The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has imposed a fine of Rs 70,00,000 on SBI Life Insurance company for paying around Rs 204 crore to eight of its corporate agents and six master policyholders, far in excess of the stipulated levels. In an order on Friday, IRDA asked SBI Life Insurance to pay the […]
A sharp decline in the number of equity new fund offers (NFOs) is good news for retail investors. Fund houses have launched just nine schemes since January, shows data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi). When the stock market is doing well, fund houses make a rush to introduce the themes in […]
Jobless growth has found a new home — India’s life insurance companies. In the last financial year, private life insurers reduced headcount by 27 per cent to achieve profitability. The number of people employed by these companies as on March 31, 2011, was 60,215, as against 81,507 in the corresponding period last year. They closed […]
In a major exercise to boost its profitability, the Department of Posts (DoP) plans to introduce core banking solutions besides setting up India Post ATMs and debit cards for its customers. “We have set target of bringing in core banking solution by 2012. It will ensure smooth online transactions. We are giving some e-payment services, […]
Six months after a Rs 400-crore fraud was detected in its Gurgaon branch, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday rapped Citibank for the episode. RBI slapped a fine of Rs 25 lakh on the bank for breaching various guidelines and instructions related to know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering guidelines. Though the amount is […]
Big savers will have to pay more to invest in the New Pension Scheme (NPS) if the government accepts the recommendations of an expert panel chaired by former Sebi chairman GN Bajpai . To improve the incentive for sellers and protect small savers, the panel has recommended a charge of 0.5% on every transaction instead […]
Life insurance companies and agents are looking at life beyond strict regulatory guidelines. Lending a helping hand are ‘riders’, that is, the add-ons with the base policy. Since last September, when the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) capped distribution costs of unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips), the number of policies with riders being sold had […]
Abolition of entry load on mutual fund schemes was one of the best decisions by the regulator in favour of investors, says Kavasseri Narayanan Vaidyanathan , an executive director at Sebi in charge of mutual funds whose term ended on Thursday. Mutual funds should decide on incentives for distributors , in stead of middlemen dictating […]
Complaints registered with mutual fund houses saw a sharp drop of 74 per cent in fiscal 2010-11 owing mainly due to changes in the classification of complaints. The total number of complaints at the end of the 2009-10 fiscal was 3.9 lakh; this declined to 1.02 lakh in 2010-11. For example, if an investor applies […]
Indian investors would soon be able to trade US equities — that too without having to keep awake all night or having to buy dollars. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has received the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) nod to start trading S&P 500 and Dow index futures. That would give an opportunity […]
