It is estimated that 10 per cent of motorists lie to their insurance company(x) when they insure their car in order to get themselves a cheaper quote. Now insurance specialist Admiral is warning all drivers to tell the truth or risk losing your cover.

Although the magnitude of lies people tell their insurer varies, anyone who is found out runs the risk of having their insurance cancelled, no matter how ‘big or small’ the lie. Admiral, like other insurers cancels hundreds of policies every year because they find out someone has lied when they bought their insurance.
Admiral managing director, Sue Longthorn, said: “Some people think that by telling a small lie they can get a cheaper quote. In reality they are committing fraud. An insurance policy is a legal contract so its vital that you are honest, or that contract can be claimed invalid and cancelled.”

So what sort of lies do drivers tell their insurers when buying insurance? Admiral has compiled a list of the five most common ways people lie to insurers:

1. Withholding motoring convictions. By far the most common reason why policies are cancelled. People with motoring convictions tend to be bad drivers and so pay more for their insurance. If you have had a motoring conviction of any kind in the last five years, you must tell your insurer.

related/bookmark it/readit

(more…)

US-based global investment banking major Goldman Sachs today said it will invest one billion dollar in India for expanding operations in sectors like real estate and infrastructure.

“The company will make capital investment of one billion dollar across sectors including real estate and infrastructure over the next two years,” Goldman Sachs India LLC CEO L Brooks Entwistle said on the sidelines of a CII conference.

“India is increasingly playing an important role in the world economy. We believe in this country’s long-term story,” he said.

Without singling out any particular sector, he said: “We are looking at all sectors for investment in the country.”

Goldman Sachs also plans to set up its businesses in the country, including investment banking and asset management.

related/bookmark it/readit

(more…)

MUMBAI: A volatile secondary market and the recent downswings appear to have taken a toll on unlisted companies in a far bigger manner than their listed counterparts.

While most of the unlisted corporates have put their public issues on hold, citing a fall in the market and subdued investor sentiment, the listed entities have chosen to tap foreign markets via foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs).

In the first quarter of the current calendar year, the quantum of mobilisation through FCCBs has exceeded that of initial public offers (IPOs). In fact, FCCBs account for a higher mobilisation even if one clubs the quantum of qualified institutional placement (QIP) with that of IPOs.

In the period between January and March 2007, the mobilisation through FCCBs was more than $2 billion, while IPOs accounted for $1.78 billion. Corporates raised a paltry $231.68 million through QIPs in the three-month period. FCCBs are a type of convertible bond issued in a foreign currency. While FCCBs act like a bond by making regular coupon and principal payments, they also give the bond-holder the option to convert the bond into stock at a later date.

related/bookmark it/readit

(more…)

Mumbai: The landscape for the rupee appears to have shifted, with the once remote 40-per-dollar level suddenly within reach as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) takes a more hands-off approach to its currency and to two-way capital flows.
Analysts say a decision by the central bank last week, to allow more overseas investment by companies and mutual funds, was a pragmatic response to strong capital inflows that are pushing up the rupee and making it harder and harder to control.
The partially convertible currency is just over a rupee away from 40 per dollar, a level unseen since 1998. Analysts expect that level to be hit during the year before weakening as the central bank steps to check its appreciation.
“The day-before-yesterday’s volatility is today’s flexibility,” RBI governor Y.V. Reddy said after making an annual policy presentation last week.
The reason for the central bank’s more relaxed attitude towards the rupee appears to be threefold.
Firstly, a rising rupee can act to combat inflation, which has prompted five interest-rate increases in under a year.
Secondly, central bank currency intervention to try to control the rupee has fuelled money supply, and by extension inflation. Thirdly, the central bank is warming the market up for convertibility where capital flows in and out of the country will be given a much freer rein.

related/bookmark it/readit

(more…)

Liberalisation has made India a sought after destination for investment. India has a vast pool of entrepreneurial aptitude that is capable of a global competition. A low labor cost and a rapidly growing middle class add to the attractiveness of the Indian market as an investment opportunity.

To consolidate its position and become globally competitive, India needs business process expertise, access to capital and wider market coverage. It is at this stage venture capital comes in, to provide resources to a budding entrepreneur.

However, today there is no extensive listing of such kind of fund providers interested in investing in India that would help the potential entrepreneur to make a beginning.

dickenson recognises and bridges this gap by launching the most comprehensive venture capital and private equity guide for India, available in the market.

The ‘dickenson intellinetics VC guide for India 2004 - 05’ is a focused, targeted, comprehensible and easy to use resource for entrepreneurs, their accountants and other advisors. It is the most effective and affordable directory of its kind in India providing not just general information, but also investment criteria information about venture capital and private equity practioners interested in India.

related/bookmark it/readit

(more…)

Communication solutions provider AT&T Global Network Services India, which recently launched its commercial business in the country, on Wednesday said it will start providing Internet services to the corporate enterprise sector in the Capital by the end of this year.

The company, which currently has five MPLS-enabled Global Network nodes for providing services in India, will set up two new nodes by the end of this year besides doubling the capacity of its existing two nodes at Bangalore and Mumbai, AT&T CEO and Managing Director Sanjiv Bhagat told reporters in the Capital.

In November 2006, AT&T became the first foreign telecom operator to secure new licences - ILD/NLD/ISP under the government’s revised policy on foreign direct investment which allows up to 74 per cent foreign ownership.

“The company will invest 750 million dollar in 2007 globally including India,” AT&T Asia Pacific Vice President VS Gopi Gopinath said declining to give the exact figures for investment in India.

AT&T recorded 40 per cent growth last year in India and is expecting similar growth rate to continue for the next two years, he said.

It currently provides its services to over 300 business customers in the country and is talking to its existing customers as well as new companies to provide ISP services by the end of this year, he added.

“India is a high-priority market for just about every global MNC and the increasingly competitive telecom landscape will be a major factor in helping attract further MNC investment and expansion into India,” Gopinath added.

Source…..
related/bookmark it/readit