Expense account, Mint Though I’ve noticed the similarities between healthcare and retail finance, the inherent conflicts of interest in the business models of the two snapped into focus as I watched the latest episode of Satyamev Jayate. For those who did not tune in, the show focused on the conflict of interest in healthcare where doctors...
Expense Account, Mint Take a 1970s French scheme that “worked” in what are now seen as medieval times in finance. Add a government department desperate for a new idea, having botched up the retail part of the financial market by creating situations where regulators fight and investors get swindled. And you get the proposed Rajiv...
Expense Account, Mint The circus around Akshaya Tritiya (the auspicious day to buy gold according to Hindu tradition) this time tells me that we should be near the peak of the gold cycle. It’s when the retail investor gets it, that the party is really over. The exchanges have extended trading hours and knocked off...
Expense Account, Mint The hoardings are in your face—you can’t miss them. Real estate projects in and around the National Capital Region promise returns of 12% if you invest in the upcoming buildings. These are “guaranteed”, says the ad pitch and deliver better than bank deposits through the kicker of capital appreciation. You begin to...
Expense Account, Mint As a rookie reporter I was petrified that I would not be able to provide enough detail in a story under the editing keyboard of my editor. After looking stupid several times, I would set out to interview with a list of questions that included the name of the CEO’s dog, the...
Expense Account, Mint Sometimes a committee leaks a proposal it is considering to test reaction in stories and comments. Or sometimes it is a dissenter to what is being discussed who will leak a proposal or a decision to get public opinion against what is being proposed. Either of the two must have happened last...
Expense Account, Mint I’ve long thought about how to handle the barrage of mail and calls from readers, viewers, friends and family asking for help to deal with a financial problem. The most worrisome are those that complain about a case of mis-selling, that is, the sale of a financial product by a banker, agent...
Expense Account, Mint Last week just as my Twitter feeds got active with links to the British Lloyds Banking Group blinking in its fight with the regulator, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), and agreeing to a £3.2 billion (Rs 23,427 crore) provision to meet insurance mis-selling claims, we at Mint were following the PricewaterhouseCoopers story.Mint reported that while...
Expense Account, Mint You and I are really important to the country. Did you know that we are the human shields that protect the nation? Against bank failures, against financial exclusion, against insurance exclusion, and against starvation of insurance agents. While working on the Swarup Committee Report a couple of years back, I had reason to go...
Expense Account, Mint There is a hilarious mail exchange a friend forwarded me between him and his portfolio management scheme (PMS) “relationship manager”. Friend invests money five years ago and forgets about it. 2011 tax time approaches and he pulls out the PMS to see how it did. Where did my Rs 8 lakh reach...