THERE IS A BIG bonanza awaiting banks that are not part of any insurance group. This follows the recent deal where Max New York Life gave Axis Bank a 4% stake at a steep discount to market value in exchange for a distribution commitment. The deal has fired the imagination of other insurance companies which are seeking a bank partner. Bharti Axa Life Insurance has said that it is keen to have a bank as a minority partner. According to industry sources, Future General Life Insurance is also willing to offer stake to any bank that is willing to distribute its products. For the banks, it's the best of both worlds as they are able to get a portion of the fancy valuations of insurance companies and at the same time, get hard cash in the form of commissions.

RBI MAKES A 'GOLDEN' START

Over 20,000 current and thousands of past employees of the Reserve Bank of India were pleasantly surprised when they received gold coins as part of the central bank's platinum jubilee celebrations held recently. The RBI distributed 10-gram coins to its employees across the country, irrespective of their cadre. The central bank is celebrating its 75th anniversary with great gusto and employees were touched with the move since the outgo of gold required must have been huge. And no, it was not part of the 200 tonnes of gold that RBI bought from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last year.

RELIGARE'S BANKING DREAMS

Malvinder's and Shivinder's stepping down from the Religare board is being seen by the industry players as a prelude to the company applying for a banking licence. The company is trying to project itself as a pure-play financial services entity and wants to dissociate itself from the group's other businesses, which seems to be the market's reading of the move. This newspaper reported recently that the government has told the RBI that the norms for approval of new banking licences should be based mainly on the existing policy framework for ownership of private banks.

WANTED: CLARITY ON LOANS

The RBI is keen on ensuring greater transparency in loan documents, especially for retail loans. Banks, on the other hand, have found a way to circumvent this. Recently, a Kolkata-based bank added a new clause to a home loan agreement. The clause says a bank will no longer inform the customer individually about any change in the lending rates. It would, thus, be left to the consumer to keep tabs on this.

IPO DISCOUNT: BEWARE PITFALLS

A real estate company that is preparing for its initial public offering is keen to offer shares at a discount to retail shareholders. Such discounts have worked well in IPOs of public sector undertakings and helped create a large shareholder base. However, investment bankers have advised the developer against such a move. According to them, offering shares at a discount gives room for operators to manipulate prices by arbitraging between grey market and in the exchanges following listing of the shares.

SBI'S MCKINSEY FASCINATION

The State Bank of India has appointed international consulting firm McKinsey to guide it with its rural banking expansion plan, given that the RBI has asked banks to draw up a 3-year plan to expand in rural India for achieving 100% financial inclusion. McKinsey had been associated with the SBI since 1996.

Source : http://epaper.timesofindia.com/