1. Muthoot Exchange Company which has obtained the Authorised Dealer Category II Licence from the RBI recently and plans to start its own money transfer operations. The company already undertakes close to six lakh money transfers valued at Rs 1,200 crore every year. Having obtained the Category II Licence enabling it not only to remit money from abroad to India but also f rom India to foreign countries. The transaction undertaken through the 400 branches of Muthoot Finance and other agencies such as hotels, resorts, travel operators and franchisees have enabled easy foreign exchange transactions to NRIs, students, tourists and business visitors.
2. The Prime Minister’s Council on Trade and Industry today discussed the adverse impact of rising rupee on exports and industry, besides the challenges of managing the surge in dollar inflows into the country. The Government was looking at measures to counter the impact of the rising rupee, particularly on labour-intensive sectors.
3. A Watson Wyatt study on India’s bancassurance sector has revealed that bancassurance would generate about 35 per cent of the private insurers’ premium income by 2008.
The study entitled ‘India Bancassurance Benchmarking Study 2006-07’, which Watson Wyatt claims to the first of its kind on the Indian market and part of an Asia-wide analysis has focused on bancassurance distribution.
The study entitled ‘India Bancassurance Benchmarking Study 2006-07’, which Watson Wyatt claims to the first of its kind on the Indian market and part of an Asia-wide analysis has focused on bancassurance distribution.
4. Tata AIG Life Insurance Company Ltd (Tata AIG Life) has launched ‘United Child Solutions’ – a range of insurance offerings for the customers of United Bank of India. It is available in three variants.Educare 18 is a graduate plan, which gives the child lumpsum benefits at age 18 to provide for his graduation expenses. Educare 21 is a post-graduate plan, which gives the child lumpsum benefits at age 21 for his post-graduate expenses. Career Builder Plan provides a lump sum at 18, 21, 24 and 27 to take care of expenses at various critical milestones. In these three plans, a payer benefit rider can be attached to ensure the child’s policy continues in case of untimely death of the paying parent.
5. The odds were for a 25 bps cut, but, when the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which sets the benchmark Fed Funds and discount rates, did just that, the stock market was very disappointed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 200 points. The much-read and dissected post-meeting statement conceded inflation risk is diminishing and growth risk increasing. It repeated the mantra of future rate decisions being guided by incoming data.
6. Mr R. Seetharaman, CEO, Doha Bank, and Chairman, Doha Brokerage & Financial Services (DBFS) Ltd, has won an American award for his contribution to promoting US-Qatari trade and financial ties.
7. The Finance Ministry has relaxed encashment norms for joint holder type term deposits under the tax-saving ‘bank term deposit scheme’ framed last year. This scheme was developed to encourage flow of long-term deposits into the banking system.In the event of the death of the first holder, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has now allowed the joint holder to encash the term deposit before its maturity. Hitherto, the scheme did not permit any encashment of term deposits before the expiry of five years.
8. I-flex® solutions has forayed into the private banking and wealth management space with the launch of FLEXCUBE® Private Banking Suite. The FLEXCUBE Private Banking Suite provides financial institutions and their customers a unified view of customer wealth across their portfolios, including the ability to consolidate the holdings of a family. “The FLEXCUBE Private Banking Suite empowers institutions to shift their approach from a “one size fits all” to a personalised model. It will also help them reduce costs by giving them the ability to retire standalone wealth management solutions.
9. The Reserve Bank of India has detected and plugged a loophole in FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) regulations which some Indian companies were exploiting to raise funds abroad and bring to India.The regulations are related to repayment of advances that are paid by overseas investors to Indian companies for allotment of shares under automatic FDI route. Under these regulations, while Indian companies are allowed to receive advance payment from NRIs and overseas investors, no time limit was stipulated for issue of shares or refund of the amount.
