India moves bill to let insurers sell ULIPs without SEBI nod

July 27 (Reuters) – India on Tuesday introduced a bill in parliament to allow insurers to sell unit-linked insurance plans (ULIPs), without seeking the capital markets regulator’s approval.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the insurance regulator had locked horns on who should regulate ULIPs, mutual fund instruments with an added life cover, given the products combined insurance and investments.

The bill will seek to formalise an earlier presidential decree which permitted such sales. (Reporting by Manoj Kumar; editing by Malini Menon)

Chinatrust: Still interested in AIG Taiwan unit talks

July 22 (Reuters) – Chinatrust Financial (2891.TW), Taiwan’s top credit card issuer, would be happy to talk to AIG (AIG.N) about its Taiwan life insurance unit if the U.S. firm is unable to seal an existing deal to sell the unit.

“We are still interested in Nan Shan. If AIG is willing to talk to us before the bid deadline, we would be happy to take them up,” Chinatrust President Daniel Wu told reporters on Thursday.

Chinatrust had originally bid for Nan Shan last year, when AIG put the unit up for sale as it retrenched following its bailout.

It lost out to a consortium of diversified battery maker China Strategic (0235.HK) and Hong Kong investment fund Primus, but they have been unable to seal the $2.2 billion deal because of political concerns in Taiwan. The deadline for the deal is Oct 12. (Reporting by Rachel Lee; Editing by Jonathan Standing)

China H1 insurance premiums up 33.6 pct y/y -CIRC

July 19 (Reuters) – China’s overall insurance premiums in the first six months rose 33.6 percent from a year earlier to 799.9 billion yuan ($118 billion), the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) said at a news conference on Monday.

That was slower than the 38.6 percent rise in the first quarter of the year. (Reporting by Aileen Wang and Simon Rabinovitch; Editing by Ken Wills) ($1=6.775 Yuan)

Jimenez wins season-best 14th as Rockies beat Padres

(Reuters) – Ace pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez recorded his Major League-leading 14th win of the season despite bleeding four runs from his final inning in the Colorado Rockies’ 10-6 win over the NL West-leading San Diego Padres on Monday.

Sports

Jimenez (14-1), who struggled in his previous start against the Boston Red Sox last week, tossed five scoreless innings before getting punished in the sixth.

The Rockies had long established an 8-0 lead for their starter, however, led by Miguel Olivo who hit a two-run double in the third and a two-run homer in the fifth.

San Diego outfielder Scott Hairston recorded four RBIs and pulled the home side within 8-6 with a run-scoring double in the seventh, but Colorado added two insurance runs in the ninth before reliever Huston Street took the final three outs.

(Reporting by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Compiled by Infostrada Sports; Editing by Ian Ransom)

UPDATE 1-Resolution sets sub-underwriting fee-source

LONDON, June 24 (Reuters) – Sub-underwriters for Resolution’s (RSL.L) 2.75 billion purchase of AXA’s (AXAF.PA) British life insurance business will receive a commission fee of 1.75 percent, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Resolution said in a statement that leading shareholders had already underwritten 52 percent of the cash call, around 2 billion pounds, that will finance the acquisition.

The group is paying a total underwriting commission of 2.72 percent of the value of the new ordinary shares at the rights issue price.

(Reporting by Victoria Howley; Editing by David Cowell)

Paternoster hires bankers to value company: report

(Reuters) – British pension buyout firm Paternoster has hired bankers to put a valuation on the company as investors look to exit the business, the Independent on Sunday reported.

Deals

Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE), the largest shareholder in Paternoster, will most likely buy out investors and merge the Paternoster business into its Abbey Life insurance operation, the paper reported, citing sources close to the situation.

Paternoster declined to comment.

Last September, Paternoster said it would cut jobs and replace founder Mark Wood as Chief Executive after it received a 5 million pound ($7.3 million) cash injection to allow it to resume writing new business.

($1=.6865 Pound)

(Reporting by Julie Crust; Editing by Louise Heavens)

Erin Andrews” stalker ‘virtually penniless’: Report

New York, June 4 (ANI): ESPN reporter Erin Andrews’ convicted stalker has claimed that he is ‘virtually penniless’ and cannot pay the more than 300,000 dollars in restitution that was part of his sentence, according to reports.

Michael David Barrett, a 48-year-old insurance executive from Chicago, pleaded guilty to an ‘interstate stalking’ charge after he spied on Andrews at three different hotels as she showered and dressed for work.

He was sentenced in March to serve 27 months at a Los Angeles prison, according to a sentencing document.

As part of his sentence, Barrett was ordered to pay the out-of-pocket costs, Andrews, 31, had to accrue because of the violation.

According to TMZ, Barrett”s lawyer filed legal papers contesting the 327,442.27 dollars that ESPN claimed it had to spend in relation to the matter, reports the New York Post.

His lawyer said that ESPN is just a third party that has nothing to do with the prosecution and is just trying to cash in. (ANI)

UniCredit CEO: bank-funded bailouts impossible

June 1 (Reuters) – A bank-funded bailout scheme to insure against future systemic bank crises is impossible to fund because it would overstretch banks, UniCredit (CRDI.MI) Chief Executive Alessandro Profumo said in Vienna on Tuesday.

Financials

Profumo, whose bank is the biggest lender in Italy and in emerging Europe, told a conference hosted by Austria’s central bank that instead of preemptively raising funds for future bailouts, supervisors should become stronger and more intrusive.

“I understand the problem of sequential bailouts by governments, but I question if full insurance of systemic risk is manageable in terms of cost for the banking system,” Profumo said.

He said that he would rather accept stronger supervision than higher capital requirements: “There has been an incredible lack of regulation but also of supervision,” he said. “It is necessary to have stronger, more intrusive supervision.” (Reporting by Boris Groendahl; editing by Jason Webb)

A question of funding

About three weeks after Road Transport & Highway Minister Kamal Nath wrote a letter to Law Minister M Veerappa Moily asking for 600 empowered courts to be set up for quick disposal of road accident insurance claims, the Law Ministry is preparing to lob the ball back into Kamal Nath’s court. According to the Law Ministry, officials are preparing to write back to Kamal Nath welcoming the proposal — provided his Ministry bears the costs involved.

Atwal zooms to tied seventh, Jeev rises to 23rd

Irving (Texas), May 23 (IANS) Arjun Atwal turned his best round of the year with a flawless six-under 64 that rocketed from tied 59th to seventh at the end of the third round in the Byron Nelson Championship.

Also making a smart move up the leaderboard was Jeev Milkha Singh trying to make a comeback from his injury lay-off. Jeev shot a two-under 68 that took him from overnight tied 44th to tied 23rd.

This is only the fourth start for Atwal in this year’s PGA Tour. He is playing on a medical exemption with limited starts. He has made two cuts with tied 17th at Texas Open last being the best. He was tied 43rd at Zurich Classic of New Orleans and missed the cut at Farmers Insurance Open.

Atwal Saturday had three birdies on either side of the course for the day’s best round in the field. He had three in a row from fifth to seventh and then three more on 12th, 14th and 15th holes.

At six-under 204, he is six shots behind the leader Jason Day, who had a three-under 67 in his third round. Jason Day is at 12-under 198, Blake Adams (70) is second at 10-under 200. Atwal shares the seventh place with five others.

Jeev was going great guns with two birdies on third and fourth and he added a third on 10th. He however had a bogey on 17th to finish at 68. He is three-under 207 in tied 23rd place.

Jeev in his six starts has made money in three, including a tied ninth at WGC Matchplay and missed three cuts.

Another Asian star, Yang Yong-eun is one shot behind at two-under 208 after a third round 69.

Men faster, riskier behind the wheels: Study

Wellington, May 20 (ANI): Although women drivers are involved in more crashes, accidents involving men drivers are far more fatal, as they tend to take more risks on road, according to a survey.

The AA Insurance Drivers Index surveyed 4336 drivers aged between 18-65 and found that 24 per cent of men admitted breaking the speed limit most of the time, com-pared with 16 per cent of women.

While women avoid speeding because of safety, men fear demerit points.

More men feel okay about drinking before driving, compared to women. And it is men who alter their driving route to avoid police checkpoints.

The average claim for accidents involving men is $2450, whereas it is the average claim is 2450 dollars, whereas women”s claims, when at fault, average 2257 dollars in women”s claims.

“I don”t feel safe when he”s driving,” Nzherald.co.nz quoted Antje Schomacker, 28, who has been driving for 10 years compared to her partner”s two, as saying.

“It feels like he doesn”t have the car in control. We were travelling through New Zealand in a campervan and I was like ”no, no, no, you get out” because I was scared … he”s driving too fast around the corners like ”oh, this is fun” and you can feel he doesn”t have control.”

Scott Douglas, her husband agrees.

“Sometimes I scare myself driving. She”s the better driver – way better.”

‘Asian’ call centre worker’s rape, murder threat for not buying insurance

London, May 18 (ANI): A man, believed to be from a call centre in Asia, threatened to rape and murder a young mum after she refused to buy insurance.

Julie Malak, 23, was subjected to 50 obscene phone calls in the two hours after she hung up on a cold caller who said his name was Chris.

The pervert, who claimed he was working for West London-based UK Accident Helpline, warned the law student that he knew where she lived and made sexual threats against her mother and sister.

However, Julie – who was at home with 16-month-old son Zade – managed to tape the pervert”s last two calls.

Julie – who lives in Twickenham, South-West London, with husband Chadi – called cops.

“He told me he was going to keep calling me every second of every day. I was terrified. He told me he was going to rape then kill me,” the Sun quoted her as saying.

“I was on my own with my baby and I couldn”t get hold of my husband as this guy had jammed the phone line,” she added. (ANI)

Erin Andrews ‘stalker’ to serve sentence in Atlanta jail near her home

New York, May 4 (ANI): The man who was convicted of stalking ESPN sportscaster Erin Andrews surrendered Monday at a federal prison in Atlanta—which is apparently his victim’s home city.

Michael Barrett, 48, was originally assigned to a penitentiary in central California, but when he called the prison Saturday to confirm, he was told he was not on the list, a source said.

He was ordered to Atlanta at the last minute, the source said.

Andrews, who said she lives in fear of Barrett, resides in Atlanta”s affluent suburb of Dunwoody.

“He absolutely did not choose to go to Atlanta. He has no friends or family there,” the New York Daily News quoted a source as saying.

Barrett, a divorced insurance executive, was hoping for placement in Oregon or Wisconsin, within driving distance of relatives who might visit, said the source.

According to a prison official, he will get a review within the next 28 days, and can request a transfer, but might not be eligible for 18 months. (ANI)

Middle-aged Americans most optimistic about health care bill: Poll

Washington, Apr 28(ANI): A new poll indicates that middle-aged Americans are much more likely to approve the health care bill.

According to a University of Iowa (UI) Hawkeye Poll, 53 percent of 35- to 54-year-olds are in favor of the legislation.

This support is despite the fact that only 28 percent of the age group believes the reform will improve quality of coverage, and 63 percent expect it to increase their out-of-pocket medical costs.

Approval of the bill was only 28 percent for those in the 18-34 age range, 36 percent for the 55-69 range, and 33 percent for 70-plus.

The poll was conducted from March 27 to April 3, just after the health care reform was signed into law.

“Provisions in the bill that reduce the risk of losing health insurance may be especially appealing to the middle-aged group,” Newswise quoted Nathan Darus, a UI doctoral student in Political Science, who helped conduct the poll, as saying.

“Those with kids may be particularly sensitive to the impact a sudden loss of insurance could have on family finances. While some believe the bill may increase their out-of-pocket costs, they appear to be more concerned about maintaining access to coverage,” he added. (ANI)

Thailand crisis: Executive wants to ‘borrow’ Malaysia’s Dr Mahathir to resolve crisis

Kuala Lumpur, Apr. 21 (ANI): Thai insurance executive Ratana Orn-Arun wants to “borrow” former Malaysian Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohammad to help Thailand turn around.

Frustrated with the political situation in her country, especially with the street protests, The Star quoted Orn-Arun, as saying: “Can we borrow Dr Mahathir? Maybe for five to 10 years? He is very good. He can restructure the country and make Thailand more developed.”

Ratana is no stranger to Malaysia, having to travel twice a year as the parent company is in Kuala Lumpur.

She said she liked Malaysia’s methods of handling illegal assemblies, where protesters would be dispersed by the police quickly before the crowd got too big.

Ratana is critical of both Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his predecessor Thaksin Shinatwatra.

“Thaksin must win and doesn’t care how he does it while Abhisit wants to be nice to everybody. You cannot be like this in politics.” (ANI)

Aviva says re-entering Asia general insurance mkt

SINGAPORE, April 9 (Reuters) – Aviva (AV.L), Britain’s No.2 insurer, is to re-enter the Asian general insurance market five years after selling its non-life operations there, the company said on Friday, confirming an earlier Reuters story.

Financials

“Our entry into Singapore marks the first step in our plan to penetrate the rapidly expanding general insurance market in Asia,” Simon Machel, CEO of Aviva Asia Pacific said in a statement.

Aviva quit the Asian general insurance market in 2005 when it sold its non-life operations in the region to Japan’s Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance for $450 million. [ID:nWLB2054] (Reporting by Harry Suhartono, editing by Neil Chatterjee)

Written off: NSW bans re-registration

The New South Wales Government is moving to make sure that cars that have been written off stay off the road.

The plan is aimed at stamping out a practice known as car ‘rebirthing’, where write-offs are repaired using stolen parts.

Transport Minister David Campbell says the ban on re-registering write-offs will help curb theft and protect drivers from unsafe repair jobs.

“Too many of these vehicles are doctored up in backyard chop shops and are dangerous when they are brought back on the road,” he said.

About 36,000 vehicles are written off in NSW every year. Fourteen-thousand of them are repaired and end up back on the road.

James McCall, from the Motor Traders’ Association says 60 per cent of those re-registered vehicles are dodgy.

“Some of these vehicles are death traps,” he said. “They endanger the lives of consumers in NSW.”

New South Wales is the first state to make the move. The Government says it’s reaching out to the other states and territories to get them on board to stamp out the problem nationwide.

“I expect that will lead to some criticism but i don’t apologise for it,” Mr Campbell said.

One group that stands to lose from the legislation is the insurance industry. Insurers will only be able to recoup money from selling the parts from write-offs, rather than the whole vehicle.

From August, write-offs will be crushed and entered onto a register.

Insurers urged to pay flood claims

The state Member for Warrego, Howard Hobbs, says he is disappointed two insurance companies have not honoured claims from victims of last month’s record floods in southern Queensland.

Mr Hobbs says he has spoken to flood victims insured by Allianz and Elders who say the companies have used technicalities to avoid payouts.

He says it is disappointing considering other companies have already indicated they will honour claims.

“In many instances it’s not show on any insurance document that flood has been excluded, so therefore you would assume that the flood insurance is valid, so I certainly hope that those companies in the very near future will come and say that they support their client in this claim,” he said.

“My understanding’s that some companies are just accepting the fact it’s an event and they are paying it. Companies that have been very good include Suncorp, RACQ Insurance and Westpac and even CGU – I believe they’re going to accept up to 90 per cent of the claims that they have but certainly others leave a bit to be desired.”

The ABC has contacted Allianz and Elders for comment

Crisps most dangerous food to eat while driving

London, April 7 (ANI): The humble packet of crisps is the most dangerous food to eat behind the wheel, according to a new study.

The study by i-kube, makers of a curfew device that cuts insurance premium for youngsters by measuring driving time, showed that millions of motorists have crashed while driving and eating.

During the survey, it was found that unwrapping chocolate bars and trying to open fizzy drinks bottles caused one in 10 to crash or come close to it.

Clearing up mess or litter and spilling food or drink on oneself is also a major cause of accidents.

Despite the danger, six out of 10 people regularly eat and drink behind the wheel, the study found.

“Despite the danger, millions of drivers still eat or drink when driving. No matter how hard you try, it takes some of your concentration off the road,” the Daily Express quoted an i-kube spokesman as saying. (ANI)

Reliance Cap mulls health JV with Swiss Re – report

Reliance Capital is in talks with Zurich-based reinsurer Swiss Re for a proposed foray into health insurance, The Economic Times newspaper reported on Monday.

The report said the discussions for a joint venture health insurance company was taking place alongside talks for Swiss Re’s equity participation in Reliance Life, a unit of Reliance Capital.

Last week, the Mint newspaper had reported Reliance Life may sell a 26 percent stake to Swiss Re for at least 7 billion rupees ($157 million.)

(Writing by Devidutta Tripathy; editing by Malini Menon)

(For more business news on Reuters Money visit http://www.reutersmoney.in)