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Sebi bans issue of fresh ULIPs till court rulingThe Securities and Exchange Board of India has banned the issue of fresh ULIP products. According to finance minister, the agreement has to be followed all insurers covered and not just the 14 named in the SEBI order.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 16 Apr 2010 | 8:50 am Indraprastha Gas plans capex worth Rs 2000crIn an interview with CNBCTV18, Rajesh Ved Vyas, Managing Director of Indraprastha Gas, spoke about his outlook for the company and capital expansion plans.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 16 Apr 2010 | 8:27 am Bharti adds 3 million subscribers in MarchIndia\'s largest telecom operator, Bharti Airtel has added 3 million GSM moblie users in March as against 2.9 million in previous month (MoM), reports CNBCTV18.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 16 Apr 2010 | 8:24 am LIC clocks strong growth due to 75% rise in group bizIndias largest life insurance company LIC has mopped up a whooping Rs 63,900 crore premium in FY10, clocking a growth of 36% yearonyear, reports CNBCTV18.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 16 Apr 2010 | 8:16 am Spicejet to start first overseas flight to Colombo in JuneBudget airline SpiceJet will now go international. CNBCTV18 reports quoting agencies that the airline has received Govt nod to fly overseas last week.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 16 Apr 2010 | 8:04 am GMR Infra raises $315mn via QIPConstruction firm GMR Infrastructure has raised USD 315 million via qualified institutional placement (QIP) The issue opened yesterday and closed this morning.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 16 Apr 2010 | 6:23 am DRL recalls 78876 tablet bottles; impact to be marginalDr Reddys Laboratories has voluntarily recalled 78,876 bottles of 2mg and 4 mg Risperidone tablets in the United States. DRL said that the recall was due to out of specification results on testing.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 16 Apr 2010 | 6:11 am Allcargo to spend Rs 200250cr on expansion, acquisitionsIn an interview with CNBCTV18, Shashi Kiran Shetty, CMD, Allcargo Global Logistics, speaks about the latest happenings in his company and sector. He says, the company plans to spend around Rs 200250 crore on expansion and acquisitions in 2010.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 16 Apr 2010 | 6:11 am ICICI looks to sell 14% in FSL; KKR amongst highest bidderICICI Bank is likely to reduce its stake in Firstsource (FSL) from 19.4% to 5% and has invited bids to sell 14% stake reports CNBCTV18 quoting sources. ICICIs stake in FSL was lockedin till February but the bank is now looking to sell it at a 5% premium to the current market price.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 16 Apr 2010 | 5:54 am RIL invests USD 2030 mn for stake in Deccan 360: SourcesReliance Industries Ltd is looking to buy a majority stake in Deccan 360, reports CNBCTV18 quoting agencies. The company is likely to make an announcement at a press conference at 12.30pm today.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 16 Apr 2010 | 5:43 am Sensex back in red after brief green forayA benchmark index for Indian equities was back in the red after a brief foray into positive terrain and was ruling 22 points lower than its previous close, about 90 minutes before the closing bell. Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 16 Apr 2010 | 4:08 am TVS launches metal body scooter WEGA in NagpurTVS WEGO comes with a 110 cc engine that delivers a peak power of 8 BHP at 7,500 rpm. WEGA's other features include an external fuel fill with hinged cap, under seat charger for cell phones.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 16 Apr 2010 | 4:03 am 'Economic growth may exceed 8.6% in fourth quarter' - Hindu Business Line
Source: Business - Google News | 16 Apr 2010 | 4:01 am SBI: not much rate rise seen in 2-3 monthsThere is still a fair amount of liquidity in the system. So possibly in the next 2-3 months, despite the small upward bias there may not be much hike, said SBI chairman OP Bhatt.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 16 Apr 2010 | 3:57 am JSW Energy unit acquires South African CoalMUMBAI (Reuters) - Utility JSW Energy said on Friday its wholly owned overseas unit has agreed to acquire majority shareholding in South African Coal Mining Holding Ltd.Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 Apr 2010 | 3:49 am Europeans discuss Greek aid, PM says pain not overMADRID/ATHENS (Reuters) - European finance ministers discussed Greece's debt difficulties on Friday but said Athens was for now seeking to remove any obstacles to the rollout of emergency aid if needed, rather than requesting it officially.Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 Apr 2010 | 3:47 am INTERVIEW - Sanwaria Agro sees FY11 rev at 20 bln rupeesMUMBAI (Reuters) - Edible oil maker Sanwaria Agro Oils Ltd expects to earn 20 billion rupees in revenue in 2010/11 on increased thrust on retail sales and high-margin value-added products, a senior official said on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 Apr 2010 | 3:41 am Markets provisionally close down 0.4%Mumbai: Indian shares provisionally closed 0.4% lower on Friday, posting a weekly fall after nine weeks of gains. Reliance Industries and outsourcers led the decline. The 30-share BSE index provisionally ended down 0.39% or 68.71 points at 17,570.55 points with 23 components falling. The 50-share NSE index provisionally closed down 0.3% at 5,256.60 points. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 16 Apr 2010 | 3:39 am Qatari fund buys into French utility group VeoliaA Qatari fund is buying a 5 per cent stake in French utility giant Veolia in a partnership to develop joint projects in the Middle East and North Africa, Veolia said in a statement today. Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 16 Apr 2010 | 3:34 am Cost cuts help drive Sony Ericsson to Q1 profitSTOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson swung to a surprise first-quarter profit as its push into the growing smartphone market and hefty cost cuts boosted margins.Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 Apr 2010 | 3:26 am Sebi bans issue of fresh ULIPs till court ruling - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 16 Apr 2010 | 3:25 am RBI governor to meet finanace minister on FridayNEW DELHI (Reuters) - The head of the Reserve Bank of India will meet the finance minister on Friday, an official said, as the two sides try to balance growth with fighting inflation ahead of the bank's monetary policy review on April 20.Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 Apr 2010 | 3:25 am Volcanic ash halts much of N.Europe air travelLONDON (Reuters) - A huge ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano caused further air travel chaos across Europe on Friday on a scale not seen since the Sept. 11 attacks, leaving hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded.Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 Apr 2010 | 3:23 am Nifty flat; ITC, PNB, Tata Motors, ABB, ICICI Bank up - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 16 Apr 2010 | 3:20 am RIL invests USD 20-30 mn for stake in Deccan 360: Sources - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 16 Apr 2010 | 3:15 am Liverpool confirms owners wanting to sell clubNew Delhi: Liverpool’s owners have confirmed Barclays Bank is searching for a buyer for the debt-ridden Premier League football club. British Airways chairman Martin Broughton’s has been appointed to oversee the sale process, the club said. Broughton has been appointed as the new chairman of the Liverpool Football Club, with immediate effect. He will work alongside the club’s existing management team that includes, managing director Christian Purslow, commercial director Ian Ayre and financial director Philip Nash. American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr. hope Barclays Capital, the investment arm of the bank which sponsors the Premier League, can succeed where other financial institutions have failed in the last two years. In a press release issued on the Club’s website, Hicks and Gillett stated, “Owning Liverpool Football Club over these past three years has been a rewarding and exciting experience for us and our families. Having grown the Club this far we have now decided together to look to sell the Club to owners committed to take the Club through its next level of growth and development.” Hicks and Gillett acquired the club in February 2007 for £219 million. The debt resulting from the 2007 takeover stands at £237 million ($364 million). Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 16 Apr 2010 | 3:07 am Govt sees jump in pvt funding for infrastructureNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India expects private firms to fund half of the projected $1 trillion investment in infrastructure between 2012 and 2017, an adviser said on Friday, nearly triple the current proportion.Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:56 am Reliance invested $20-$30 mln in Deccan 360 - sourceMUMBAI (Reuters) - Reliance Industries invested between $20 million and $30 million for a stake in freight services firm Deccan 360, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:40 am SBI: not much rate rise seen in 2-3 monthsNEW DELHI (Reuters) - State Bank of India, the country's top lender, does not expect much of a hike in interest rates, Chairman O.P. Bhatt said on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:39 am Include India, Brazil in UN security council: BRIC nations - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:32 am Gems and jewellery export up by 16% on demand from USNew Delhi: India’s gems and jewellery export grew by 16% to $28.41 billion in 2009-10 due to revival in demand from major markets like the US and Europe. During 2008-09, the export stood at $24.49 billion. “After undergoing challenging time in 2008-09, the Indian gems and jewellery rose like a phoenix showing an upward trend due to our constant endeavour to sustain trade relation with the US and also expansion by penetrating other markets,” Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council chairman Vasant Mehta said. The sector was hit hard due to the global slowdown and witnessed a decline in exports since October 2008. Cut and polished diamond export registered an increase of 20.11% to $17.54 billion in 2009-10 compared to 14.6 billion in the 2008-09. Besides, coloured gems stone export increased by 10.55% to $286.65 million in 2009-10 compared to $259.29 million in the previous fiscal, while gold jewellery exports rose by 9.38% to $9.42 billion during the period under review compared to $8.61 billion in 2008-09. The US and EU together accounts for about 70% of India’s total gems and jewellery exports. The sector contributed 13% to the country’s total merchandise export of about $186 billion during 2008-09. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:32 am NALCO gives Rs14.33 crore for development works in KoraputNALCO has been making significant strides in the development of backward and tribal-dominated Koraput where the company's mines and refinery are located.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:23 am Orange to offer broadband network through British TelecomsAs part of the same deal, British Telecoms carrier BT will take over Orange's existing fixed-line infrastructure, which currently covers about 65% of the population, and incorporate it into its own network.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:17 am Govt convenes meet on steel pricesThe government has convened a meeting of steel producers next week to take stock of the rising price situation in the country, a top steel ministry official said in New Delhi today.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:13 am RIL announces strategic investment in Deccan 360Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries on Friday forayed into the aviation space as a "strategic investor" in captain Gopinath-founded cargo airline Deccan 360.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:11 am Sony Ericsson makes surprise first-quarter profitThe world number four handset maker, owned by Sweden's Ericsson and Japan's Sony Corp., reported a pretax profit of 18 million ($25.16 million) for the period.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:10 am RBI seen hiking rates, CRR next weekMUMBAI (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India is expected to raise interest rates for the second time in a month on Tuesday and drain more liquidity from the banking system to contain rising inflationary pressures.Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:05 am RIL announces strategic investment in Deccan 360Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries today forayed into the aviation space as a "strategic investor" in captain Gopinath-founded cargo airline Deccan 360.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:03 am UPDATE 1-India's GMR raises $315 mln in share sale -sources - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 16 Apr 2010 | 2:02 am Govt eyes sugar import tax to aid farmers, millsThe government could slap an import tax on sugar before the start of its 2010-11 season in October, to protect farmers and millers from a flood of foreign supplies as global prices crash and the rupee hovers at a 19-month peak. A tax by the world’s top sugar consumer would discourage the imports India needs to build up stocks and put more pressure on New York raw sugar futures, which crashed to an 11-month low in April from a 29-year peak two months ago. India’s sugar cycle is also set to flip to a surplus, from the sharp deficit that boosted New York prices, as farmers have planted more cane in response to higher prices last year. “The government will certainly impose a duty on imports,” said Veeresh Hiremath, a senior analyst with commodity brokerage Karvy Comtrade. “But it will not do anything in a hurry.” Last year India permitted duty-free sugar imports and set limits on stocks as output fell sharply and prices soared. Now, millers want the government to prop up falling prices. “The cane price was very high this year, and so was the production cost, said Ashok Jain, president of the Bombay Sugar Merchants Association (BSMA), referring to the crop year that began in October 2009. “It was around Rs28 to Rs29,” he added, citing a figure equivalent to about 63 to 65 US cents per kg. “Now millers are putting pressure on the government to stabilise falling prices.” Changed Situation In the changed market situation, millers and industry officials said, unfettered sugar imports could cut domestic prices to a level where sugar makers would suffer losses and default on payments to farmers. “They should impose an import duty to protect the farmers,” said M Manickam, managing director at Sakthi Sugars, who said millers were fighting to retain their margins. A broker based in western Maharashtra, the country’s top sugar-producing state, said imports would land on Indian shores at well below the domestic cost of production if prices stay at current levels. “The international market is testing new support levels every day. The rupee is also strengthening. In the second half of the year the landed cost of imported sugar would be around Rs21 to 22,” said the broker, who deals mainly in raw sugar. The rupee soared to a 19-month high this week, rising from a record low of 52.20 against the dollar in March 2009 to 44.43 on Friday, buoyed by a flow of $4.7 billion into Indian share markets in March. Sugar imports into India may be even cheaper in future, as a Reuters poll forecasts a further rise of the rupee. “If cheap imported sugar keeps coming into the market prices will fall further,” Jain said. The price of sugar in Maharashtra has fallen by about a third to Rs2,700 per 100 kg since hitting a record high of Rs3,972.3 on 7 January. Powerful Farmers With two-thirds of India’s population of more than a billion living in villages and forming a powerful voting block, the government tries to balance the interests of consumers and farmers. Farmers helped Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government win two consecutive elections, but extracted a high price by launching protests over lower cane prices offered by millers. Farmers in northern India, who had set on fire imports of raw sugar and forced Uttar Pradesh state to ban processing of raws, will fiercely resist lower cane rates but mills need to cut costs in step with sinking sugar prices. Amid a supply glut in 2007-08, New Delhi had subsidised sugar exports to assist farmers, and Maharashtra state offered a subsidy to help millers pay farmers. Farmers are aggressively seeking higher cane prices but millers cannot afford rises if sugar prices are low. “It is difficult for the government to balance between farmers and consumers. It will not allow prices to rise sharply and at the same time will not allow them to fall significantly,” said Mukesh Kuvadia, secretary of the BSMA. Rising Output India’s 2009-10 sugar output of 18.0 million to 18.5 million tonnes would still fall short of domestic demand of 23 million, but a much larger crop is expected in the coming year. “Now we need fewer imports than we thought. So there is nothing wrong in imposing an import duty,” a senior industry official from Maharashtra said. “Despite a duty, say about 30 to 40%, imports would be viable.” Kuvadia said imports were needed to rebuild stockpiles. India should enter the 2010-11 sugar year with opening stocks of 3 million tonnes if domestic output tops 17 million in 2009-10, an official of the Maharashtra State Cooperative Sugar Factories Federation said. “In 2010-11, I am expecting sugar production of more than 22 million tonnes,” said Prakash Naiknavare, managing director of the body. The 2010 monsoon forecast and the start of rains that water crops in a landscape parched by a hot summer will also play a key role in deciding when the levy takes effect, said Ashwini Bansod, a senior analyst at MF Global Commodities India. “Everyone is looking towards the monsoon this year. The government will watch its initial progress and its spread. And then only, I think, they will take a decision on the duty,” Bansod added. Monsoon rains in South Asia are expected to be normal this year, a top Indian weather official has said, raising hopes for lower inflation and a rebound in the output of cane, soybean and rice after drought last year. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 16 Apr 2010 | 1:58 am Bond yields seen easing early; RBI eyed - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 16 Apr 2010 | 1:44 am Reliance stake in Deccan 360 between 26-50%Mumbai: Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries forayed into the aviation space on 16 April as a “strategic investor” in captain Gopinath-founded cargo airline Deccan 360. While the quantum of investment could not be ascertained immediately, RIL said that a wholly-owned subsidiary would provide “growth capital” for the new cargo airline. “We believe that our collaboration with Deccan 360 will see a transformation in the logistics domain in India,” RIL’s chairman and MD Mukesh Ambani said in a statement. RIL’s investment would help Deccan 360 increase its air and surface network coverage across the country, the company said. Deccan 360 is developing a 50-acre hub at Nagpur in Maharashtra and currently has eight freight aircraft covering 15 airports and a fleet of over 300 trucks and 850 vehicles nationwide. Indian energy major Reliance Industries’ stake in Deccan 360 would be above 26% but below 50%, the logistics firm’s chairman G R Gopinath said on 17 April. Earlier, Reliance said it will take a strategic stake in Deccan, but did not disclose financial details. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 16 Apr 2010 | 1:43 am SEBI seeks addl info from FIIs: How do experts view it? - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 16 Apr 2010 | 1:35 am Allegations against me baseless, ill-motivated: TharoorNew Delhi:Shashi Tharoor today rejected Opposition demands for his resignation as minister of state for external affairs by asserting that the allegations against him on the IPL issue were “baseless, ill-founded and ill-motivated”. “The real motive behind the public controversy that has been created around me is to make the Kochi team unviable and to assign this IPL franchise to elsewhere than Kerala,” he said in a statement tabled in the Lok Sabha amid opposition demand for his sacking. The opposition members stormed the well and were in no mood to listen to the minister. They demanded his immediate removal which prompted speaker Meira Kumar to order Tharoor to lay the statement he was reading out. Seeking to mount an attack on IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, with whom he is involved in a spat over the ownership of the Kochi IPL team, Tharoor said “the game and the benefits accruing from it should not be retained only by an influential coterie with interests in a few privileged centres”. He said it was essential in democracy that institutions of interest to the general public are “run openly, rather than restricting their opportunities to a favoured few”. Tharoor rejected allegations that he had misused his official position. “No misuse of my official position was involved. The issue has nothing to do with my ministry. As a minister, I was in no position to influence the bid process, let alone its outcome,” he said. The Lok Sabha witnessed two adjournments following opposition uproar on the issue while the Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day after one adjournment in the morning. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 16 Apr 2010 | 1:17 am Sony Ericsson makes surprise Q1 profitStockholm: Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson swung to a surprise first-quarter pretax profit on Friday as its push into the growing smartphone market and hefty cost cuts boosted margins. After a dismal 2009 in which the handset market contracted amid the global downturn, many analysts believe the outlook for the industry has improved in recent months, though Sony Ericsson stuck to its cautious forecast of only slight market growth in handset sales this year. The world number four handset maker, owned by Sweden’s Ericsson and Japan’s Sony Corp, reported a pretax profit of €18 million ($25.2 million) for the period even though sales were down 19%. The mean forecast in a Reuters poll of 27 analysts had been for a €157 million loss. The company, which made a €370 million loss in the year ago period, said its gross margin was 31%, well above forecasts as costs fell sharply and it sold more higher-price smartphones offering PC-like functions and links to websites like Twitter and Facebook. “Bottom-line I think this confirms that they have now managed the turnaround from a cost perspective,” said Nicolas von Stackelberg, analyst at Macquarie Research. “And now we need to hear from them how they want to go about regaining market share, which is of course critical given that it has now dwindled to 4%.” Sony Ericsson, the global number four phone maker, has been revamping its portfolio and cutting costs after seven straight quarters of losses. “We are pleased to see the positive impact of both the launch of new products and the business transformation programme improving the company’s results,” Sony Ericsson President Bert Nordberg said. Restructuring charges in the first quarter were €3 million against an average forecast of 51 million. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 16 Apr 2010 | 1:09 am Consumer goods sales to sag in Q4Mumbai: Indian mid-cap consumer goods firms are expected to report a modest rise in sales as higher food inflation hurts buying, but low input costs will help maintain margins in the Jan-March quarter, analysts said. A Reuters poll of brokerages found Britannia Industries is expected to post a sales growth of 9%, Marico by 10% and Colgate Palmolive by 16%. “Higher food inflation has led to a slowdown in consumption which will affect sales of most of the firms. Discretionary spend has been curtailed especially at the lower end of the market,” an analyst with brokerage Prabhudas Lialdher told Reuters. “This quarter there will be very little value growth as FMCG players have taken fewer price increases, so whatever growth is there will come from volume growth,” he said. India’s food price index rose 17.70% in the 12 months to 27 March, while the fuel index was up 12.71%, government data showed on 8 April. The profit growth at these firms is also likely to be slower than in previous quarters but lower raw material costs could provide a cushion, analysts said. Marico is expected to maintain margins as input costs have come down but the price cut by the firm during the just-concluded quarter will hurt, they added. “Falling raw material prices, like sugar for Dabur and copra for Marico would help curtail input prices thereby sustaining margins in the face of falling retail prices,” ICICI Securities said in a note. Marico is seen posting a 30% rise in profit while Colgate Palmolive is seen posting a profit growth of 27% in the fourth quarter, according to the poll. “The rise in operating costs due to higher crude oil prices and bottoming out of input costs, in the coming quarters will be a cause of worry for the FMCG firms,” said an analyst with a Mumbai-based brokerage. “Moreover, the increase in prices of packaging material (which constitutes 8-10% of the costs of companies like Dabur and Marico) would put further pressure on margins, going forward,” he added. Godrej defies trend Bucking the general trend in the sector personal care products maker Godrej Consumer Products Ltd is expected to post a strong earnings performance. “The company would continue to benefit from robust volume growth in both soaps and hair colour business. The international business is also expected to continue its growth momentum in the fourth quarter,” Emkay Securities said in a note. The consolidation of the Godrej Sara Lee business is also seen aiding sales growth, analysts said. According to the Reuters poll, Godrej Consumer is expected to post a 36% jump in profit riding on a 50% year-on-year spurt in sales. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:56 am Asia telcos bet on banking to drive mobile money boomHong Kong/Seoul: Asian cellular carriers are charting new ground with a charge into e-commerce, spending billions on banks and credit card issuers as they hunt for better returns on their own multibillion-dollar networks. But the gambit could also take them down a hazardous road, extending them beyond their core business as mobile network operators into a fast moving and unfamiliar world of high finance they know little about. “This is a bit of a portent for where the market is moving, in terms of where companies are seeing new business growth areas,” said Damien Bailey, a lawyer at Simmons & Simmons in Hong Kong. “I suspect it’s going to continue, this mobile e-payments, or e-commerce. It’s one of those businesses that’s small incremental fees per transaction. But when you multiply it over tens of millions of transactions, it turns into big business,” he said. Mobile payment services could be particularly attractive in emerging markets such as China, which boasts more than 720 million subscribers, where wired infrastructure necessary for other forms of payment like credit cards and over the Internet are less advanced, said Gartner analyst Nick Ingelbrecht. The global e-commerce sector, now mostly confined to online transactions, is expected to reach $300 billion in annual sales in the next five years, according to some estimates. Last month, China Mobile agreed to pay $5.8 billion for 20% of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank. The world’s largest mobile carrier, with more than 500 million subscribers, joined an almost exclusively Asian club of companies that have taken such equity stakes in financial firms. Japan’s NTT DoCoMo paid nearly 100 billion yen ($1.1 billion) for stakes in Sumitomo Mitsui Card Co and UC Card Co in 2005 and 2006. Top South Korean mobile carrier SK Telecom set up a mobile payment platform service joint venture with Citigroup in 2008, and this year bought 49% of Hana Financial Group’s credit card unit for $343 million. South Korea’s No. 2 mobile firm and dominant fixed-line operator, KT Corp, is also buying shares in BC Card, a credit card processing company. “We are looking at the market for settlement network, rather than just card services,” said a KT official. “With BC Card we can offer wireless connections for card processing for the entire market. That’s the real opportunity we look at.” BIG NUMBERS The mobile carriers hope to cash in on high subscriber numbers, as well as openness to trying new mobile applications. In South Korea, 97% of the population has a mobile phone. Data from the Bank of Korea showed average daily money transfer via mobile banking grew fivefold between 2005 and 2009, but is still less than one hundredth of the average value transferred via Web banking a day. Gartner estimates total mobile payment transactions will total nearly 4.5 billion in 2012, up from just 125 million in 2007, growing at an annual compound rate of 105%. In India, top mobile operator, Bharti Airtel, has conducted a pilot mobile banking project with leading state lender State Bank of India. India’s Reliance Communications also has a business tie-up with HDFC Bank allowing HDFC customers to access their account details through Reliance mobile phones. “In emerging markets, mobile access to banking services is a very significant opportunity going forward,” Gartner’s Ingelbrecht said. “Mobile banking is not so much of a developed market proposition because we all have our PCs and do telephone banking. But in emerging markets mobile access is a good way of extending banking access,” he said. While prospects look good, security concerns and lack of experience are some of the biggest obstacles for telecom firms. Mobile banking and payment are vulnerable to hacking and virus attacks in the same way Web commerce is exposed. “There will be few problems with security with straightforward mobile banking, such as doing banking over phone,” said Kim Nam-hoon, a research fellow at South Korea’s Hana Institute of Finance. “But commercial transactions on mobile would take more time before people feel confident about security. The fact many different versions of verification tools and programs are being developed shows it,” he said. Still, there are strong risks for an industry that knows plenty about communications but relatively little about the world of finance, said Gartner’s Ingelbrecht. “I think it’s not the sort of thing that all carriers would want to do because it goes back to the issue of core competency: doing banking is a different kind of activity to telecoms.” Source: Home - Livemint.com | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:52 am RBI governor to meet finance minister on Friday: source - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:50 am Sebi, Irda working together to resolve Ulip issue: BhaveSingapore:Capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Friday said it was working together with the insurance watchdog to expeditiously find a “legally binding” resolution to who controls unit linked products and there are no restrictions on investment in existing schemes. “We want to do it (move appropriate court) quickly,” Sebi chairman CB Bhave said on the sidelines of a CII Conference on Indian Financial Markets on when it would move the court for resolving the jurisdiction issue. He also told the foreign institutional investors apprehensive about the turf war between the two regulators that they can continue to invest in current Ulips, which have a portfolio of over Rs92,000 crore. Sebi’s latest direction is against floating any new product, he clarified. “FIIs should know what the correct position is and the correct position is that investors can continue to invest in current Ulips and no new Ulips are allowed,” Bhave said. Sebi had last week said that all Ulips issued after 9 April will have to have its approval. This was questioned by insurance sector regulator Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda). On Thursday, the market watchdog had moved the Supreme Court and some high courts to guard against any ex-parte decision. On 10 April, Sebi had banned 14 life insurance companies, including those belonging to Tatas, SBI, ICICI, HDFC and Reliance Anil Ambani group, from raising funds through Ulip without its approval. Later on 14 April, Sebi came out with a second order that exempted the existing Ulip schemes of these 14 players from the ban. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:50 am SEBI, IRDA working together to resolve ULIP: BhaveCapital market regulator SEBI today said, it was working together with the insurance watch dog to expeditiously find a "legally binding" resolution to who controls unit linked products and there are no restrictions on investment in existing schemes.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:31 am Japan's JFE Holdings eyes stake in JSW SteelThe two companies are working on the terms of a share issue by JSW to its founders, Sajjan Jindal and his family, and JFE.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:25 am Panasonic plans $160 million airconditioner plant in IndiaPanasonic aims to generate 55% of its group sales outside Japan in the year to March 2013, up from the current 47%.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:23 am Global crisis to hurt trade for up to two years: WTOGlobal trade will face lingering protectionism for up to two years, as the job market reels from the global financial crisis, World Trade Organization director-general Pascal Lamy said.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:21 am India needs to be more open to foreign funds: Singapore PMChicago: Asian countries, led by India and China, are emerging “strongly” from the economic downturn, Singapore’s Prime Minister said here, but emphasised that India needs to be more “open” to foreign investments for sustained growth. Addressing the Chicago Council on Global Affairs here, Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong said economies across the globe are rebounding and the world is no longer staring into an “abyss”. “In Asia, the countries are emerging strongly led by China and India. Asia is on the move and barring a conflict or war, for at least several more decades Asia will continue to grow and develop and uplift the lives of billions of people,” Loong said on 15 April. Pointing out that India is growing rapidly, Loong said for a sustained growth, the country will require “difficult liberalisation and reforms” as well as massive infrastructure investments. “India is well placed to be another major growth engine, provided it progressively frees up its economy. It needs to become more transparent, open and more welcoming of foreign investments and of business in general,” he said, adding the country has an environment many Western firms are more comfortable with. Loong termed China “a big part of the Asia story” but said it is in Beijing’s interest to show flexibility in its exchange rate. “Now that the crisis is over, it is really in China’s own interest. to have more flexibility in its exchange rate to avoid a showdown not only with America but with all its global partners,” he added. While China is “assiduous and skillful in making friends”, it is “firm in defending its national interests,” Loong said, adding that China is still finding the “right tone” to engage the international community. Terming America’s relation with China “the most important bilateral relation” in the world, Loong said currently the two nations are facing problems, particularly in regard to the exchange rate. He said it is important for both sides to manage this relation constructively as there is much to lose if they collide with one another but lots to gain if they work with each other. He further added that for Asia’s growth, it is vital that America has an active trade policy despite the protectionism mood and “lack of appetite in the Congress for free trade”. “It’s important for Asia to have a balance of players where the interests of all parties, big and small, are taken into account not just for economic reasons but to maintain a balance of power and foster regional security,” Loong said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:19 am Oil drops below $85 as Asian stocks slumpBenchmark crude for May delivery was down 68 cents to $84.83 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:13 am Credit Suisse taps JPMorgan's Vedika Bhandarkar to head India i-bankingShe will be joined at Credit Suisse by JPMorgan's Sandeep Pangal, who will be a managing director in investment banking coverage.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:11 am India rupee down on dlr rise overseas; shares eyed - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:02 am HDFC revives teaser home loan schemeHousing finance major HDFC on Thursday revived its teaser home loans scheme, albeit only for a fortnight, so as not to lose market share in the home loans space to rival State Bank ofSource: Business Line - Home Page | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideThe stock declined Rs 24 or 2.5 per cent accompanied with above average volume, conclusively breaching its 21-day moving average on Thursday. We recommend aSource: Business Line - Home Page | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am 3G spectrum price goes up Rs 249 cr on Day 5Bidding for third generation (3G) spectrum continued for the fifth day on Thursday with the value for pan-India air waves moving up by Rs 249 crore to touch Rs 4,831.09 crore. This is 38 per cent higher than the initial bid price of Rs 3,500Source: Business Line - Home Page | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am Areva T&D India (Rs 302): SellInvestors with short-term trading perspective can consider selling Areva T&D India. The stock has been trundling downward since the peak of Rs 385 recorded in June 2009. This decline is however received medium-term support around Rs 255. TheSource: Business Line - Home Page | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am Heat wave plays spoilsport in wheat-growing areasThe country's wheat production may be lower than the Agriculture Ministry's estimate of 80.28 million tonnes (mt). The impression is based on the feedback from the trade, say officials and millers across theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am India-made cryogenic engine fails to lift GSLV-D3The launch of the GSLV-D3 rocket, which featured for the first time an indigenously built cryogenic engine, failed. The rocket lifted off precisely, but veered off its path, and the vehicle went out of control. Initial reports suggest that theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am SEBI seeks more details on FIIs' structureThe Securities and Exchange Board of India has issued a circular on Thursday directing FIIs to provide additional information pertaining to their structure by SeptemberSource: Business Line - Home Page | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am DoT proposes to put BSNL's IPO plan on holdThe Department of Telecom proposes to put off plans to list Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd till the restructuring of the company isSource: Business Line - Home Page | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am Income-tax officials visit IPL officesThe spat between Mr Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for External Affairs, and the IPL Commissioner, Mr Lalit Modi, intensified on Thursday with income-tax officials visiting IPLSource: Business Line - Home Page | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am ‘India's approach to liberalisation correct'In a remarkably humble admission, the head of Britain's financial market regulator said that India, in the last decade, had made the correct decision to be cautious about liberalisation of its financial sector, despite immense pressure fromSource: Business Line - Home Page | 16 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am Ethiopia woos Indian industrialists to investWooing Indian industrialists to invest in his country, Ethiopian Minister Counsellor for Economics and Business Mehreterab Mulugeta has said, the African nation offered excellent resources, including skilled workers at lower labour cost, and attractive incentives. Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 15 Apr 2010 | 11:44 pm Credit Suisse taps JPM executive to head India i-bankingMumbai: Credit Suisse is hiring Vedika Bhandarkar, a veteran investment banker at rival JPMorgan, as head of investment banking for India, the Swiss investment bank said on 16 April. Bhandarkar, who has been head of investment banking for India at JPMorgan, will be vice chairman and India head for investment banking as well as head of the global markets solutions group for India at Credit Suisse. She will be joined at Credit Suisse by JPMorgan’s Sandeep Pangal, who will be a managing director in investment banking coverage. “We are delighted that Vedika and Sandeep are joining Credit Suisse to accelerate the growth of our franchise,” Vikram Malhotra, co-head of the investment banking department, Asia Pacific at Credit Suisse, said in an email. “India is central to our strategy and we are confident that Vedika and Sandeep can build on our momentum to take the business to the next level,” he said. Bhandarkar could not immediately be reached for comment. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2010 | 10:57 pm Asia stocks back off highs as risk appetite wanesSingapore: Asian stocks retreated from 22-month highs on Friday as fresh doubts about the US economic recovery and Greece’s rescue package prompted a broad pull back from risky assets. The doubts, plus record appetite for emerging market bonds, helped push up some regional government debt prices and the dollar gained broadly against Asian currencies. Stock markets could be on the verge of a correction after a strong run up as investors take some profits and shift the funds into safer havens. “Having seen double digit gains in share markets since early February, with expectations running very high coming into the US March quarter profit-reporting season and China still in tightening mode, there is a high risk of a short-term pause or correction in share markets.” Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy at AMP Capital Investors, said in an emailed note to clients. The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan fell over 1%, led by information technology and consumer staples, following a 16 percent rally from a February low. Although Wall Street firmed modestly on Thursday, S&P 500 futures slipped 0.5% after Google Inc’s earnings report after the close failed to impress investors accustomed to blowout results. The S&P 500 index eked out a gain of 0.1% in regular trading as encouraging profits from United Parcel Service was partly offset by an unexpected sharp rise in new jobless claims last week. Japan’s Nikkei average dropped 1.35%, its sharpest fall in over seven weeks, with a firmer yen offering investors an excuse to take profits in exporters such as Tokyo Electron. “Expectations for solid earnings appear to have run their course as you can see in today’s banking shares. The focus is now shifting to this financial year to March rather than immediate numbers,” said Hiroaki Kuramochi, chief equity marketing officer at Tokai Tokyo Securities. The dollar dipped 0.3% against the yen to around ¥92.73 but the dollar index, reflecting its trade against a basket of major currencies, rose 0.2%. The dollar showed more solid gains against Asian currencies with the Korean won dropping 0.6% and the Malaysia ringgit down 0.5%. The Australian and New Zealand dollars struggled against the yen, slipping further from multi-month highs as sluggish equities prompted funds to take profits. The euro was on the backfoot, after the cost of insuring against a Greek default rose and spreads between Greek and German bond yields widened to near record levels. European officials and the IMF have agreed to make available 45 billion euros in loans, but there are questions about how the package would be implemented. Japanese government bond futures rose to their highest levels in a month, a day after a strong five-year auction and as traders took cues from a fall in Tokyo shares. South Korean government bond prices edged up early on Friday, with treasury futures extending gains on resumed foreign buying. Both benefited from US Treasuries, which rallied as the weak US labour market figures overshadowed surveys showing strength in US manufacturing. Latest data from fund-tracking firm EPFR showed that emerging market bond funds set an all-time weekly inflow record for the week ending 14 April, taking in $1.8 billion of new money. The combined emerging market equity funds tracked by EPFR Global showed a net investment inflow for the ninth straight week in the second week of April, but the $996.6 million they took in was only a third of the previous week’s tally. Seoul shares edged lower and were down almost 0.9%. “The market has been on a steep upward run since last month, perhaps a little too much a little too fast. It’s now in technical correction territory,” said Lim Dong-min, a market analyst at KB Investment & Securities. Shares in Australia retreated 0.5% by midday, with banks giving up morning gains and miners weighed down by lacklustre base metals prices. US crude futures slipped towards $85 a barrel, adding to losses the previous day when a firmer dollar and mixed economic data sapped sentiment. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2010 | 10:45 pm GMR raises $315 mln in share sale: sourcesGMR Infrastructure has raised $315 million in a share sale to institutional investors, three sources with direct knowledge of the deal said on Friday. Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 15 Apr 2010 | 10:36 pm Rupee eases by 12 paise against dollar in early tradehe rupee depreciated by 12 paise to 44.55 a dollar in early trade today on capital outflows from equities by foreign funds and the US currency's gain overseas.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 15 Apr 2010 | 10:36 pm Rupee down on dollar rise overseas; shares eyedMumbai: The Indian rupee weakened on Friday, weighed by a subdued start to the local sharemarket that could prompt foreign fund withdrawals, while gains in the dollar versus majors and other regional peers also dampened sentiment. At 10:25am the partially convertible rupee was at Rs44.51/52 per dollar, weaker than Rs44.44/45 at close on Thursday. The rupee had risen as much as Rs44.18 early on Thursday, revisiting a 19-month high reached earlier this week. “The dollar has gained against majors except yen and even the euro is under pressure as the market still weighs the uncertainty about the ability of Greece servicing its debt,” said V. Kumar, chief dealer at State Bank of Travancore. The euro was on the backfoot on Friday, as scepticism about Greece servicing its debt kept it under pressure, while the pound headed lower in early trade on the back of growing worries about a hung parliament in Britain. “Yesterday, Dow Jones finished with some gains but most of the Asian equity markets are trading weaker and so are the domestic bourses. Dollar gains and weak equity will weigh on the rupee,” Kumar said. He expects the rupee to trade in a range of 44.35-44.60 on Friday. The index of the dollar against six major currencies was up 0.2%. Most Asian units were also weaker compared to the dollar. Indian shares opened down on Friday on apprehensions of another interest rate rise next week that could crimp consumer spending but were seesawing later in the session. Foreign fund flows into the local sharemarket are a crucial support for the rupee. Foreigners have so far in 2010 bought shares worth a net $5.4 billion, adding to net inflows of a record $17.5 billion last year. However, dealers said expectations of another rate hike at the central bank’s policy review on Tuesday was likely to prevent any sharp fall in the rupee. A Reuters survey showed most economists predict an increase in both the repo and reverse repo rates. Among those expecting a rise, roughly two-thirds predicted 25 basis point increases and one-third foresaw 50 basis point hikes. One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoting at 44.53, little weaker than the onshore spot rate. In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month dollar-rupee contracts on the National Stock Exchange and MCX-SX were both at 44.5625, with the total traded volume on the two exchanges at about $1.8 billion. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2010 | 10:35 pm Sensex down 90 points in early trade on rate hike fearsThe Bombay Stock Exchange fell by another 90 points in early trade on Friday as investors sold stocks amid fears of an impending hike in key policy rates by RBI. Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 15 Apr 2010 | 10:27 pm Sensex down 90 points in early trade on rate hike fearsThe Bombay Stock Exchange fell by another 90 points in early trade on Friday as investors sold stocks amid fears of an impending hike in key policy rates by RBI.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 15 Apr 2010 | 10:15 pm Bric group urges swift reform of financial systemBrasilia: Leading emerging powers called on Thursday for swift reform of international financial institutions to give developing countries a greater voice, saying their group was vital to achieving a new world order. The call from the increasingly influential Bric countries for more say in global financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund came ahead of this month’s G-20 finance ministers’ and IMF meetings in Washington. The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India and China said that voting share reforms at the World Bank to give developing countries more clout should be approved at the IMF meetings. Setting a specific deadline, the group also said those reforms should be completed by a G-20 summit in November. “Brazil, Russia, India and China have a fundamental role in creating a new international order that is more just, representative and safe,” Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said after holding talks with his counterparts.  (From left) Russia’s President Dmitri Medvedev, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, China’s President Hu Jintao and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pose for the official photo of the BRIC summit at the Itamaraty Palace in Brasilia on Thursday. Eraldo Peres / AP Photo The group has been pushing for reforms since the global financial crisis of 2008, arguing the current system is unfairly dominated by advanced economies such as the United States, Japan and Europe. The statement said the group would resist all trade protectionism and look into increasing commerce with one another in local currencies, bypassing the US dollar. But the group, which has rowed back from talk last year of setting up a new reserve currency, stressed the importance of maintaining the stability of major reserve currencies. As the largest holder of US Treasury bonds, China is not keen to see the value of its investments diminish. Despite their economic clout and 40% share of the world’s population, differences among the four countries have become more evident since their first summit in Russia last year, exposing the limitations of the group’s ambitions. “We support a multipolar, equitable, democratic and just world order with the (United Nations) playing a central role in tackling global challenges,” said Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The Bric summit, held in Brasilia, was scaled back when Chinese president Hu Jintao decided to go home early to deal with a major earthquake in a remote western region of China. In one of their few concrete steps toward cooperation, the countries’ national development banks signed an accord enabling them to fund projects in one another’s countries, the Brazilian national development bank’s president said. Luciano Coutinho, the head of the BNDES, said the agreement covered the infrastructure, energy, sustainability and technology sectors. China, Brazil Sign Deals China and Brazil, the largest economies in Asia and Latin America, used the summit to bolster growing ties with trade and investment agreements. Hu and Lula signed a five-year “action plan” aimed at boosting trade and energy cooperation. The two nations have grown closer in recent years amid a surge in commerce -- in 2009, China became Brazil’s top trade partner. The projects agreed upon included a $5 billion steel mill at the Acu port in Rio de Janeiro state that would be China’s biggest investment in Latin America’s largest country, home to some of the world’s largest iron ore deposits. China’s Wuhan Iron and Steel and Brazilian logistics firm LLX Logistica, controlled by billionaire Eike Batista, will build the plant. China’s Sinopec and the country’s development bank signed a strategic development agreement with Brazil’s state-run oil giant Petrobras, Sinopec Chairman Su Shulin told Reuters. Su said the deal would cover the development of Brazilian oil resources and trade with China. Brazil’s recent discovery of vast offshore oil reserves has opened a new area of potential cooperation with resource-hungry China, which agreed last year to lend $10 billion to Petrobras in return for guaranteed oil supply over the next decade. A Brazilian government source said Lula asked Hu to maintain a dialogue with Iran over its nuclear energy program before the Brazilian leader’s planned visit to Tehran next month. Lula has opposed fresh UN sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program, arguing they will not work. China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has also been reluctant to join Western powers in authorizing new sanctions against Iran. Hu and Lula did not discuss China’s currency policy, two Brazilian government sources said. Brazil and the other Brics were not expected to risk fraying ties with China by pressuring it to allow the yuan to strengthen, despite concerns about the effect of cheap Chinese exports on their economies. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2010 | 10:03 pm Pakistan failed to protect Bhutto, probe death: UNUnited Nations: Pakistan failed to properly protect former prime minister Benazir Bhutto or investigate her assassination and “severely hampered” a United Nations inquiry, UN investigators said on Thursday. Bhutto was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack after an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi on 27 December, 2007, weeks after she returned to Pakistan from eight years in self-imposed exile. “While she died when a 15-and-a-half-year-old suicide bomber detonated his explosives near her vehicle, no one believes that this boy acted alone,” the 65-page report by a UN commission of inquiry said. “The commission was mystified by the efforts of certain high-ranking Pakistani government authorities to obstruct access to military and intelligence sources,” it said, while noting that many officials offered full cooperation. The three UN investigators, who conducted a nine-month inquiry headed by Chile’s UN Ambassador Heraldo Munoz, believe the failure to effectively examine Bhutto’s death was “deliberate,” the report said. It said their inquiry had been “severely hampered” though they were still able to establish the facts and circumstances of the assassination. “Ms Bhutto’s assassination could have been prevented if adequate security measures had been taken,” it concluded. Bhutto was mistrusted by parts of Pakistan’s military and security establishment and speculation has lingered she was the victim of a plot by allies of General Pervez Musharraf, the president at the time, who did not want her to come to power. The report did not say who it believed was guilty of the crime, but suggested any credible investigation should also look at those who conceived, planned and financed the operation -- and should not exclude the possible involvement of Pakistan’s powerful military and security establishment. The commission urged Pakistan to properly investigate the assassination. The government had no immediate reaction. The report was presented on Thursday to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Its release was delayed for just over two weeks because of a request by President Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto’s widower, to allow the commission to hear evidence from three unidentified heads of state. Bhutto had returned to Pakistan, a key ally to the United States in its war against al Qaeda and the Taliban, to contest an election under a power-sharing deal with Musharraf that Washington had helped to broker. A staunch opponent of Islamist militants, Bhutto survived a bomb attack on a rally hours after arriving home in the city of Karachi in October 2007. Some 149 people were killed. After that bombing, Bhutto had spoken of a warning from a “friendly country” she did not identify. The UN report said Pakistan’s ISI intelligence service told investigators it had received information from Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates about threats against Bhutto. The toughly worded UN report said Musharraf was aware of and tracking the many threats against Bhutto. But his government “did little more than pass on those threats to her and to provincial authorities and were not proactive in neutralizing them or ensuring that the security provided was commensurate to the threats,” it said. It said the government treated Bhutto in a “discriminatory manner in comparison with other ex-prime ministers,” who received much more effective protection. The report described many failures in security on the day of the assassination and the ensuing investigation. Police deployed on rooftops on the day of the attack were supposed to have binoculars and automatic rifles, the commission said. But not a single one had binoculars or knew that he should have been carrying them. The Rawalpindi district police hosed down the scene and did not collect or preserve evidence, preventing a proper forensic examination. The failure to conduct an autopsy has also made it impossible to determine a precise cause of death. The actions by police were deliberate, the report said. “These officials, in part fearing involvement by the intelligence agencies, were unsure of how vigorously they ought to pursue actions that they knew, as professionals, they should have taken,” it said. The former government that was led by allies of Musharraf blamed the late Pakistani Taliban leader and al Qaeda ally Baitullah Mehsud for Bhutto’s murder. Mehsud was killed in a US drone strike last August. Despite the accusations against Mehsud, conspiracy theories abound in Pakistan over who was behind the assassination. The UN chief set up the panel in July 2009 at the request of Pakistan’s coalition government, led by Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party. Its original six-month mandate was extended due to the enormity of the task. Any criminal investigation will be up to Pakistani authorities but Munoz has said the commission’s findings could complement government efforts. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2010 | 9:36 pm Oil falls under $85 on demand concern, dollarSingapore: US crude dropped to below $85 on Friday as concerns about US demand re-emerged and the dollar strengthened, making imports more expensive for emerging economies where consumption is surging. An unexpected jump in the weekly number of US workers filing new jobless benefit claims tempered sentiment across markets on Thursday. “We had slightly disappointing weekly jobless claims numbers that triggered some caution in the oil market,” said Toby Hassall, an analyst at CWA Global Markets Pty Ltd in Sydney. US crude for May delivery fell 67 cents to $84.84 a barrel by 8:46am, more than $2 lower than an 18-month high above $87 reached last week. The dollar gained more than 0.1% against a basket of currencies. The dollar found support after the Treasury Department said foreign purchases of US securities rose in February as strong private sector demand helped reverse an overall capital outflow suffered during the prior month. “A firmer dollar today is probably a factor weighing on prices. High inventories of crude in the United States reflect the fact that the fundamentals are still soft; we are still seeing oversupply,” Hassall said. For a technical outlook on US crude, click Strong economic data out of China painted a different outlook for demand across Asia, giving relative support to prices of London-traded ICE Brent crude, the benchmark for most of the oil produced in Europe, Africa and Asia. Soaring growth in the Chinese economy, which posted annual expansion of 11.9% in the first quarter, could prompt a revaluation of the yuan, which may boost oil demand by increasing China’s buying power. Front-month Brent reached 18-month highs on Thursday. The June contract, which became the front month overnight after May expired, was trading about $1 higher than the equivalent contract for US crude on Friday, shedding 39 cents to $87.20. May Brent settled at $87.17 on Thursday, the highest close since front-month Brent ended at $90.25 on 3 October, 2008. Brent’s $87.58 intraday peak was the highest since $87.99 was struck on 7 October, 2008. A strike by Gabon’s main oil union has cut about 60% of the African nation’s 250,000 barrels per day of crude production, which competes with Brent. On the other hand, the expiration of May US crude oil options helped restrain US prices on Thursday, traders said. Barclays Capital’s technical team said in a note to clients that a corrective phase that had dominated the last week or so of oil trading was now over and the next targets were significantly higher. “Following five days of modest lower closes, Brent crude is pressuring the top of a bullish flag-like pattern,” Barclays Capital said. “Brent is ready to test $88.15 per barrel, then $90.00.” Source: Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2010 | 9:25 pm Google profit rise fails to impress; shares slipSan Francisco: Google Inc posted a 23% jump in quarterly revenue on a rebound in Web advertising, but its stock fell 5% as the company disappointed some investors accustomed to blowout results. Investors were also caught off guard by the company’s announcement that chief executive Eric Schmidt would no longer take part in quarterly earnings conference calls, as it aims to “streamline” the process. Google said the decision should not be interpreted as having any other meaning about Schmidt’s role at the company. Analysts said key indicators for the quarter -- including a 7% rise in average cost-per-click, the price that advertisers pay when Web surfers click their search ads -- appeared strong, even if investors had hoped for more from a company that had beaten earnings forecasts in seven of the past eight quarters. With a brightening economic backdrop and encouraging signs from the retail industry, some investors had hoped that Google’s cost-per-click would remain flat or even increase from the seasonally strong fourth quarter, instead of declining 4%, said UBS analyst Brian Pitz. “The trend looked more favorable based on the industry data that was floating around,” he said. The stock, which has risen about 5% since Monday, gave up those gains to trade at $566.20 after hours on Thursday. The stock had gained 1.1% during the regular Nasdaq session. “They’ve had a strong last few days ... and some investors expected Google to beat by a wider margin and price-per-click to come in a bit higher than 7% growth,” said Edward Jones analyst Andrew Miedler. Google executives said the company experienced strong growth during the first quarter across the board, with improvements in paid search, display advertising and in its nascent mobile business. “Large advertisers have come back in force versus last year,” Google’s Pichette said during the call. Google provided few details about its business selling ads that appear on mobile phones, but said its Android smartphone software was available on 34 different devices on the market and that the number of software apps designed to run on Android phones had grown to 38,000. Executives declined to say how many of the Nexus One smartphones -- which Google sells directly to consumers on its website -- have been sold since being introduced in January, but said the company was pleased with the phone’s “uptake.” Google faces an increasing threat from iPhone-maker Apple Inc, in the mobile advertising business. Other long-term challenges also face Google as it tries to sustain its rapid growth, including increasing regulatory headaches and the company’s withdrawal from China -- the world’s largest Internet market by users -- in a row over censorship. In an interview with Reuters, Pichette said Google still has a sales force in mainland China catering to local advertisers, even though Google’s Chinese-language website is now based in Hong Kong. “We have partners we can monetize in mainland China as well and we’ll continue to have them,” Pichette said. Asked how advertising by Chinese companies has fared since Google moved its Chinese-language search site to Hong Kong, Pichette said he could not comment. Hiring again Google, which controls roughly two-thirds of the US search market, said revenue in the first quarter totalled $6.77 billion, compared with $5.51 billion in the year-ago period. Net revenue, which excludes costs that Google pays to partner websites, was $5.06 billion, up 2.2% from the seasonally strong fourth quarter and above analysts’ average estimate of $4.95 billion. To drive growth going forward and potentially fend off mounting competition from the likes of Microsoft Corp’s Bing for the lucrative Internet search business, Google pledged to keep investing heavily. Google said it increased its headcount by nearly 800 employees -- the biggest increase in staff since the first quarter of 2008. Pichette said the company will keep acquiring companies and hiring aggressively throughout 2010. Google posted net income of $1.96 billion, or $6.06 a share, up from $1.42 billion, or $4.49 a share, in the year-earlier period. Excluding certain items, Google said it earned $6.76 a share, beating the $6.60 average forecast by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. Whispernumber.com, which collects earnings expectations from professional and individual investors, said the outlook for Google’s earnings per share was $6.74. During the conference call, an analyst asked whether there was any tension between Schmidt and co-founder Sergey Brin over the decision to exit China, and whether that might be related to Schmidt’s absence on the conference call. The question elicited chuckles from Google executives on the call, and a denial from Pichette. “I have heard every rumor, so thank you for asking the question so candidly,” Pichette said. “The answer is no, there is nothing going on at all.” Source: Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:45 pm Lalit Modi fights to save his wicketNew Delhi: Tax surveys, a promise of ownership details of all teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL), and reports that the league’s commisioner Lalit Modi will now have to share his powers with the Indian cricket board’s chief—Thursday saw several sharp turns in the controversy surrounding the Kochi team and its spat with Modi.  Meanwhile, minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor, whose friend Sunanda Pushkar was given a stake valued at Rs70 crore in the Kochi team (on paper) for free, worked on his defence by meeting key Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, and preparing a statement to be read out in the Lok Sabha. On Thursday, both Houses of Parliament debated the Dantewada massacre, where 76 policemen were killed by Maoists, and home minister P. Chidambaram made statements both in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. The opposition parties, which raised the pitch of the debate, are likely to do the same with the Tharoor issue on Friday. Later on Thursday, television channel NDTV, citing unnamed Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) sources, said the board’s chief Shashank Manohar would become IPL co-chairman along with Modi, significantly curbing the powers of a man who has run the league for three years. Mint couldn’t independently confirm this. IPL vice-chairman Niranjan Shah denied this and said Manohar, by virtue of being head of BCCI, was anyway the top decision-making authority for IPL as well. The day also saw a change in the top management of the Kochi team. I-T dept deals itself in The income-tax (I-T) department’s move may have been prompted by allegations and counter-allegations by Modi and the Kochi team. Modi raised issues about ownership; one of the team’s owners alleged that the IPL commissioner had offered the consortium of owners $50 million (Rs222 crore) to walk away. Modi has denied this. The tax department in Mumbai conducted a survey at the office of IPL, according to a tax official who did not want to be identified. Later on Thursday, evening television channels reported that Modi’s hotel room in Mumbai was also being surveyed by the tax department. According to the tax official and a person familiar with the matter who did not want to be identified, the Ahmedabad tax department started an enquiry into companies owned by Mukesh Patel, a Gujarat-based businessman associated with Parinee Developers, a shareholder in the Kochi team. However, B.N. Dutta, director general, income-tax investigation, Ahmedabad, denied conducting a search at any firm. Another agency, the enforcement directorate, or ED, which looks at violations of the country’s rules governing foreign exchange transactions, dealt itself into the controversy on Thursday. “We are looking at the funds flow of certain teams,” said an ED official who did not want to be identified. The tax official added that the survey (the department uses this terminology to differentiate the exercise from a search) at IPL headquarters was part of a limited Inquiry on IPL franchisees being conducted to ascertain their source of funds. A limited enquiry is a preliminary one and the I-T department conducts an investigation only if it identifies any discrepancies. Surveys typically include an inspection of books and verification of cash holdings and other documents. TV channel CNBC-TV18 reported that Modi had been summoned by the tax department to record his statement. Mint couldn’t independently confirm this. The Kochi team is owned by Rendezvous World Sports Ltd (1%), a group of investors including Pushkar (25% that had been transferred to them by Rendezvous), Anchor Earth Movers Pvt. Ltd (27%), Parinee Developers Pvt. Ltd (26%), Film Waves Combine (12%), Anand Shyam Pvt. Ltd (8%), and Vivek Venugopal (1%), according to a tweet by Modi. The Kochi team has maintained that this tweet, which broke a confidentiality agreement between the teams and BCCI, and Modi’s delay in signing an agreement with it were prompted by his desire to have someone else enter IPL as the 10th franchisee. The Sahara Group and the Rendezvous consortium had won the rights to the ninth and 10th teams in the league in an auction held on 21 March. Changes in the side Meanwhile, the PTI reported that the Kochi franchise made some changes to its top management, appointing Dubai-based businessman Harshad Mehta, one of the investors in the team, as chairman and Keshav T. as chief executive in place of Rendezvous’ Shailendra Gaikwad. Mint couldn’t independently verify this or reach Gaikwad. The Kochi franchise had already threatened to sue Modi for disclosing its ownership structure and asked him to do so for other teams as well. On Thursday, BCCI president Manohar sent an email to Modi and the governing council of IPL suggesting that the council meet at the earliest, according to a BCCI official. Other council members endorsed this suggestion. No date has been fixed for the meeting, but the BCCI official, who did not want to be identified, said it would most likely be convened during the week and before 24 April, when the BCCI working committee is to meet. Shortly after receiving Manohar’s email, added this person, Modi sent out one of his own to the team owners, copied to the IPL’s governing council members, requesting their permission to make public the ownership structures of the eight teams so that “doubts and aspersions being cast by members of the governing council are appropriately rebutted”. Mint hasn’t seen the emails. Former BCCI president and member of the IPL governing council I.S. Bindra, along with Jay Mehta, co-owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders team, and Manoj Badale, who owns a 50.3% stake in Rajasthan Royals, endorsed Modi’s suggestion on email while more responses are awaited, the BCCI official said. Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd, in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange, said that its wholly owned subsidiary Deccan Chargers Sporting Ventures Ltd owned the Deccan Chargers team. “I have asked the governing council to approve it (the intention to share ownership structures) and whenever they do, I will disclose these,” said Modi. priyanka.m@livemint.com Liz Mathew in New Delhi, Gouri Shah in Mumbai and PTI contributed to this story. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:45 pm Raise rates by 50 bps, refrain from CRR hike However, this is easier said than done. A survey of global central banks would indicate that only a handful of them—including the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)—have embarked on the journey of policy normalization. Even among this handful, only the Reserve Bank of Australia has actually tightened policy, the rest merely taking baby-steps in their exit strategy. The majority of global central banks, including the US Federal Reserve, are busy fighting last year’s battles, as their economies are still not out of the woods and are struggling with mass unemployment. Developed economy central banks also have to reckon with skewed incentives in favour of low rates—the financial sector is banking on low rates and a steep curve to restore profitability, while governments bet on strong growth and some inflation to soften the burden of sovereign debt. While this means that the Fed and other Western central banks would want to be doubly sure before they start exiting from stimulus, Asian and other emerging economy central banks would be leading the way when it comes to monetary tightening. Therein lies the problem for RBI, given the implications for the capital account and the rupee. It has hardly shown its hand in the currency markets during the recent rupee rise. Such forbearance is likely to be tested in the coming months as the rupee has appreciated significantly in real terms and capital flows may pick up as markets re-rate growth prospects. This is not a new problem for RBI, but the combination of some tightening via currency already in train and the possibility of capital flows triggered by higher rate differential with US may figure in RBI’s policy calculus. The temptation would be to deliver only marginal tightening, say a 25 basis points (bps) hike in repo and reverse repo rates. It may also take comfort from lower-than-expected March inflation, but this would be a misguided approach, in my opinion. For one, tightening via currency appears to be a poor choice as in India interest rates and bank credit play a larger role in dictating monetary conditions. Secondly, capital flows seem to be attracted to India more because of higher growth rather than higher rates. More pertinent, growth outlook has improved and inflation outlook hasn’t changed materially since RBI’s last rate action, if one abstracts from the recent data on output and prices. The surge in capital goods output in the last three Index of Industrial Production readings, jump in non-oil imports and the step-up in credit off-take suggest pent-up capex demand. Anecdotal reports of capacity constraints in finished goods industries also buttress this view. Indian exports may enjoy a sweet spot for the next few quarters, providing another leg-up to domestic growth. On the other hand, the same capacity constraints that may drive investment demand may also embolden firms to pass on higher costs to consumers. These cost pressures may arise from elevated commodity prices and higher wage costs as higher inflation expectations get priced in. More worrying, the anticipated relief on agriculture prices on account of a normal monsoon may not materialize fully, as the government is likely to step in and cushion farmers from any large adverse price shocks. Note that over the last six years, government policy has been geared towards tilting the terms of trade in favour of the agriculture sector. To sum up, inflation risks arise from structural as well as cyclical factors. With overnight rates at 3.5% and equilibrium levels of rates around 6%, RBI has quite a lot of heavy lifting to do in 2010-2011 before it can rest easy. I expect RBI to hike repo and reverse repo rates by 50 bps each in next week’s policy. While it can always hike by 25 bps next week and choose to hike again before the July policy, that may precipitate needless volatility in financial markets. By hiking these rates by 50 bps, RBI can afford to take a pause till July even as the economy absorbs the impact of both monetary and fiscal tightening. By July, there is also likely to be greater clarity on the path of US rates, on the back of three months of jobs data. In order to retain flexibility for any inter-meeting action, RBI should refrain from hiking the cash reserve ratio (CRR) next week. With the banking system likely to witness large outflows in the coming weeks after the completion of auctions for third-generation and broadband wireless access spectrum, hiking CRR in the April policy could prove counterproductive. The upcoming policy should be all about taking an important step on the path of normalizing policy rates. This is the second in a series of columns by four top economists on their expectations from the Reserve Bank of India’s annual monetary policy announcement scheduled for 20 April that comes against the backdrop of rising inflation and a resurgent economy. Prasanna A is Head-research at ICICI Securities Primary Dealership Ltd Respond to this column at feedback@livemint.com To read the first column in this series, go to www.livemint.com/policyprescription.htm Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:45 pm PM's visit underlines rising Indian interest in Ibsa, BricDiverse concerns on trade, investment among participants at Brasilia summits.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:17 pm HDFC home loans at 8.25%In an environment of hardening interest rates, HDFC on Wednesday, launched a special product offering home loans at 8.25 per cent for the first year and nine per cent for the second year. From the third year, applicable floating rates will apply. HDFC's ongoing home loan rate is 8.75 per cent. HT Correspondent reports.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:07 pm HDFC cuts 1st yr rate to 8.25%At a time when the economy is buzzing with the possibility of interest rates hardening, home loan major HDFC surprised everyone on Thursday by slashing rates for the first year to 8.25% per annum, from 8.75% earlier.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:05 pm Sebi moves court over ULIPs impasseIn view of IRDA's decision to challenge Sebi's ban on unit-linked insurance products (ULIPs) in court, the market watchdog on Thursday moved the Supreme Court and some high courts to guard against any ex parte decision.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:04 pm Economy to grow 9.2% in 2010-11: CMIEDriven by an estimated 8.4% growth in the fourth quarter, the economy is expected to grow by 7.1% in the just-concluded fiscal and by a robust 9.2% in the current financial year, the leading economic think-tank CMIE has said.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:02 pm Recovery gets wings: Air traffic up 21% in MarMarch, a traditionally weak travel month due to exams, saw an impressive 21.2% growth in domestic air travel with 39 lakh fliers taking to skies compared to a figure of 32.2 lakh in the same period last year.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:01 pm Bond yields soften but sensex tanksYields on benchmark government securities (G-Secs) softened marginally on Thursday even as annual inflation figures neared the double-digit mark. This was because inflation climbed at lower than market estimates.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 15 Apr 2010 | 1:00 pm MCX reduces promoters' stakeWhat could be seen as a precursor to the launch of share trading on the MCX Stock Exchange, the bourse on Thursday announced that it has reorganised its capital structure and reduced promoters holding in the exchange to 10%.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 15 Apr 2010 | 12:59 pm Ramnath-led PE firm raises $250 millionMultiples Alternate Asset Management, promoted by former ICICI Venture veteran Renuka Ramnath, said that it had closed $250m in its first round of funding for its domestic and international funds, anchored by Indian and international institutional investors.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 15 Apr 2010 | 12:57 pm Sebi tightens norms for FIIsBans protected cell companies, seeks broad-based holdings.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 15 Apr 2010 | 12:56 pm Lehman 'blocks' on Dalal StreetInstitutional desks of many brokerages in India are in the process of selling about Rs 2,000 crore worth of equity holding of bankrupt US investment bank Lehman Brothers Inc in some Indian companies.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 15 Apr 2010 | 12:48 pm Modi feels the heat, wings set to be clipped at BCCI meetThe powers of Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi are expected to be curbed at the upcoming meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on April 24, a likely consequence of his public spat with minister Shashi Tharoor over the Kochi IPL franchise.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 15 Apr 2010 | 12:46 pm Swiss airline renews agreement with Air indiaSwiss International Airlines has renewed a code sharing agreement it had with Air India until November last year.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 15 Apr 2010 | 12:19 pm Major setback for Isro as GSLV mission failsSriharikota, Andhra Pradesh: India’s attempt to join a select club of nations to own cryogenic engine technology—necessary for launching heavy satellites—was aborted on Thursday after its rocket failed within five minutes of lifting off. The mission failure is a commercial setback for the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), which hopes to enter the communication satellite launch market. “Customers will come to us (for GSLV) only when there is consistency in the launches,” said K.R. Sridhara Murthi, managing director of Antrix Corp., the commercial arm of Isro. India has spent more than two decades and Rs335 crore on developing the cryogenic engine, a restricted technology owned only by the US, Russia, Japan and China.  Big blow: The GSLV-D3 rocket takes off. India had spent over two decades and Rs335 crore in developing the advanced rocket technology. AFP Thursday’s debacle of the geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV-D3) would push back Isro by at least a year, the time its scientists say is needed to fill crucial technology gaps. The GSLV is a three-stage rocket. The first two stages are powered by solid and liquid fuel. Five minutes into flight, the rocket’s cryogenic or third stage powered by liquid hydrogen and oxygen, was switched on, but two small engines that control the final stage carrying the satellite into space failed to ignite. The rocket then plunged into the Bay of Bengal. Isro has been through rocket failures in the past. Its first GSLV launch using the Russian cryogenic engines couldn’t hurl the satellite in the intended orbit. Its 2006 mission, too, saw the rocket plunging into the sea minutes after launch. Isro’s workhorse third-generation rocket polar satellite launch vehicle, or PSLV, failed in its first attempt in 1993, but has since completed 12 launches. The space agency has lined up a PSLV launch in May to carry five satellites. The aborted mission, which cost Rs325 crore, also lost a 2.2 tonne fifth-generation communication satellite, GSAT-4, which was to be a technology demonstrator for India’s satellite navigation programme. The satellite also had Ka-band transponders used for high-speed Internet broadcast and electric propulsion for deep space missions. “The vernier engines failed to ignite,” said Isro chairman K. Radhakrishnan, immediately after the mission failed. Vernier engines are small motors that control the wavering of a spacecraft in flight. Later, in a press briefing, he said: “We are not sure now whether the main engine did ignite. This we have to verify. We need to have a detailed analysis; why it happened and what are the corrective measures to be taken.” Radhakrishnan added Isro would launch the next indigenous cryogenic engine within a year. Of the seven engines imported from Russia, only five have been used since 2001. Isro has plans for two more GSLV flights this year using Russian engines, GSAT-5B and GSAT-6. Isro is also working on a GSLV MkIII, a rocket with capability to carry 4-tonne satellites into space. The same rocket would be used for India’s manned space mission planned for 2016. raghu.k@livemint.com Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2010 | 11:18 am Lehman sets payouts to exit bankruptcyLehman Brothers Holdings Inc laid out a plan on Wednesday to repay creditors a portion of some $1 trillion in expected claims, under a proposal that could resolve the largest US bankruptcy in history. Lehman’s proposal in a disclosure statement to a US court was the first complete view of how it intended to exit the historic bankruptcy case following its collapse during the global financial crisis in September 2008. In its latest filing, it said its plan would “accelerate recoveries to creditors and avoid the potential enormous costs” of extended litigation over creditor issues. Lehman estimates that the notional value of its creditors claims will ultimately exceed $1 trillion, but it expects to repay a much smaller amount, according to court documents. Lehman’s unsecured creditors could recover between 15% and 27% of their claims while certain secured creditors could be paid in full. General unsecured creditors of Lehman’s parent company would receive 14.7% while general unsecured creditors of Lehman Brothers Special Financing unit, which holds many of its derivatives positions, are expected to recover about 24%. Unsecured creditors of Lehman’s Commodity Services unit which holds commodities positions, could recover about 26.8% of their claims. LAMCO Lehman last month proposed creating a new company called LAMCO to wind down its remaining assets and operations. LAMCO, which is currently searching for a strategic partner or equity backer, would continue to manage Lehman’s private equity investments, real estate assets, derivatives and other long term assets. It will seek approval to create that company at a hearing later on Thursday in US bankruptcy court in Manhattan. Lehman estimated it has collected $8.8 billion on derivative contracts and could recover an additional $5.4 billion on outstanding contracts. Lehman said it expected its real estate investments could return an additional $11 billion through 2014 while its loans could recover $7.2 billion and its private equity investments could generate $9.6 billion. Lehman’s real estate investments include the upmarket Archstone apartment complexes in major US cities, while its private equity and investment interests include its retained stake in its former Neuberger Berman wealth management unit, which it sold earlier in the case. Lehman said it would expect to recover $1 billion to $2 billion on a sale of its interests in its Aurora and Woodlands bank units in the next year or two. CHAPTER 7 SCENARIO If Lehman’s reorganization plan is approved by the court, it could soon be put to a vote by creditors. However, Lehman said that if its plan is not approved it may seek to put all of its creditors in a single repayment pool, under a bankruptcy process called “substantive consolidation”, or the case could be converted to a liquidating Chapter 7 bankruptcy run by a court-appointed trustee. If Lehman were liquidated under a Chapter 7 bankruptcy instead of using its current proposed plan, Lehman’s investment bankers at Lazard estimated general unsecured creditors would receive only 7% of their claims. Delayed Disclosure Statement Lehman had delayed filing its disclosure statement for a month because it said it wanted to include the details from a report by Lehman’s court-appointed examiner in the disclosure statement. When it filed for bankruptcy, Lehman listed more than $600 billion of assets. It quickly sold its biggest units like its core US brokerage and Neuberger Berman wealth management subsidiary, but hundreds of Lehman employees hired by the bankruptcy estate have been managing the company’s long-term investments in real estate and private equity since the bankruptcy. Banks which bought Lehman assets at the time of its collapse reaped windfalls in an emergency auction, a court-appointed examiner said. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2010 | 4:13 am Citi to sell hedge fund biz to SkyBridgeNew York:Citigroup will sell its hedge fund business with $4.2 billion of assets to alternative investment firm SkyBridge Capital, as part of an effort to shed its non-core assets. However, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. “Citigroup said it will sell its hedge-fund business to alternative investment firm SkyBridge Capital,” the alternative investment firm said in a statement on Wednesday. The deal includes Citi Alternative Investment LLC’s fund of hedge funds, hedge fund seeding and hedge fund advisory businesses, it added. The transaction would position SkyBridge as “one of the leading global alternative asset managers,” with $5.6 billion in assets under management. “The integration of a fund of hedge funds business is a natural fit with the SkyBridge platform,” SkyBridge managing partner Anthony Scaramucci said. Raymond Nolte, who has been at the helm of Citi Alternative Investment since its inception in 2005, would join SkyBridge as a managing partner and chief investment officer. He would be taking a team of over 20 professionals to SkyBridge, which focuses on acquiring stakes in hedge funds and other asset managers. Citigroup, in which the US government holds a 27 per cent stake following a bailout in 2008, is understood to be shedding almost a third of its holdings of about $1.86 trillion under regulatory pressure to shrink. Last year, Citi earmarked $715 billion in non-core assets to be sold. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2010 | 2:49 am
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