The amount is almost double the Rs 220 crore (Rs 2.2 billion) that a consortium of Bank of Baroda and Andhra Bank earned for its life insurance tie-up with the UK-based wealth and investment company, Legal & General Group (see table). The entry premium is a result of regulations that require foreign insurers to tie up with Indian partners. SBI will hold 74 per cent in the non-life insurance company and IAG the remaining 26 per cent.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) has fined 10 insurance companies, including both the insurance arms of the Bajaj Auto Group, Reliance General, United India, Iffco-Tokio, New India Assurance and Shriram Life for non-compliance with various guidelines. The violations varied from opening branch offices without seeking the regulator's permission to violation of advertisement guidelines and non-fulfilment of social sector obligations.
Not a single Indian insurance company offers a comprehensive anti-cybercrime policy for the corporate sector. In India there are few takers for cybercrime insurance primarily because of the high cost vis-a-vis their exposure. These policies are of a high value and, on request from a few brokers, are customised for banks. Cybercrime policies in the US cover e-theft, denial or impairment of e-service, e-communication, e-vandalism, e-threat and fraudulent e-signatures.
The Indian IT companies, which have been hitherto providing back office services (claims processing and others), are now planning to provide actuarial valuations. Genpact, one of the largest players in the property and casualty space has been in actuarial services since the last five years.
Insurance funds will soon start flowing to special economic zone projects, agro-processing and infrastructure projects, domestic satellite services and social infrastructure like educational institutions and hospitals.
L&T plans to launch as asset management company and has also collaborated with US based Travelers for a non-life insurance venture.
Private insurers are planning to launch property title insurance covers in India soon. Foreign investment is therefore likely to enter the Indian real estate market.
General insurers violated IRDA norms on discounts. IRDA reveals plans for 2008
Insurance companies have started offering IT, IT-enabled services, business process outsourcing and non-manufacturing companies with policies due for renewal on January 1 discounts of more than 60 per cent.
Seventy five per cent of the non-life insurance industry, which consists of fire, engineering and motor covers, was subject to rates prescribed by the Tariff Advisory Committee up to December 2006, irrespective of whether the risk was good or bad. The industry was partially detariffed on January 1, 2007, but the regulator restricted the discounts insurers could give to minimise the dangers of an irrational price war.
State Bank of India (SBI) is asking prospective partners for its general insurance foray to pay it Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion) to Rs 350 crore (Rs 3.5 billion) as entry premium, insurance industry sources said.
The Hinduja Group plans to enter the financial services space in India with a bang. Apart from plans to set up life insurance, non-life insurance and asset management companies, the group is also working towards areas such as wealth management, broking and portfolio management services. The group has finalised its partners for setting up a holding company, which will have three business arms offering wealth management, broking and portfolio management services.
Farmers will no longer have to wait endlessly for claiming their payments from the government.
The total number of Indian agents registering with the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT), a prestigious international trade association of insurance agents, has more than tripled to 1,931 agents for 2007 compared with 532 in 2006. To qualify for the MDRT, an Indian insurance agent has to get a premium (read business) of Rs 23.92 lakh to his insurance company or earn a commission of Rs 5.98 lakh.
IFCI, say sources, owes nearly Rs 500 crore in debt to LIC, which has the option to convert it into equity and take its total stake from 8.4 per cent now to 49%. IFCI's proposed strategic sale has attracted expressions of interest from 10 entities.
SBI Life, ICICI Pru have seen their valuations increase by 33 per cent and 35 per cent recently. SBI Life Insurance has seen its valuation soar after just 3 months while ICICI Prudential's valuation has increased in just 5 months.
The high sum insured will allow the insurer the luxury of taking treatment in a deluxe room in premium priced hospitals and cover high-cost medical expenses for critical illnesses.
Insurance agents of all life insurance companies selling unit linked insurance plans will now show rate of returns ranging between 6 and 10 per cent to customers.
Prudential ICICI's managing director, Shikha Sharma, talks about how the journey has been so far and also why she thinks unit-linked insurance plans are the best allocators of long-term funds.
Britannia Industries, the country's top biscuit maker, has taken the income tax department, Kolkata, to court after it received a show-cause notice asking it to explain the withdrawal of funds from the employees' pension fund in 2003.
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