for Rs. one lakh will be provided.

The policies cover all people between the ages of 20 and 60.
Back to News Review index page