An age of emboldened Davids: the court has made it easier for small companies to challenge financial services industry Goliaths in the protection of intellectual property. The industry's behemoths however, seeking to defend their interests, have taken pre-emptive action by filing patents of their own.
Other than their ability to sell financial products, companies like AIG, Lincoln National Life, Signature Financial Group and Merrill Lynch don't appear to have much in common. Or do they? It turns out that they are but a few of the many financial services companies, in and...

The real scandal of "janitors insurance".
The past year has brought extensive media coverage of apparent corporate wrong-doing. High-profile bankruptcies, such as Enron's, and the "perp walk" arrests of corporate officers have been most prominent, but attention also has been given to the practice of purchasing so-called janitors insurance on rank-and-file workers. Although...

Key cover.
Byline: Aman Dhall It promised to be a key policy for corporate India especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), but never took off after Insurance and Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) clipped its wings two years back. Keyman insurance primarily aims to provide cover to enterprises, which are...

The face-off.
Byline: Jyothi Prabhakar & Vishwas Gautam "I have given my life to the hospital, and the way I have been treated is shameful." The face-off between noted cardiologist Naresh Trehan and Fortis Healthcare's Shivinder Mohan Singh has been rocking Delhi. With a new development everyday,...

Keyman insurance covers it from top.
Byline: Sanjeev Sinha This promises to be a single key for many a lock. But first the background: The key to success of any organisation is the keyman (read the top honcho) or the one who contributes substantially to its profits. Now imagine an unfortunate event befalling...

IRDA bars keyman policy sale via ULIPs.
The insurance regulator has categorically barred selling the keyman policy through endowment or unit-linked plans. It has said the keyman insurance cover can be sold only through term assurance, which combines life, accident and disability insurance policies to protect business of a company from the death or...

Keyman cover: IRDA yet to firm up guidelines.
Byline: Mayur Shetty MUMBAI: Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) is in a dilemma over Keyman cover - the controversial product that life insurers went overboard selling in the pervious fiscal year. While IRDA has banned the sale of Keyman policies with maturity benefits, it...

So, got your key man in biz insured?
Byline: Madhur Batra Can you imagine ABCL without Amitabh Bachchan, or NDTV without Prannoy Roy or for that matter Mukta Arts without Subhash Ghai? What would be the fate of these companies if at all these key men were not around? To counter the risk...

US body MRDT eyes business insurance in India.
CHENNAI: Thanks to its growing entrepreneurship and increasing SMEs, India is emerging as a big market in business insurance as well as in selling golden handcuff and key man policies. Stephen O Rothschild, President, Million dollar round table (MDRT) - a US-based association of financial professionals in...

Cos can't take endowment policies on you.
MUMBAI: Corporates will no longer be able to misuse life insurance to evade taxes, with the regulator banning them from taking endowment policies on the lives of employees. In a circular issued to insurance companies, Irda has said that insurance firms are disregarding the spirit between the...