Tag: SEBI

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ACESO Launches ALIP to Secure Life Coverage for LIC Policyholders

May 31, 2024 by Sujata Muguda 0 Comments #ACESO, #ACESO ENDOWMENT SERVICES PVT LTD, #ALIP, #ALIP to Secure Life Coverage for LIC Policyholders, #Assignment of Life Insurance Policies, #KYC, #LIC of India, #Mumbai, #Ranjit Kulkarni, #SEBI, #SPV

Mumbai, May 31 ,2024: ACESO, a pioneer institution in providing innovative solutions for insurance policyholders, has launched ALIP (Assignment of Life Insurance Policies), a unique solution designed for LIC policyholders contemplating policy surrender or experiencing lapses. ALIP provides the opportunity to receive the Surrender Value of their endowment insurance policies, even while preserving their life cover benefits.

Powered by ACESO ENDOWMENT SERVICES PVT LTD, ALIP offers key features designed to provide maximum value and benefit to LIC policyholders;

– Guarantees that policyholders receive the exact surrender value as given by the LIC of India.
– Additionally, ALIP goes beyond mere surrender value consideration, providing policyholders with a clear outline of the year

-wise life coverage benefits from the date of assignment up-to the Maturity Date, for their nominees; in the unfortunate event of the policyholder’s demise, even while abstaining on any further future premium commitments. All this is provided by an independent SPV Trust, managed by a SEBI registered trusteeship company.

Ranjit Kulkarni, Research and Strategic Acquisitions Head at ACESO, remarked, “LIC’s endowment policies constitute a significant 80% of its annual policy issuances, underlining their pivotal role in the insurance landscape. However, with a persistency ratio of around 50%, indicating that half of these policies do not reach maturity due to surrenders and lapses, there is a clear need for solutions like ALIP. ALIP will bridge the crucial gap by providing LIC policyholders with a viable alternative to surrendering their policies prematurely, ensuring they can unlock the value of their insurance policy even while safeguarding their future life coverage”.

What sets ALIP apart, as compared to receiving the surrender value from the insurer, is its swift and efficient payment process. The consideration is typically expedited within 48 hours upon the completion of all necessary documentation. Moreover, the entire documentation and KYC process is done online, to the fullest extent possible, minimising hassles for both the policyholder and their LIC agent.

ACESO’s cutting-edge systems and workflow technologies are designed to efficiently manage policy assignments and deliver prompt payouts, ensuring a seamless and secure servicing experience for clients. With ACESO, policyholders can rest assured that their policies are managed with the utmost care and professionalism, enabling them to navigate their financial journey with confidence.

ACESO, with its extensive experience and deep knowledge of the insurance industry, particularly focusing on Endowment policies issued by LIC of India, has facilitated the assignment worth of Endowment policies. The company is committed to service excellence, backed by highly skilled and efficient staff with decades of experience in life insurance asset management.

A Win-Win for all stakeholders:
– By leveraging ACESO’s services, policyholders can restructure their financial circumstances or release equity, thereby gaining greater financial flexibility and security.

– ALIP provides a continuity of income to the Insurance advisors on the premium continued to be paid by the SPV trust (Managed by a SEBI registered independent Trustee), on such assigned polices to LIC of India till maturity.”

– ALIP reduces surrender payouts to policyholders and increases the insurer’s AUM, leading to higher bonus rates and increased earnings for all its stakeholders. This innovative approach also minimizes insurer costs associated with replacing surrendered or lapsed policies, contributing to a more sustainable and efficient insurance ecosystem for its stakeholders.

A Life insurance Policy is the personal property of the Life assured and is governed by the Life Insurance Act, 1938 and Contract Act 1872, and the Life insurance policy is an actionable claim and a movable asset (As defined under Transfer of Property Act, 1882.), making the process perfectly tenable.

NSE
Business World

NSE successfully completes World Investor Week 2020

Dec 8, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Chairman, #MD & CEO, #National Stock Exchange of India Ltd, #NSE, #SEBI, #Shri Ajay Tyagi, #Vikram Limaye, #World Investor Week 2020

Mumbai: National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE) successfully led the World Investor Week 2020 with an objective to raise awareness about the importance of investor education & protection. Under the aegis of IOSCO and SEBI as the national co-ordinator, 600 investor awareness virtual webinars were conducted by NSE across India with 80% in Tier-II & Tier-III cities.

As a part of this initiative, NSE rang the closing bell on November 23, 2020 to mark the occasion of the World Investor Week 2020 in the presence of Shri G P Garg, Executive Director, SEBI. A new unique initiative for this year was “Be Your Own Laxmi”, which focused on young women earners and women entrepreneurs where more than 5200 women participated in various programs during the week. A National level investor knowledge quest was also organised jointly with NSDL wherein approximately 50,000 registrations were received. The investor awareness campaigns were also amplified on NSE’s social media platforms which witnessed a reach of more than 10 lacs participants. Further, the number of registrations on the digital platform for Investor Education in association with IIM Bangalore reached near one lacs participants by the end of WIW 2020.

In his message to all market participants, Shri Ajay Tyagi, Chairman, SEBI said, “One of the main objectives of SEBI is to protect the interest of investors in securities. There is a need for new investors to make informed investment decisions. Thus, investor awareness and education play an important role in educating investors.”

Vikram Limaye, MD & CEO, NSE said on the inaugural ceremony of WIW 2020 conducted by ANMI: “SEBI always believes that an educated investor is a protected investor and we at NSE have always been encouraging investor education through our campaign “Soch kar, Samajh Kar, Invest Kar”. NSE has consistently focused on what is in the best interest of the Indian economy, markets and investors and in improving the financial well being of people.”

Ravi Varanasi, Chief Business Development Officer, NSE said: “Investor education program is an initiative by NSE to strengthen its engagement with communities across the country. The objective is to equip existing and potential investors with the knowledge and understanding of the financial markets and guide them in effective financial planning.”

NSE has been participating and celebrating World Investor Week (WIW) under aegis of IOSCO and SEBI since its inception in 2017. In this financial year, NSE has conducted more than 3000 investor awareness programs covering more than 98% districts of India.

Mr. Ravi Varanasi, Chief Business Development Officer, NSE and Shri. GP Garg, Executive Director, SEBI at NSE's Ring the Bell ceremony for World Investor Week 2020 starting today
Business World

NSE organises Ring the Bell ceremony to mark the celebration of World Investor Week 2020

Nov 25, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #Mr. Ravi Varanasi, #National Stock Exchange of India Ltd, #NSE, #Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy’, #SEBI, #Shri G P Garg

National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE) took part in ‘Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy’ with an objective to raise awareness about the importance of investor education & protection and highlight the various initiatives of securities regulators in these two critical areas.

As part of this initiative, NSE rang the closing bell today to mark the beginning of the World Investor Week 2020 in the presence of Shri G P Garg, Executive Director, SEBI. NSE is celebrating WIW 2020 with SEBI as the National Coordinator under the aegis of IOSCO. During this week, more than 500 Investor Awareness virtual webinars would be conducted by NSE across India. One unique new initiative for this year is “Be Your Own Laxmi”, it is focused on young women earners and women entrepreneurs where more than 2500 women would be participating this week. A National level Investor knowledge Quest is also being organised jointly with NSDL. The Investor Awareness Campaigns will also be amplified on NSE’s digital Platform for Investor Education.

Mr. Ravi Varanasi, Chief Business Development Officer, NSE said, “The ringing of the closing bell today marks the celebration of World Investor Week 2020. The investor education program is an initiative by NSE to strengthen engagement with communities across the country. The objective is to equip existing and potential investors with the knowledge and understanding of the financial markets and guide them in effective financial planning. NSE has always focused on what is in the best interests of the Indian economy, markets and investors and in improving the financial wellbeing of people.”

On this occasion, Shri G P Garg, ED, SEBI said, “Investor should take well-informed decisions pertaining to investments. Every investor should understand the risk associated with investments.”

NSE has been participating and celebrating World Investor Week (WIW) since its inception in 2017. Last year NSE conducted more than 3700 Investor Awareness Programs covering 98% districts Pan India.

payment
Business World

Sahara paid Rs 3,226 Crore, as maturity to investors in last 75 days, total Rs 1.40 Lakhs Crore paid in last 10 years

Oct 13, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #Sahara India Pariwar, #SEBI

Sahara India Pariwar, in a statement issued to the media today, said that in last around 2 to 2.25 months alone, the group has paid Rs.3226.03 Crore to its 10,17,194 Members. Out of the total amount paid in this period, 2.18% payments were made against the requests from the delayed-payments complainants. The total delayed-payment complainants are 0.07 % of the total number of esteemed investors. Sahara has around 8 crore investors across India.

Sahara in last 10 years has made maturity payment of Rs. 1,40,157.51 Crore to 5,76,77,339 esteemed investors. Out of this only around 40% cases are of reinvestment, the rest have been paid in cash.

The group admits delay in payments, which is primarily owing to the embargo imposed for last 8 years by the Hon’ble Supreme Court. If any money is generated through selling or mortgaging assets of the group (including Co-operatives) or from joint ventures the same has to be deposited in the Sahara-SEBI account, as per the directives of Hon’ble Supreme Court. Sahara official said, “We cannot use even a single rupee for organizational work, not even for repayment to the esteemed investors.”

On the other hand, Sahara, till date, has deposited approximately Rs. 22,000 Crore including interest in the Sahara-SEBI account, whereas, despite giving four rounds of advertisements in 154 newspapers by SEBI in last 8 years across the country, SEBI has repaid only Rs. 106.10 Crore to the esteemed investors. In its last advertisement that was published around a year ago, SEBI made it clear that it would not entertain any further claim thereafter. It means that for SEBI there is no claimant left. The only reason that SEBI didn’t receive any further claim was that Sahara Group had already repaid to its esteemed investors. As per the directives of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, this amount of Rs. 22,000 Crore will eventually come back to Sahara after due verification.

Sahara spokesperson clarified that some of the media reports are creating the impression that Sahara is in Chit Fund business, which is completely wrong and misleading information. Sahara was never in Chit Fund business, neither in the past nor is in present. Sahara has always worked under the regulatory legal framework.

Sahara India Pariwar said, “We have paid each and every depositor. And the interest of our esteemed investors has always been paramount to us. Sahara has been well serving its members for last 42 years and will continue to do so. Whatever money has been received from the members has been taken by fully following the legal procedures. But, because of the impact of the directive of the Hon’ble Supreme Court we are making a bit delayed repayments. However, we are giving interest for the delayed period. The same has been communicated through newspaper ads to our esteemed investors. We also like to inform that Sahara India Pariwar has assets three times its liability. Therefore, every investor should rest assured regarding their repayment.”

stock and shares
Business World

Decoding: Pledging of shares and upfront margins in the cash market!

Sep 17, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #Pledging of shares, #SEBI, #shares, #stockbrokers

The recent SEBI guidelines issued on pledging of shares and upfront margin requirements are path-breaking changes in the Capital Markets – for investors these are exciting times ahead!

Pledging of shares has been made mandatory in the capital markets effective 1st of September 2020. Investors have been grappling with the significance of this move by the regulator, wondering what it means for them and how it will work.

Vinay Punjabi of Ventura Securities decodes this new mechanism of margining.

What is Pledging of Shares?
A pledge involves creating a lien on the stocks you hold in your Demat account in favour of your broker. So, for instance, if you have 200 shares of Coal India in your Demat account, you can create a partial or full pledge in favour of your broker. Based on this pledge, the broker extends limits for trading.

Why is it the new buzz word?
Prior to this mandate, stockbrokers offered their clients trading limits based on their Demat account holdings, in addition to their trading account cash balances. Effectively, the broker considered these as collateral for margins, since they had the right to swipe shares from the clients’ Demat accounts, if necessary. This right was based on a POA signed by the client at the time of account opening.
The regulator considered this mechanism risky and has hence instituted the system of pledging of shares as a safety net for investors. Under the new system, the pledging process is initiated by the client via his broker and executed by the depositories (NSDL/CDSL) and the investor must confirm with OTP authentication

What are the upfront margins?
The regulator has made it compulsory for investors to maintain a minimum margin of 20% before a trade is executed. Normally, the settlement of the trade is on a T+2 basis (2 days after the trading day). So, now, if you wish to buy stocks worth Rs 50,000, a compulsory margin of Rs 10,000 is necessary, even if you sell the same stock within the next two days.
There is, however, some relaxation in margins for shares sold and early pay-ins to the exchange on the same day.

How do these changes impact the trading ecosystem?
On the upside…

1) Shares continue to reside in the clients’ Demat account unless sold.
2) As long as clients have stocks in their Demat account, they have access to margins via
the pledge.
3) The whole process of pledging is fully digital and seamless.
4) The investors continue to be eligible for all corporate actions, like dividends, etc. accruing on their pledged stocks as the stocks remain in their Demat account.

On the downside…

Except for initial teething issues in implementation until the system stabilizes there is no disadvantage. In fact, this can be a bedrock for the growth of the capital markets and its efficient functioning.

Every significant transition heralds a new beginning and the hope of better outcomes. Let us look forward to a safer and more transparent stock trading ecosystem for all stakeholders.

Business World

“Governance cannot be lip service” says U GRO Founder, Sachindra Nath

Sep 17, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #Governance, #Kailashnath Adhikari, #MD, #RBI, #Sachindra Nath, #SEBI

Mumbai, 17th September 2020: Entrepreneur Sachindra Nath, executive chairman and managing director, U GRO Capital has said that majorly, fall of financial institutions are a result of governance failures and company board members must ensure checks and balances for the larger ecosystem.

In a live chat with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now during the 11th Visionary Talk Series held by the public policy and governance analysis platform the founder of Mumbai based NBFC while speaking on governance, transparency and role of the board in corporate governance said that governance is a loaded word and it brings balance.

“Any company which is in the business of credit lending and has multiple stakeholders needs good governance practices to bring balance around borrowers, deposit holders i.e. lenders, shareholders and regulators. Failures happen when controllers of these entities want to build their businesses faster than the norm and their personal interest precedes interest of the company. Where the control of the promoters is not curtailed well and interest of stakeholders is not taken care of all FI’s are at risk of failure.”

Nath said that a framework needs to be created for a larger ecosystem and having checks and balances. He said that historically we have presumed that it is the job of regulators to provide a framework to operate. “The problem is regulation does not differentiate between controller and supervisor
and we believe it is the job of an RBI, SEBI or XTZ regulator.”

He said that the framework will provide the comfort that company board members do not have a conflict of interest, nor are they mere nominees of promoters but have the stature and depth of understanding to balance. The board and independent directors not only have to take care of equity shareholders but also simultaneously have checks and balances on issues that can affect the broader ecosystem.

Recalling his own experience of setting up U GRO, he said, we knew Governance cannot be mere lip service and had to be part of our chartered document. “To give an extra layer of governance I decided to list the company and raised sizeable capital largely from institutional investors. Upfront we created a framework within our articles. For example, it said, majority of the board will perpetually remain independent directors; as a promoter of the company I have relinquished my right to nominate more than two board members; we cannot lend more than 1% of our net worth; we cannot unilaterally fire our CRO or CFO and has to have the approval of audit committee chairman” said Nath.