Expense Account, Mint
This is a story that has been waiting to build scale, to add the four zeros it takes to gather the critical mass to declare something a scam, a bubble, trouble or just messy management. On Tuesday,Mint broke the story about the notional Rs 14,000 crore valuation deficit in three plans run by Life Insurance Corp. of India (LIC) and about the Rs 120 crore loss in the LIC-sponsored LIC Mutual Fund (LIC MF). While the Rs 46,000 crore solvency margin money will take care of the insurance hole and protect policyholders’ interests, this is a good time to open up the mutual fund piece and take a close look at how that business is run. And to ask what the government will do to stop the localized problem from becoming systemic in the insurance company.