Investment bank Investment bank is a financial institution that assists individuals, corporations, and governments in raising capital by underwriting

and/or acting as the client's agent in the issuance of securities. An investment bank may also assist companies involved in mergers and acquisitions and provide ancillary services such as market making, trading of derivatives and equity securities, and FICC services (fixed income instruments, currencies, and commodities). Unlike commercial banks and retail banks, investment banks do not take deposits. From 1933 (GlassSteagall Act) until 1999 (GrammLeachBliley Act), the United States maintained a separation between investment banking and commercial banks. Other industrialized countries, including G8countries, have historically not maintained such a separation. There are two main lines of business in investment banking. Trading securities for cash or for other securities (i.e. facilitating transactions, market-making), or the promotion of securities (i.e.underwriting, research, etc.) is the "sell side", while advising or managing assets (through mutual funds or hedge funds) on behalf of pension funds or the investing public (who consume the products and services of the sell-side in order to maximize their return on investment) constitutes the "buy side". Many firms have buy and sell side components. An investment bank can also be split into private and public functions with an information barrier which separates the two to prevent information from crossing. The private areas of the bank deal with private insider information that may not be publicly disclosed, while the public areas such as stock analysis deal with public information 1. Raising Capital Corporate Finance is a traditional aspect of Investment banks, which involves helping customers raise funds in the Capital Market and advising on mergers and acquisitions. Generally the highest profit margins come from advising on mergers and acquisitions. Investment Bankers have had a palpable effect on the history of American business, as they often proactively meet with executives to encourage deals or expansion. 2. Brokerage Services Brokerage Services, typically involves trading and order executions on behalf of the investors. This in turn also provides liquidity to the market. These brokerages assist in the purchase and sale of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. 3. Proprietary Trading Under Investment banking proprietary trading is what is generally used to describe a situation when a bank trades in stocks, bonds, options, commodities, or other items with its own money as opposed to its customers money, with a view to make a profit for itself. Though Investment Banks are usually defined as businesses, which assist other business in raising money in the capital markets (by selling stocks or bonds), they are not shy of making profit for itself by engaging in trading activities. 4. Research Activities Research, is usually referred to as a division which reviews companies and writes reports about their prospects, often with buy or sell ratings. Although in theory this activity would make the most sense at a stock brokerage where the advice could be given to the brokerages customers, research has historically been performed by Investment Banks (JM Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs etc). The primary reason for this is because the Investment Bank must take responsibility for the quality of the company that they are underwriting Vis a Vis the prices involved to the investor. 5. Sales and Trading Often referred to as the most profitable area of an investment bank, it is usually responsible for a much larger amount of revenue than the other divisions. In the process of market making, investment banks will buy and sell stocks and bonds with the goal of making an incremental amount of money on each trade. Sales is the term for the investment banks sales force, whose primary job is to call on institutional investors to buy the stocks and bonds, underwritten by the firm. Another activity of the sales force is to call institutional investors to sell stocks, bonds, commodities, or other things the firm might have on its books.

Online banking (or Internet banking or E-banking) Online banking allows customers of a financial institution to conduct financial transactions on a secure website operated by the institution, which can be a retail or virtual bank, credit union or building society. The common features fall broadly into several categories

A bank customer can perform some non-transactional tasks through online banking, including

viewing account balances viewing recent transactions downloading bank statements, for example in PDF format viewing images of paid cheques ordering cheque books download periodic account statements

Downloading applications for M-banking, E-banking etc. Bank customers can transact banking tasks through online banking, including Funds transfers between the customer's linked accounts Paying third parties, including bill payments (see, e.g., BPAY) and telegraphic/wire transfers Investment purchase or sale Loan applications and transactions, such as repayments of enrollments Register utility billers and make bill payments

Financial institution administration Management of multiple users having varying levels of authority Transaction approval process

Advantages to banks Very low setup cost. Capability to cater to a very large customer base. Saves a lot of operational costs. Adds to the baseline. Banks can offer a lot of personalized services to their customers. Reduction of burden on branch banking.

Advantages to customers It is convenient. It isn't bound by operational timings. There are no geographical barriers.

Services can be offered at a miniscule cost. Check your transactions at any time of the day, and as many times as you want to. Getting quarterly statements from the bank, transferring funds to outstation, and other such activities can be done free of charge through online banking. Role of Commercial Banks in the Economic Development of a Country 1. Banks promote capital formation: Commercial banks accept deposits from individuals and businesses, these deposits are then made available to the businesses which make use of them for productive purposes in the country. The banks are, therefore, not only the store houses of the countrys wealth, but also provide financial resources necessary for economic development. 2. Investment in new enterprises: Businessmen normally hesitate to invest their money in risky enterprises. The commercial banks generally provide short and medium term loans to entrepreneurs to invest in new enterprises and adopt new methods of production. The provision of timely credit increases the productive capacity of the economy. 3. Promotion of trade and industry: With the growth of commercial banking, there is vast expansion in trade and industry. The use of bank draft, check, bill of exchange, credit cards and letters of credit etc has revolutionized both national and international trade. 4. Development of agriculture: The commercial banks particularly in developing countries are now providing credit for development of agriculture and small scale industries in rural areas. The provision of credit to agriculture sector has greatly helped in raising agriculture productivity and income of the farmers. 5. Balanced development of different regions: The commercial banks play an important role in achieving balanced development in different regions of the country. They help in transferring surplus capital from developed regions to the less developed regions. The traders, industrialist etc of less developed regions are able to get adequate capital for meeting their business needs. This in turn increases investment, trade and production in the economy. 6. Influencing economic activity: The banks can also influence the economic activity of the country through its influence on a. Availability of credit b. The rate of interest If the commercial banks are able to increase the amount of money in circulation through credit creation or by lowering the rate of interest, it directly affects economic development. A low rate of interest can encourage investment. The credit creation activity can raise aggregate demand which leads to more production in the economy. 7. Implementation of Monetary policy: The central bank of the country controls and regulates volume of credit through the active cooperation of the banking system in the country. It helps in bringing price stability and promotes economic growth with in the shortest possible period of time. 8. Monetization of the economy: The commercial banks by opening branches in the rural and backward areas are reducing the exchange of goods through barter. The use of money has greatly increased the volume of production of goods. The non monetized sector (barter economy) is now being converted into monetized sector with the help of commercial banks. 9. Export promotion cells:

In order to increase the exports of the country, the commercial banks have established export promotion cells. They provide information about general trade and economic conditions both inside and outside the country to its customers. The banks are therefore, making positive contribution in the process of economic development.

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) is an autonomous apex statutory body which
regulates and develops the insurance industry in India. It was constituted by a Parliament of India act called Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999 [2] [3] and duly passed by the Government of India. [4] The agency operates its headquarters at Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh where it shifted from Delhi in 2001 The IRDA Act, 1999 was passed as per the major recommendation of the Malhotra Committee report (1994) which recommended establishment of an independent regulatory authority for insurance sector in India. Later, It was incorporated as a statutory body in April, 2000. The IRDA Act, 1999 also allows private players to enter the insurance sector in India besides a maximum foreign equity of 26 per cent in a private insurance company having operations in India. It serves as an Authority to protect the interests of holders of insurance policies, to regulate, promote and ensure orderly growth of the insurance industry and for matters connected therewith. FUNCTIONS OF IRDA:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

IRDA provides a certificate of registration to a life insurance company. IRDA is responsible for the renewal, modification, withdrawal, suspension or cancellation of this certificate of registration. IRDA frames regulations on protection of policyholders' interests. It offers policyholders the right to voice their complaints against insurers or insurance companies. The IRDA has set up the grievance redressal cell to take up the complaints of the policyholder. It specifies the requisite qualifications, code of conduct and practical training for intermediaries or insurance intermediaries and agents. It specifies the code of conduct for surveyors and loss assessors; It promotes efficiency in the conduct of insurance businesses

Role: 1. To ensure fair and secure treatment to the policy holders 2. To ensure speedy groth of the insurance industry including annuation and superannuation payments for the betterment of common man and provide long term loans for the growth of the industry 3. To set, promote, monitor and enforce high standards for financial soundness, integrity and fair dealings. 4. To make sure that the insurance customers get precise,correct and clear information regarding the products and services and are duly informed about their duties and responsibilities. 5. To ensure speedy redressal of genuine claims inorder to avoid insurance frauds and malpractices. 6. to take action if the standards are inadequate and ineffective. 7. to bring about an optimum amount of self regulation in day to day working of insurance industries to meet the prudential regulations.

LIC (FUNCTIONS) The life insurance business was nationalised on 19th January, 1956 and the Life Insurance Corporation of India came into being on 1st Septemb er, 1956 to carry on life business in India with capital of Rs.5 crores contributed by the Central Government. Life insurance is a contract under which one person known as the insurer in return for a premium undertakes to pay an assured amount to another person known as the insured either on the event of death or on the expiry of a specified period of time whichever is earlier. OBJECTIVES: 1. 2. 3. 4. To spread life insurance & provide life insurance protection to the masses at reasonable cost. To mobilize peoples savings through insurance linked savings schemes. To invest the funds to serve the best interests of both policy-holders & the nation .To conduct business with maximum economy remembering always that the money belongs to the policyholders. 5. To innovate and adapt to meet the changing life insurance needs of the community. 6. To promote amongst all agents & employees of the corporation a sense of pride & job satisfaction through dedicated service to achieve the corporate objective. FEATURES OF LIC 1. Saving Institution: Life insurance both promotes and mobilises saving in the country. The income tax concession provides further incentive to higher income persons to save through LIC policies. The total volume of insurance business has also been growing with the spread of insurance-consciousness in the country. The total new business of LIC during 1995-96 was Rs. 51815 crore sum assured under 10.20 lakh policies. The LIC business can grow at still faster speed if the following improvements are made: The organisational and operational efficiency of the LIC should be increased. (i) New types of insurance covers should be introduced. (ii) The services of LIC should be extended to smaller places. (iii) The message of life insurance should be made more popular. (iv) The general price level should be kept stable so that the insuring public does not get cheated of a large amount of the real value of its long-term saving through inflation. 2. Term Financing Institution: LIC also functions as a large term financing institution (or a capital market) in the country. The annual net accrual of investible funds from life insurance business (after making all kinds of payments liabilities to the policy holders) and net income from its vast investment are quite large. During 1994-95, LIC's total income was Rs. 18,102.92crore, consisting of premium income of Rs. 1152,80crore investment income of Rs. 6336.19crore, and miscellaneous income of Rs. 238.33crore. 3. Investment Institutions: LIC is a big investor of funds in government securities. Under the law, LIC is required to invest at least 50% of its accruals in the form of premium income in government and other approved securities.

LIC funds are also made available directly to the private sector through investment in shares, debentures, and loans. LIC also plays a significant role in developing the business of underwriting of new issues. 4. Stabiliser in Share Market: LIC acts as a downward stabiliser in the share market. The continuous inflow of new funds enables LIC to buy shares when the market is weak. However, the LIC does not usually sell shares when the market is overshot. This is partly due to the continuous pressure for investing new funds and partly due to the disincentive of the capital gains tax. POLICIES & SCHEMES of LIC Whole Life Policy: Here the policy amount is not paid to the insured during his lifetime, but is paid to the nominees on the death of the insured. Endowment Policy: Here the policy amount is paid actually to the insured after the attainment of a specified ag. SERVICES OF GIC: Marine Insurance, Fire Insurance, Vehicle Insurance , Crop Insurance, House Insurance, Any other insurance except life insurance. General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) is the sole reinsurance company in the Indian insurance market with over three decades of experience. The entire general insurance business in India was nationalised by the Government of India (GOI) through the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Act (GIBNA) of 1972. 55 Indian insurance companies and 52 other general insurance operations of other companies were nationalized through the act. The General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC) was formed in pursuance of Section 9(1) of GIBNA. It was incorporated on 22 November 1972 under the Companies Act, 1956 as a private company limited by shares. GIC was formed to control and operate the business of general insurance in India. , GIC was re-organized with four fully owned subsidiary companies: National Insurance Company Limited, New India Assurance Company Limited, Oriental Insurance Company Limited and United India Insurance Company Limited GIC has its registered office and headquarters in Mumbai. General Insurance business in India has the following features:

Simple products catering to basic needs Low market penetration More direct business and lesser dependence on intermediaries Ever growing middle class component in population Growth of consumer movement with an increasing demand for better insurance products Inadequate application of Information Technology for business Government support in the form of tax incentives to the insured Majority of the current demand for general insurance comes from the corporate =segment.