Research Report on Chinese Private Banking Market, 2009

Posted by admin | Finance | Tuesday 6 July 2010 4:46 pm

Private banking is derived from Swiss, specialized in the fortune management business of providing special financial services, promoting the cooperative value between commercial banks and customers and prolonging customer relationship value chains. The concept of private banking came out in China after 2005. In September, 2005, Swiss Friends Bank Co Ltd started its business in Shanghai and brought the concept of private banking to Chinese market. Since 2007, the profits of private banking were ten fold of other retail business. Therefore, more and more domestic banks began to involve in the private banking.

 

In recent years, many banks announced to set up their private banking centers. It is without doubt for these banks to occupy some rich men gathering places as their focuses, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen etc. The customers of private banks from China Merchants Bank Co., Ltd grew by 35% than that in 2008. Compared with less than 0.02% private banking customers in the whole customers of China Merchants Bank Co., Ltd, the total assets of private banks accounted for more than 10%, the highest level in all commercial banks. The private banking of China CITIC Bank also rose fast in 2008. Now its customers of private banking are two thousand. The condition of private bank in China Merchants Bank Co., Ltd is 10 million Yuan (1.46 million USD), but China CITIC Bank is 8 million Yuan (1.16 million USD).

 

In 2007, Chinese private banking rose. Chinese funded banks mainly concluded Bank of China, China Merchants Bank Co., Ltd, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd, China CITIC Bank, Bank of Communications, Construction Bank of China and China Minsheng Bank etc. The foreign funded banks concluded Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited

, Citi Bank, Bank of East Asia, Deutsche Bank Group, Swiss Friends Bank Co Ltd, BNP Paribas, Standard Chartered Bank and Edmond de Rothschild.

 

Chinese private banks are mainly located in the economically developed areas, such as Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen etc. foreign funded banks are in Shanghai and Beijing. Some Chinese funded banks, because of its local advantages, also set their private banks in big cities with huge customer potential, their business spreading a wide area.

 

By the end of 2008, Chinese millenaries were about 0.5 to 1 million. The reason for uncertain numbers is that Chinese millionaires were accustomed to investment in real estate, such as living houses and shops etc. they expected to benefit from revaluation in real estate, so the numbers fluctuated sharply. The definition of millionaire is that individual floating assets are more than one million USD Except housing.

 

The global financial crisis, stemmed from the sharp decline of American real estate market, seriously stroke the large European and American banks. Although most private banks escaped from direct hit, they were influenced by the financial fluctuation. The crisis made some investors to transfer their investment to more conservative products, leading to the profit reduction in some private banks.

 

Taking consideration of the infancy of local financial market, many riches are preferential to manage their fortunes offshore in previous Chinese emerging market. The foreign funded banks occupy the most part of market share. The occurrence of financial crisis makes Asia especially China become the minimal negative influential country and the safest market. In the future, Chinese rich families are even preferential to invest at home, which brings huge development opportunities for Chinese private banking.

 

In the developed countries, the success of private banking is inseparable with politics, society, economy and law, such as steady currency value, natural advantages of tax rate, long financial history, prosperity in financial market, steady bank systems, sound legal and confidential systems and massive rich experienced financial talents.

 

By contrast, Chinese private banking market, with huge market potential, needs perfection of supporting infrastructure in its infancy. Chinese private banking market mainly faces the following problems: strictly supervision of finance and the adoption of separate supervises models is unfavorable to the promotion of various businesses; Underdevelopment of financial market (regardless of business tools or means); lack of strong investment bank supports; shortage of necessary systems and organizational structures of private banks.

 

From the part of Chinese private banking, international financial crisis is not only strikes but also opportunities, on the one hand, the slowdown risk existence in the private banking market, on the other hand, the development opportunities of organizations and talents transferring to Chinese market.

 

As a whole, Chinese private banking market is still in its infancy and hugely demanded for customers. In two to three years, Chinese private banking market will rise explosively.

 

The author of this report made a profound investigation and investigation of Chinese private banking, and then wrote this report. Readers can obtain more following information:

- Present situations of Chinese private banking

- Analysis on the market demands of Chinese private banking

- Analysis on the foreign funded banks with private banking in China

- Analysis on the local banks with private banking in China

- Analysis on the factors affecting the development of Chinese private banking

- Analysis on the development trends of Chinese private banking

- Analysis on the influences of international financial crisis on Chinese private banking

 

To get more details, please visit Research Report on Chinese Private Banking Market, 2009

Alice is an industry analyst in this field for more than 5 years with depth insight in the recent market trends. Based on the database, Interviews and research methods from China Research and Intelligence, she analyzes the development and opportunities in this industry clearly.

About Declarations Pages in Auto Insurance

Posted by admin | Finance | Tuesday 6 July 2010 4:46 pm

To break the declarations page down further, we’ll discuss each aspect presented on the page, and this is done in no particular order, meaning your declarations page may or may not have the same information in the same order listed here. First we’ll mention the auto insurance company’s information on the page. The declarations page will have the name of the insurance company, as well as their contact information including a phone number and address. If you need to contact the company, the information is readily available here and also on the insurance card that you should have somewhere in your car in case it is immediately needed.

Next, you should find your policy number. Your policy number is a way the auto insurance company can identify you without using your name. This lessens confusion as there is typically more than one client sharing the same first and last names. A policy number can include numbers and letters together, or just numbers. You will need to know your policy number any time you want to contact the insurance company. You can also find your policy number on the insurance card.

Information regarding the coverage you have purchased is also included in the declarations page. The coverage you purchased will include the minimal requirements provided by your state, as well as any additional coverage options you felt the need to purchase. Bodily injury liability, property damage liability, personal injury protection, and uninsured motorist bodily injury may be some of the coverage options you purchased that will be listed on the declarations page. Read more about automobile premiums and policies in Auto Car Insurance Premiums section of author’s site.

The cost of each coverage you purchase for your auto insurance policy will also be listed on this page. The price of your policy is determined by individual factors, including the cost of coverage you added to your policy. If you carry additional coverage options past the state’s requirements, you can look at these “extra” options and decide if they fit into your budget, or if you can add more coverage for added protection.

Your deductible amounts may also be listed in the declarations page. A deductible amount is the amount of money you are willing to pay, out-of-pocket, when you make a claim to the auto insurance company. Any time you file a claim and expect the insurer to cover an accident-related cost, the insurer requires you to pay upfront a deductible. This amount can range from $250, to $1,000 or higher. The lower deductible you choose for your policy, the more expensive your policy premium will be.

Look for the policy periods on the declarations page to find out when your coverage begins and when it ends. You should also be aware that you have the option with the insurer to automatically renew your policy when it expires. This helps to avoid any time period of not carrying auto insurance, known as a policy lapse. It is illegal to drive a vehicle without proper auto insurance so it is vital that the policy always be in effect.

You will also notice your information, or the policyholder’s information, listed on the declarations page. Your name, address, and phone number will be listed on the page. It will also have information regarding the vehicle(s) you have insured with the company, such as the year, make and model of each vehicle. Always keep this information up-to-date with the auto insurance company so they can contact you easily with any questions they have or information they need.

You may think the declarations page is just one more nagging piece of paperwork, but in actuality it is the most important piece of paper that you have for your auto insurance. You will need to review your declarations page every time your policy renews to make sure no coverage was accidentally dropped or so you know your information is correct. Don’t disregard your declarations page as it comes in the mail or think of it as worthless because you think you already know what coverage is on your auto insurance policy.

Willie James is a car insurance expert of Online Auto Iinsurance News agency. His job is to analyze auto insurance information and publish different reviews for Federal Insurance Bureu (FIB) in Moscow, Russia. His hobbies are organic synthesis in chemistry laboratory and styding a psychodelic plants like Salvia Divinorum (Shalfey) and another entheogens and exotic plants.

Car Insurance – How to Compare Rates From Multiple Companies Instantly

Posted by admin | Finance | Monday 5 July 2010 6:48 am

The reason we compare car insurance quotes from multiple car insurance companies is to make sure we‘re getting the best rates possible. Of course nobody wants to pay more money than they have to, but in the other hand we also want to make sure that our car insurance company is going to respond quickly and fairly in case of an accident.

What is unknown to many is that there is not one single car insurance company that is cheaper than others. One particular car insurance company can be the cheapest for one person but the most expensive for another. Each car insurance company has a certain category of drivers they want to insure. If you fit their category they will offer you a cheap rate, if you don’t, they will offer you an expensive rate. That is their way of filtering the people they want and do not want to insure. That is the reason we need to compare insurance rates from multiple car insurance companies, to find out which company will offer us the cheapest rate. The key is to find the company that offers the cheapest rate for you, but of course, it is important to compare rates from quality companies only.

There are many quality car insurance companies out there; however, some of those quality companies also have a high price to go along with them. How do we find a quality company for a cheap price? That, my friend, is the key question.

The traditional method of shopping for car insurance is to call around which we all know can be a long process. Another drawback of shopping for car insurance by phone is the probability of getting caught with the old “bait and hook” trick. That is when someone gives you a low quote by phone and hikes it up on you when you go into their office to purchase the car insurance policy.

In today’s world, luckily, we have the internet. The internet makes life a lot easier for all of us. Using the internet, we can shop for many types of things we may need which include shopping for car insurance.

Shopping for car insurance online is the best way to compare rates from multiple car insurance companies. Online, you can also read about a company’s history and make sure they’re a quality company. Most companies offer instant online car insurance quotes thorough their websites which makes obtaining car insurance quotes a lot easier than the traditional method of shopping by phone. Better yet, there are some websites that offer online car insurance quotes from multiple companies with one simple process. You can even purchase your car insurance online if you like the price. One such website is OnlineAutoInsurance.com. There, you can obtain quotes from quality companies such as Progressive, AIG, Infinity, GMAC, Bristol West, and several more. All with one simple process!

OnlineAutoInsurance.com provides online car insurance to all United States. One simple process will get you quotes from top insurance companies like Progressive, GMAC, AIG, Infinity and more!

Branch Banking – A Cat With Nine Lives

Posted by admin | Finance | Sunday 6 June 2010 4:46 pm

Branch Banking – A Cat with Nine Lives
Dr. Nicos Rossides: CEO MASMI Research Group
Bud Taylor: Director Consulting MASMI Research Group
Introduction

Branch banking is dead!  Technology is killing the retail branch!  The Internet rules!  Younger tech savvy customers are taking over as the brick & mortar customers die off!
Maybe.  But to-date we have not quite lopped off the head of the face-to-face banking Hydra.  Things may be different in twenty years, but they’re not dramatically different today.
But we like being in denial.  Every time we are confronted with evidence of the survival of branch banking we find ways to dismiss it.  For example, research in the UK published by Deloitte & Touche in September 2002 found that 80% of bank customers use the branch, and 52% regarded it as the preferred channel. Similarly a Gallup Poll conducted in the US in April 2003 found that 83% of Americans had visited their bank at least once a month on average over the previous year. It is easy to disregard these studies – we can dismiss them as dated.

When we update the studies we get some indications as to the impending demise of branches. For example, an American Bankers Association survey in the summer of 2007 found that 36% of U.S. consumers use branches as their primary banking method. Is that the death knell?  Not really.  That 36% is still the largest group for any one channel. Online banking came in second at 23%, followed by ATMs at 21%, mail at 8% and telephone banking at 5%.  Damn, thought we had them!

Ok, Ok.  Branch banking still exists, but is it just for the old and infirm? You know, those people who have a difficult time getting around and would find it most convenient to do their banking from their home.  Yes, that group.  Well, maybe they are the ones holding onto the legacy of the past, but does that mean that young people don’t want to do their transactions in a public location? The evidence only confuses matters further. The 2007 American Banker’s Association survey found that those who go to a bank branch are generally older folks; but still, a substantial 25% of those under the age of 34 side with the older crowd and prefer to do their banking in person.  When will these youngsters learn?

Even if we take a somewhat narrow look at branch banking in New York City we come up with the same trend. In September 2007 the New York Times reported that branch visits decreased by 11.5% between 1995 and 2000; yet they increased by 28% between 2000 and 2006.  What can we conclude from this? Many things, but the imminent demise of branch banking isn’t one.

If we extend our scope of vision beyond banking we find that younger generations like physical retailing even in their technology world where you’d think they would always gravitate to online purchasing for the latest electronic gadgets.  That’s not the case.  Apple’s retail stores are a magnet for younger consumers, and this is turning out to be good business.  These stores now contribute close to $1.25 bn. to the company’s annual revenues of $6.2 billion and rising – with a profit margin exceeding 20%.  That’s huge by retailing standards. Of course, we need to be careful here.  Is it really possible for transactional banking to rival Apple’s retail experience?  It may not be possible, but it is a good target.

Why Don’t Customers Comply with the Efficiency of Technology?
So, as much as we try, we can’t make the case that retail branch banking is dead in the US, in Europe, or in Emerging Markets.  It may be dwindling, decreasing, or diminishing, but it’s not dying.  That may be good news for customers, but it’s bad news for bank executives.  Branches are the most expensive way of conducting transactions.  Computers were invented to process millions of transactions at centimes per transaction.  Do this from your house, or car phone, please!  You don’t need to go to a building that houses friendly people.  Banks have to invest capital in information systems and technology to do volume processing, but they’d prefer not to continue the capital drain into structures and operating expenses for people.

Why don’t bank customers just “stop” using branches?  Why don’t they follow good business principles and complete their transactions efficiently, by machines?  Well, MASMI research demonstrates the hypotheses that trust (a somewhat elusive yet critical notion) is an important driver of choice; and trust tends to be delivered better by people than by machines.

“Banking”, read that as “my money”, is so important to customers that they want to entrust a personal transfer of their wealth to a human being – on the assumption that a person understands the value of the transaction, whereas a machine only sees it as a transaction. This is an interesting hypothesis and a body of MASMI research corroborates it.  We see that customers want more than a transaction; they want to personalise their relationship with the bank.

This desire for a relationship may be stronger in banking than in many other business sectors because banks have high switching barriers.  Customers are fundamentally averse to artificial constraints as a way of doing business – they want choices.  When customers don’t have choices, they want to be compensated. When it comes to banking, the compensation is the personalisation of the transaction.  Customers tend to be saying, “…I may not be able to easily put my money somewhere else, but I can make my bank provide personal accountability when I want it!  I want to be sure someone is handling my money – not just a machine.  I want to see human beings, so I can relate to them, and I don’t want to travel across the city to a strange neighbourhood to find them.  I want them down the block, at the corner.”

Banking should see this as a huge opportunity.  Relationships are the essence of customer loyalty and they have fallen into the banks’ lap.  Banks that continue to build their business on faceless transactions will lose in an increasingly competitive world.  The push for faster, better, cheaper is a siren call.  In commoditised banking only one competitor is allowed to dominate at any one time – until someone else shaves a point off a transaction.  Customers are giving us the answer to these ever-decreasing concentric-circles of cost reduction.  They want a relationship.  The question is whether we’re willing to listen and can provide this cost effectively. The bank that listens will win.  It will keep its customers who will purchase more and refer the bank to others.  For the foreseeable future, banks will need to continue to invest, albeit wisely, in their branch network.  The fact that branch banking is expensive is irrelevant – it has to be done.

Since you have to make the investment, doesn’t it make sense to maximise the return in a branch development strategy?  Of course it does!  So what do we do?  We have to meet the customer expectations for two things: excellence in operational mechanics (the rational dimension), and creating engagement in relationship dynamics (the emotional dimension).
Customers want more than a “painless” transaction

Our banking executives are fine with the operational mechanics part.  They understand this, they can control it, it’s right brained. Banks have a good measurement handle on their missions from an internal, transactional point of view.  They have numbers and they know how to manage by the numbers – even from a customer perspective. They immediately go to defining and implementing best in class metrics, like:
o    Efficiency to measure the relationship between inputs and outputs.  That is, what does it cost to complete a transaction?  How many tellers does it take to serve 100 customers?  How many square meters of floor space is required per 100 customers?  How much computer time does it take to process a transaction?
o    Level of service that brings time into the equation, like turnaround. Time needed to complete a transaction?  Time needed to resolve an issue?
o    Quality of service that brings accuracy to the table.  Number of error free transactions?  Number of complaints resolved at the first level?

These are the essentials. We know how to measure transactions, identify service gaps, and take corrective action. But these essentials are only an ante.  This is taking “pain” out of processing; but this isn’t playing the whole game.  This isn’t where we should stop.  Yet, often managers do just that.  They don’t want to go further.  Stopping here is comfortable.  But stopping here doesn’t bring “gain”, and that’s how banks can differentiate themselves.
Differentiation is all about enhancing the dynamic relationship that customers have with their bank – and the focal point of this relationship is the branch.  Sure, we can ‘humanize’ the IVR system by recognising the caller by name; and we can evoke an emotional connection to a website by embedding your avatar into the transaction. However, how effective can a machine or technology be in this regard?  At what point does clever technology fail to overcome customer cynicism?  For the present, at least, our research says that most people prefer to interact with human beings, not machines.  What is this customer group looking for?

Customer Centred Business Strategy

At MASMI we know that once customers have their rational needs satisfied then they’re willing to enter into a relationship.  Something that is emotional and personal.  There is a huge body of research and literature to support this belief.  Often the proponents have widely different perspectives on how our rational and emotional beings interact.  For example, Clotaire Rapaille presents the thesis of our “reptilian hot buttons” and argues that our reptilian emotional brain always wins.  Antonio Damasio comes from the point of view that emotion and reason are not separate, but are quite dependent on each other – neither leads nor follows.  Bank branches may not resolve these positions, but they need to address the point of agreement, that emotions matter! There is a relationship among our memories, our emotions, and our behaviours.

The need for an emotional connection while banking will differ by customer.  It’s not critical for everyone; it’s likely strongest for the people who keep going to branches.  So, if we’re going to spend money on a branch strategy, how do we make the best of it?  How do we tap into the emotional connection that customers seem to want?

First, we need to realign the banking business model around the customer. This might seem to be stating the obvious, but, in fact, traditional service models tend to be focused on optimising back office efficiencies with insufficient attention paid to the front office side of the equation.

MASMI research shows that high performing businesses put the customer at the centre of their strategy.  They articulate their strategic intent based on an analysis of customer needs and then build their key operational capabilities in alignment with that.   They recognise that the heart of their business is to provide pain free transactions that are infused with connectors that evoke emotional responses from customers.  The strongest way to do this in a bank is face-to-face at a branch.  A branch is more than a building – it is a stage where we can create a performance, an experience for our customers, where we can connect with real people.  But we need to know what buttons to push.  Research can give us some answers.
Reliable customer feedback is difficult to obtain as even complaints by customers do not represent a particularly reliable benchmark – for many reasons, not least of which is the fact that customer tend not to complain, even after bad experiences.  To get around this barrier we use a number of research methods to align the internally focused “customer service standards” with the externally focused “promise to customers”.  These methods include strategic customer loyalty research programmes aimed at understanding drivers of customer behaviour and corrective actions; performance tracking of transactions; and mystery shopping to monitor whether the promise to customers is being delivered.

All of these methods are aimed at uncovering the unarticulated needs held by customers that drive them to a face-to-face relationship at a branch.  What we have learned is that loyal relationships with customers come down to an activation of the person’s senses about their deeply held conviction of what a bank must be.  We all know the five senses that activate emotions.  They are seeing, hearing, feeling, touching, and smelling.  These have to be matched with the customer’s personification of their bank. That is, how does the branch banking experience reinforce the customer’s expectation of what the bank should be?

The branch can’t provide this experience until we know what customers want – and this may vary among branches.  For example, some customers might want their branch to appear “safe and secure”, while at another branch people expect to be treated “casually and informally”; somewhere else the branch must be the “friendly meeting place”, a social experience; while the cross-town customers want to have a sense of “efficiency and frugality”.

The right customer experience has a business purpose – it contributes to profitability through incremental sales.  Building relationships will require an advisory and service orientated profile within our physically redesigned branches. Better design plus skilled employees will certainly be required to personify the branch to enhance the emphasis on the emotive triggers – moving beyond a transaction towards building relationships.
Winning branches will find ways to work this personification and enhanced value addition into their operations. As neuroscientists tell us, we are emotional beings before we are rational ones. If we were totally rational, no one would smoke and everyone would eat organic food. Customers may find it hard to articulate their needs, but they come to their branch wanting to be comforted by the feeling that people at their bank is “one of us”, “…I feel good about my bank, they understand me”.

The emotional response to the customer experience starts in the parking lot.  Not finding a space creates anger; if the path to the door is clean, most people feel a sense of comfort; when the door opens easily they feel confident that things are working well at their bank.  What happens when they enter? Is there a safe in-sight to promote the feeling of security? Is there music to make them feel welcomed? What’s on the television while waiting for service – financial information that helps them feel up-to-date? How is the transaction completed? How are the staff dressed? Do they convey a sense of professionalism? Is the deposit slip on re-cycled paper to make them feel environmentally responsible or is it embossed with the bank logo to make them feel elegant? The beauty of branches is that they can be configured to meet local needs – one size does not fit all.  It’s all about “staging” at the branch level.  By conducting research into the customer experience we can pinpoint how to activate the emotions and keep customers coming back.

The bank branch is the strongest touchpoint for the customer assuring them that their bank “gets it”.  The branch engages most deeply with the emotions of the customer.  It is the branch that delivers the strongest relationship and activates emotions.  A bank’s Internet site can be easy to navigate, and an ATM transaction can be efficient – but efficiency only touches one dimension of a complex web of requirements from a banking partner.  Slick automation doesn’t tell us a lot about professionalism, security, and concern for me when things go wrong.  I want to go to my branch, and I do!  
Bank Branches and the Credit Crunch

Of course, headlines across the world in 2008 have been dominated by the impact of the credit crunch and the subsequent banking crises, with bank failures, bankruptcies, government bail-outs and eventual part nationalisation in some countries. Billions of dollars have been pumped into economies world-wide to prevent systemic banking failure, and try and encourage greater liquidity into the money markets.

Yet how much this affects the individual bank customer is difficult to judge at this stage. Clearly when there is fear of an individual bank collapse, scenes of depositors trying to withdraw their money become prominent in the media, such as appeared in the UK with the collapse of Northern Rock in 2007. However, whether this fear has permeated customers at a widespread general level is too difficult to judge at this stage. There is little evidence to date that customers are concerned with who owns their bank – whether it is one institution or another or the government – as long as their savings and deposits are not at risk.

And it may be in such difficult times that the branch will come to play an increasingly important role in terms of providing a visible sign of a bank’s permanence and viability. MASMI’s research has shown that, in Emerging Markets, where the banking sector is still relatively immature and local bank failures are not uncommon, for many customers a visit to the branch remains important – not only because it helps them to better understand details about a bank’s products and services, but as a means of providing reassurance as to a bank’s stability. In a world where even banks in developed markets are perceived as weak, the branch may acquire greater symbolic status.  It can give customers what they really need: a sense of trust, and a degree of confidence that their bank is here to stay and has a relationship with them.  It’s not a glass tower full of over compensated executives.  It’s a part of their life, staffed by people just like them – good people who are trying to build a good life, and who strive to serve them with honesty and care. Ultimately, the litmus test is whether customers feel that through its branches the bank is an indispensable part of their own lives.

Conclusion
The branch is critical in the life of a bank. Significant numbers of customers still visit the branch weekly. But branches need to be more than simply efficient at the transactional level.  They need to exist at the personal level where relationships are developed; and it is these relationships that will turn the branch from a primarily transaction center into a home for loyal customers.  This is good news for banks and the crisis they are currently facing.  Trusted banks and their branches are an important source of client engagement and revenue generation.

The future is therefore bright for bank branches. They will be a revived source of business for banks. Customer loyalty, through staged customer experiences, will increasingly turn banking towards cross-selling and value-added advisory services.  By connecting rational and emotional elements, branches will reinstall trust in financial institutions and regenerate economic growth.

Customers have shown that they want to work with their bank branches; now banks have to find ways to make this a worthwhile and profitable experience for both parties.

Sources:
“Bank branch transformation: The new multi-channel reality”, CEO Eontec Limited and Mark Greene, General Manager, Global Banking Industry, IBM Corporation, The Bankwatch, March 23rd, 2005
“Bring Back the Branch”, Deloitte &Touche, September 2002
“Banks Race to add Branches”, USA Today, 19th June, 2003
“Inside Apple Stores, a Certain Aura Enchants the Faithful”, New York Times, 27th December, 2007
“How to Develop Stronger Retail Partnership to Accelerate Small Business Sales”, Martha Crawford, NBW Consulting Group, American Banker 8th Annual Small Business Banking Conference, October 2003
“Customers still like to use bank branches”, Dennis Jacobe, Northwestern Financial Review, August 1 – August 14, 2003
“The Branch Bank is Dead, Long Live the Branch Bank”, David Webber, The Banker, November 2000
“Long Live the Bank Branch”, Greg McBride, Bankrate.com, May 17, 2004
“Retail Banks Must Redefine Role of Teller to Meet Customer Demand and Achieve Overall Cost Savings”, Tom Brogan, TowerGroup Research, July 2008
Damasio, Antonio.  Descartes’ Error.  Putman Publishing, 1994.
Lehrer, Jonah.  Proust Was A Neuroscientist.  New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007.
Rapaille, Coltaire.  The Culture Code.  New York: Broadway Books, 2007.
“Has the Bank-Branch Frenzy Peaked?”, Sewell Chan, New York Times, September 10, 2007.

About the Authors
Dr. Nicos Rossides: CEO MASMI Research Group

Dr Rossides is Group CEO of MASMI, a leading independent research agency operating in Central Eastern Europe and the Middle East.  Prior to joining MASMI he was CEO for Synovate’s CEEME region, the global head of solutions as well as CEO for its Loyalty Practice.

Nicos has more than 20 years of market research and consulting experience, much of which involved developing a research infrastructure in Central and Eastern Europe.

Prior to becoming a market researcher, Nicos was Senior Research Fellow at Kyoto University, where he received a Doctor of Engineering degree.  A Fulbright and Mombusho scholar, he also received senior management training at MIT’s Sloan School.

Nicos has published a large number of articles in professional journals, contributed papers to numerous conferences and lectured at several universities and symposia.

Bud Taylor: Director Consulting MASMI Research Group

Mr. Taylor is a senior associate with MASMI where he advises clients on how to put their research data to work.  Prior to MASMI he was an SVP and Global Director of Consulting for Synovate Loyalty.  Before joining Synovate Bud was a Partner with Deloitte where he led its change practice in the US southwest.

Bud is a Canadian and naturalized US citizen.  For over 30 years he has consulted to marquee clients in all major business sectors and in all parts of the world.  Bud’s clients include: Microsoft Europe, the National Commercial Bank (Capital) of Saudi Arabia, the Whirlpool Corporation, Sony Electronics, and the Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation.

Bud contributes articles to professional journals and has published a business book: Customer Driven Change that demonstrates how to unite customers, managers, and employees in the process of organizational transformation.

Bud Taylor is an author, speaker, and consultant on organization change. Bud recently published “Customer Driven Change” showing how to unite customers, employees, and managers to transform organizations.

Bud is an independent consultant and has alliances with MASMI Research; the International Speakers Bureau – WorldWide; and Strategos Consulting.

Bud formerly worked as: SVP & Global Director of Consulting Services at Synovate; Change Partner at Deloitte; and Organization Effectiveness leader for Watson Wyatt.

Some Tips for Insured on Keeping Your Auto Insurance Premium Rates Down

Posted by admin | Finance | Sunday 6 June 2010 4:46 pm

Tips you can use car insurance rates comparison

There are so many ways that you can use to keep your auto insurance rates down and some of them you can use at the same time as other discounts to maximize your savings.

Here are some things that you can ask your auto insurance company for:

- Ask if you can receive a discount if you have more than one type of insurance with their company. For instance, you may find that you can have your auto insurance and your homeowner’s insurance with this company and they will provide you with a combined discount. Carry all of your insurance policies with them, such as auto, home, and life and you may find that you can get even more money off.

- If the driver of the car is a student or is listed as a driver on the car, you may find that you can get a good student discount. This is where the student maintains at least a B average on their report card. You may be required to take that report card to the automobile insurance company each time it comes out, but it really pays off. If grades go down, the discount may disappear until the grades go back up.

- See if there are any safe driver discounts available. When you haven’t had a ticket or an accident, you may find that there are discounts available for you.

- If you are a senior citizen and you’ve not had any accidents in a specific amount of time, there may be discounts available to you.

- You can always raise your deductible to cheaper car insurance premium online from auto insurer. However, you need to keep in mind that doing so will result in a higher out-of-pocket expense if an accident does occur. The standard deductible is $500, but some individuals will go as high as $2,000 to save some money on their premium. If you can pay $2,000 if an accident occurs, then that will work fine. Just make sure your deductible is not higher than what you can afford in case damage is done to your car and you need to pay it.

- You may wish to shop around. You may find a company that offers the same coverage for a lower price. You always want to compare before you make a commitment.

You want to use all of these tips so that you can save yourself quite a bit of money.

How you can compare auto insurance quotes online?

When finding the right company to do business with, it is very important that you compare. You can do this by calling companies and recording the different rates that they quote you. You can also do this by going to their websites and filling out the forms on their websites to receive quotes for the auto insurance you want. This allows you to compare in a much easier way. Take all of that information and make an informed decision.

Willie James is a car insurance expert of CAR INSURANCE NEWS agency. His job is to analyze online auto insurance company’s information and publish different reviews for Federal Insurance Bureu (FIB) in Moscow, Russia. His hobbies are organic synthesis in chemistry laboratory and styding a psychodelic plants like Salvia Divinorum (Shalfey) and another entheogens and exotic plants.

Banking Restructuring – Lessons for Georgia

Posted by admin | Finance | Wednesday 6 January 2010 6:45 am

Restructuring: concept, goal and contest. Termini restructuring is of Latin origin and means changing-improvement of the structure of some object or system, i.e. its forms and consistence (morphology). It basically means unchanged character of directions of its functioning. They use restructuring from large plan in the economical texts mostly with debts, including foreign ones, payments and taxation (trade) balance, corporation sector of the economy and of separate enterprises, of banking system entirely and separate banks (other credit organizations).

They define “restructuring” in legislation in the following way: restructuring of credit organization is a complex of activities directed towards eradication of financial fluctuations of the organization and recovering its pay abilities or towards realization of liquidity of this organization. This definition doesn’t make needed opinion about the occasion to be discussed, as, in the first place, here they mean only separate credit organizations and not banking system itself, and, second, it has very technical character and mixes the essence and contest of the process of restructuring with the activities, which may (or must) be realized in this process.

Thus, there is not common, widely excepted definition of restructuring, though majority agrees with the idea, that we must consider restructuring to be readjustment of (cure) of banking system and its taking out of the crisis phase, also its returning to the conditions of good labor abilities. They sometimes use termini of “stabilization of banking system”, but we consider it to be comfortable. The fact is, that achieving stability may be provided in various ways, including the one of liquidating whole system. There is another point of view, that they consider restructuring to be the process for overcoming difficulties, appeared during the crisis. This point of view is not quite fluent.

Thinking of the essence of the affair and not its definition, hen we must consider in reconstruction of banking system as a process – totality of decisions and actions. Its basic elements are:

  • eradication and minimization of negative influence of bad macro-economic, political and other common factors upon situation and perspectives of functioning of banking system;
  • improving systemic organization (structure, kinds, types) of totality of credit organizations, creation of conditions for effective and civil competition among them;
  • improving legislative base for mutual-advantage collaboration and organization-economic mechanisms among credit organizations and their clients;
  • increasing quality of managing entire banking system and its separate elements;
  • financial cure of separate banks and other credit organizations;
  • effective (with minimal social experiences) liquidation of vital credit organizations.

Foreseeing these elements, we can state following definition: restructuring banking system in managed process of its global readjustment (improvement), supported by changing in industrial, cash, taxation, budgetary and information policy, also in the policy of the banks themselves, and which is directed towards formation of banking system adequate to effective, trustful and dynamically developed modern requests.

According to this definition, restructuring effective, stabile and healthy banking system in not needed (though, it is possible to improve or reform it). Thus, restructuring is a cure (curing something that is not healthy), i.e. restructuring may be understood and must be understood to be the process, with the help of which banking system of concrete country transit to the new level of development. It is also evident, that restructuring is curing of such systems, which are in crises and can not get out of it without help. Finally, from the point of restructuring (privately displaying necessity of financial curing) we must discuss absolutely every bank. In this case, restructuring, as a process of readjustment, seems to have its own instrumentation, which will not be bounded only with the instruments of ordinal procedure banking management?

According to the mentioned above, we can make main goal of restructuring process of banking system – its recovery and taking its movement to the relatively new trajectory, at which it already gains earlier lost potential of progressive development and becomes adequate to the real sector of the economy again.

  • In relation with this, we must pay attention to the following principle requests towards the context of the process to be discussed:
  • activities provided in relation to the restructuring will be profitable only in case, if we foresee not only reasons of banking crisis, but also define those fundamental; defects of economical relations, which make banking system viable at the modern stage;
  • restructuring of banking system, which, in fact, must give rise to its reanimation in the earlier condition, doesn’t solve problems neither of whole system, nor of the country economy;
  • it is necessary to process not only tactical activities before starting the process of restructuring, but also to set strategic objects: to receive such structure of banking, which will be adequate to the goals and functions standing towards the banks at the new stage;

 while processing activities of reforming banking system they must clearly define a circle of those problems, which must be solved during the process of reforming with the help of renewed banking system and they must set the price of activities;

effective restructuring requests combined methods of approaches towards the problems. World practice processed principles and methods of approaches of solving banking crisis, approbation of which showed their sufficient effectiveness. It is nonprofessional and not expedient to use some principles and refusing others;

a process of solving crisis may not be fast, simple or cheap.

Th8is common goal, mentioned above, in its turn, may be concreted into the list of those problems, working at which must form real concept of restructuring process according to the conditions in modern Georgia:

  1. eradication of conditions provoking banking crisis, solving problems in relation with banking sphere and real sector;
  2. financial curing of those problematic banks, which have kept viability and perspectives of development, also state support of those banks, which have abilities of effective usage of this aid;
  3. providing trustful satisfaction of basic current requests on bank services (payments and short-termed crediting) of the industrial subjects;
  4. foundation of a new, more complete structure of banks and other credit organizations (according to the forms, measures of the property, regional distribution and so on);
  5. Creation of more complete rules and instruments regulating new rules of banking activities and of this activities;
  6. Creation of conditions. Mechanisms and stimuli for turning banks to the side of enterprises, for their involving into the process of further production, also overcoming inflexibility of the banks in the process of solving investment problems;
  7. Recovering trustfulness among banks;
  8. Recovering trustfulness in relation with the banking system, appearing stimuli among population for putting their savings on the accounts;
  9. Creation of the stimuli for increasing responsibilities  and effectiveness of the bank managers;
  10. Civilly closing of not viable banks and fulfillment of the mechanisms of their liquidation.

There is an idea about the fact, that main goal of restructuring banking system is recapitalization of the banks (recovering lost a capital and its further growth), but it is not quite correct: since today the hardest problem is, that a spectra of profitableness and trustfulness of capital investment is very tight.

Some bankers offer such understanding of restructuring and such pragmatic activities of radical reforming of banking system, the essence of which finally has been brought to the regrouping of the almost bankrupted banks according to the principles of specialization (specialized banks working in the country scale, banks oriented towards export or those obligated in the groups of large enterprises, also regional banks). they meant, that new “system forming” groups would obey to the strict control of appropriate governmental structures or groups of enterprises, in exchange of it, it will have right for working on budgetary resources. Suggestions of separate bankers were not related with the problems of recovering whole banking system.

We can form basic problems of restructuring banking system in the following way:

Transiting to the foundation of a healthy market banking system by readjustment of separate problematic banks, providing structural reform of banking system;

Increasing whole capital of banks and filling banking system with long-termed resources;

Creation conditions stimulating growth of the quality of market commercial banks, including those in the regions.

Main goal of restructuring program must be: creating such layer of technological market commercial banks, which provides marketing policy and makes basic profit from credit-operations. It is interesting, that within the bound of 2-3 years program share of such capital in the banking system may reach up to 30-40%, and credit share in the credit portfolio of banking system – 30%. Share of profit made from crediting in whole income of banking system must not be less, than 6%. Half of such healthy banks must still function in the regions.

The concept of those first steps, which must make foundation to the realization of effective program of restructuring banking system, must be formed in this way:

  1. processing a conception of developing banking system and its taking as a manual 2-3 years earlier;
  2. consisting a program on working at the passed liabilities and its realization;We mean that a special state organ working on restructuring purchases from the banks their “bad money;.
  3. realizing recapitalization of the banks. we mean, that the same  or other state organ enters the capitals of the banks for a little time, increases this capital and credit potential of the banks and then sells its share in the capitals of the banks;
  4. passing the law about guaranteeing deposits of the people in the commercial banks on time;
  5. creating equal conditions for competition and development of every bank. We must refuse other banks “having social importance”, “forming a system” and somehow “related” with somebody;
  6. clear formulating of the role of government and state banks in the banking system;
  7. realizing evident support of regional market commercial banks;
  8. creating effective mechanisms of developing infrastructure of the banks and their functioning;
  9. changing a system of taxation of commercial banks;
  10. processing and realization of activities refinancing commercial banks by the central bank;
  11. creation and realization of the package of legislative and organization activities developing hypothec crediting;
  12. fastening the process of transiting commercial banks to the international standards of accounting

 Restructuring: principles and conditions. We can name following to be the obligatory principles (main rules) of the process restructuring banking system:

A principle of solidary obligations. The essence of it is, that in the mentioned process there participate (with out resources) and coordinate the banks themselves (in the first place – the owners), their creditors and the government. It is impossible to restructure banking system without state support. Though, it is evident, that the state will not be able to support every bank, having extremely reduced resources. Accordingly, the banks in the first place must try to solve their problems independently and the managers and creditors of the cured banks must stand on the advantage position.

The principle of minimizing loss and expenses. It says, that while realizing restructuring we must consider those activities, which give the opportunities of overcoming crisis with the less budgetary expenses (financial expenses of the society) and with little loss from the side of banking system and the clients of banks to be more prior.

Liquidation of problematic banks is much losable, but socially more difficult way. It needs especially measured method of approach towards the problems of the depositors the banks to be liquidated. Fast liquidation of not solvent banks may deepen the crisis (an Indonesian example in 1997-1998). According to the estimation of numbers of experts, best way out of it is confluence of the problematic bank with the healthy one, though this is quite doubtful recommendation.

A principle of minimizing liquidation requests to give priorities to the activities of reorganization and support and not bankrupting in the process of restructuring and financial curing.

A principle of just distribution of expenses on restructuring mean, that the stated part of expenses on curing banks must be compensated by those, who receive risks related with these banks, are responsible for their loss and make profit after restructuring (i.e. participants of the banks, its highest administration). Economical obligation of not solvent managers and owners of the banks may be expressed, for example, by adequate reduction of their own banking capital, their participation in the restructuring process in the way of additional entering in the bank capitals. Part of the loss may be covered at the expense of the depositors.

A principle of strategic method of approach means definition of the strategic problem, what kind of banking system is wanted by the society after restructuring (in the condition if it conforms to the new purposes and functions of the banks at the new stage). Only after this they must select advantage and agreed activities, which may be recommended for readjustment of separate banks and its entire system.

A principle of complex method of approach means, that a system defined by the program must be fulfilled completely. It is impossible to bring whole concept of reconstruction process to its separate consisting parts (for example, everything mustn’t be bounded only with solving financial problems displayed in one concrete period of time).

We can name such principles of providing restructuring, as transparency (necessity) of distributing expenses related with it, strengthening management of those banks, which are supported by the state, encouraging independent adaptation of the banks with the changed situation and others.

Following conditions of restructuring are also of great importance:

  1. Success of reconstructing banking system is in close touch with how much clearly and knowing affair they formulate long-termed problems, industrial, structural and financial policy. For example, crediting enterprises, especially of large ones, is possible only in the case, if it is effective, if it leans upon clear state strategy. It is an important condition without which bank restructuring may not be successive.
  2. For successiveness of restructuring banking system it is the most necessary to recover and develop such conception, which will conform to the main economical goals. This conception may be oriented towards fulfillment of objects of operative character (recovering a mechanism of payment, solving other problems).
  3. It’s not real to try restructuring banking system, apart form reforming and restructuring the surrounding, in which bank functions. This request in the first place touched upon real sector of the economy and its active enterprises. Banking system is a kind of “built” and its successful restructuring is able by knowing what the basis is like, i.e. what kind of economy shall it support. Concrete requests and possibilities of real economy are the main criteria defining, what the banking system must be. Solving problems of real sector requests advantage economical policy of the state. In every case, real sector and banking system also needs concrete orienteer, which themselves appear to be additional stimuli of development.
  4. Restructuring of banking system must be outrun by curing of money and credit relations. Here curing of money relations must play leading role (privately avoiding barter and other cash-free “payments” in the economy). This needs providing activities stimulating investments in real sector of the economy, because it is impossible to come out of the economical crisis in other case.
  5. Restructuring banking system is impossible without staff revolution. Specialists of short-termed financial speculations must master either modern directions or give the way to those professionals, who can work with the real sector, have knowledge and ability in the part of estimating and managing investment and industrial risks.
  6. Restructuring banking system requests important correcting of legislative and normative base.

According to the mentioned above, we can separate some leading questions about restructuring banking system, on which there still is no satisfying answers.

  • What was the main reason of the situation, in which the banks appear? It’s thoughtful, that we must make choice among situation in real economy and peculiarities of bank activities. We consider it not to be correct to oppose two reasons to each other this way in our concrete conditions.
  • What must turn into the basic concept of restructuring process (important consisting part)? Managers of central banks give different answers to this central question. There are such variants not conforming to each other: 1. financial curing of those problematic banks, which keep viability and perspectives of development; 2. rising the level of capitalization of the banks; 3. curing money relations; 4. recovering not as much of banks, but cash-credit relations; 5. creation functionally new banking system.
  • What must the structure of banking system be, formation of which is purposeful? This is a principal problem. It is necessary to clear everything related with this. The banks must have an “assortment” if there is no other variant to be received.
  • What must a conception of recovering and developing banking system be? Privately, following questions still remains to be doubtful (more in practice, then in theory): must we consider basic direction of curing banks their reorganization and readjustment, which concerns financial and other support and structural reforming?

Foreign experience of restructuring banking system. Bank reconstruction is not a unique problem. Banking crisis has been noticed almost in 70 countries during 20 years. A process of recovering balance has been continuing very difficultly everywhere and the state participated in them (though, scales of this participation were different in the different places and periods. Sometimes reasons of the crisis coincided with each other, sometimes they were specific. But forms of their solving coincided in many cases: stabilizing crediting, filling own capital of the banks, purchasing their assets (including passed debts) and others. As a rule, basic financial heaviness leaned upon the state directly, or in the way of financing specially founded agencies by it.

USA was a pioneer in the field of banking restructuring, where a system of guaranteed deposits and a special institute managing these deposits has been founded under the influence of the crisis in 1929-1933. This institution was a federal corporation insuring deposits (FCID).Next stage of restructuring banking sphere is related with the series of banking crisis took place in absolutely different countries during last 20 years.

In 1980-1991 1300 banks and 1400 borrowing-saving associations stopped existence in the USA. According to the different estimations, restructuring banking system cost 300-500 billion dollars (5% of the WIP). In 1995 banking crisis took place in Japan, in 1994-1995 – in France, in 1989-1990 – in Australia, in 1987-1989 – in Norway, in 1991 – in Sweden, in 1991-1993 – in Finland, in 1980-1982, 1900-1991 and 1995 – in Argentina, in 1990, 1994-1995 – in Brazil, in 1981-1982, 1990-1991 and 1995 – in Argentina and Mexico, in 1982-1984 – in Chile, in 1994-1995 – in India, in 1994 – in Indonesia, in 1985-1988 – in Malaysia, in 1981-1987 – in Philippines, in 1991-1995 – in Hungary, in 1990s – in Poland, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and others. In some countries systemic crisis used to be repeated periodically. Some countries were able to avoid systemic basic crisis with the help of having insurance system, in the first place, at the expense of effective banking management and regulation.

Price of restructuring banking system is very different: 5% of WIP in the USA, 10 – in Hungary and Brazil, more, then 40 – in Chile and 55% – in Argentina.Central banks can support problematic banks in the crisis situation, especially in case of spoiling their current liquidity. In Venezuela, eight not solvent banks used special lines of liquidity for compensating money resources. Though, they were not able to cover borrowed sources in the future.

In other cases, crediting is an important step of central banks. They are supported during banking crisis and give them resources and terms for restructuring credit organizations. A long termed support provided by the central bank of Poland is a good example of it, when it purchased low profitable shares and long-termed bonds from the banks. Granting long-termed credits by the central bank sometimes depends on creation of complex plans of improving situation by the banks (list of stated activities and expected results).

Reducing the level of obligatory reserves (or increasing percentage payments on them) is another way of supporting banks, for example, part of obligatory reserves of deposits poste restates were set free for financing purchasing certificates of termed deposits of the institutions, which had been working by the program of restructuring banks.

They use special tax advantages very seldom in the process of bank restructuring. Notwithstanding this, Brazil used tax stimuli for encouraging confluence: “swallowed” bank could exclude then value of not active credits, “the sallower” received credits equaled to the distinction between the purchase and balance prices. Some countries use tax stimuli for shares and bonds issued during the realization of restructuring program.

They somehow make the rules of regulation and management under the conditions of restructuring banking system simple. They compensate this by creation such middle-termed system of regulation and management (in the crisis period), which foresees risks of banking activities more adequately.

To save the banks being in hard position actions provided by the state may support weakening the feeling of responsibility of the banks. In such conditions, the following is of great importance not to give rise to the weakening encouragement of irresponsible behavior of the banks in the future. It is considered, that it is necessary to grant a sum for making large profit and participants of the banks must be responsible for their obligations. They requested from the banks to discard a capital partially a conditions for making support in South Korea; the state obliged itself with bad debts of credit organizations in Mexico only in case if its participants used to make additional income; while bankrupting of credit organizations in Brazil and India, their participants were obliged to enter additional sum equal to the size of their initial entering in the nominal fund.

Herewith, participant of the banks are not always obliged with the responsibilities, for example, in case of the loss received from those credits, which are granted by banks by the state indications, it is necessary to range the size of responsibility, as the participants may not have possibility for solving problems in  the credit organization because of the not having transparency and of the organization calculations and other reasons.

They founded specialized institutions in the most part of the countries during restructuring banking system, which have been obliged with the problems of managing this process.

A government and central banks of many countries solved problems with bank crisis and restructured own banking system in different ways. Practice has shown up, that there is neither ideal form of restructuring, nor the universal strategy of normalizing situation in banking sector. Very often this or that action depends on concrete occasion. Notwithstanding this, we may separate total signs of successful programs, which have been realized abroad:

the fastest definition of the scales of problems, its recognition on the state level and readiness of the government for granting important financial resources for solving problems;

passing transparent, activities adequate to the essence of the problem, moving “bad” assets from the problematic banks off;

processing complex, transparent, operative program, its correct and successive development;

fulfillment of the procedures of banking management.

Chile. A complex of activities. Large scaled restructuring of banking system in Chile has started since 1984, when a central bank of the country started granting stabilizing credits for supporting liquidity of the banks and purchasing their not trustful credits or changing not active assets on liquidity. Deregistration of the bank debts took place in the way of turning creditors into the shareholders.

State became a guarantor for foreign debts of the private banks. Size of the debts transited to the central bank of Chile by the end of 1985 overcame whole capital of problematic banks 3 times and consisted 6 billion dollars (25% of WIP). About 60% of expiated credits were changed on its bonds by the central bank.

They involved straight state control in numbers of system forming banks of the country.

Recapitalization of the banks transited under the state control used to be realized in the way of additional issuing of the shares placed among small and middle investors. A state corporation of supporting development (CORFO) worked on this program.

Results. The banks practically fulfilled their obligations in the part of the deposits of physical and juridical persons with the help of the used activities. Though the quantity of national private banks was reduced from 22 to 15, but they were able to keep every large bank and improve their working by 1987. After 1996 every commercial bank of Chile has been considered to be competitionable.

The value. By the end of 80s, expenses provided on restructuring banking system of Chile consisted from 30 to 40% of the country WIP.

Mexico. A complex of activities. Restructuring of banking system in Mexico has been started in 1995 after devaluation of national currency and strengthening of financial situation, which followed devaluation. One of the nominal activities of Mexican bank (main bank of the country) was involving special calculation unit UDI (unidades de inversion), which was indexed with the level of prices. Whole assets of the banks were calculated by it, for avoiding devaluations of credit portfolios of the banks.

Basic organ working on restructuring banks was banking fund of protecting savings (FOBAPROA). During the process of readjustment it expiated securities from the bank and banks provided deposing of received resources in the Mexican bank.  They gave five years to the banks for expiating these papers. In other cases they were going to convert them into the shares of these banks and their realization at the market.

For solving problems with foreign debts of national banks central bank granted short-termed currency credits from these banks to them, who passed payment of these obligations. At the same time FOBADROA published doubtful assets of commercial banks. Herewith, the shareholders, in its turn, were obliged to enter sums equal to the half of resources granted by FOBAPROA. Banks were to enter resources received from this operation into the 10 year bonds.

They involved outer management of problematic banks. In some cases they granted their shares to the foreign banks. At the same time they supported bank debtors, provided restructuring of their liabilities.

Results. With the help of restructuring Mexico could avoid destroying of banking system. Deposits of the people practically were not defected. They kept trust of foreign investors in the banks of the country.

The value. Restructuring of banking system of Mexico costs 60-65 billion dollars (about 14.5% of national WIP).

Argentina. A complex of activities. State governmental organs in Argentina supported more trustful banks for solving problems of banking crisis. They used differenced method of approach. They separated banks into several groups:

I group – Middle and large banks having temporal problems of liquidity because of loosing clients. They granted them credits of central bank of Mexico and Banco de la nacio Argentina;

II group – small banks, which were to confluence with large, relatively healthier banks or were to be swallowed by them;

III group – small banks, which were at the edge of bankrupting. They stopped operations in these banks and they desired to readjust, sell and liquidate them;

IV group – 12-15 state banks owned by the administration of Argentinean provinces, which were to be privatized.

Expiation of “bad” debts was provided not by state agencies, but file largest commercial banks, which founded a special trust-fund in January 1995 together with the central bank. For compensating provided expenses they reduced a normative of reserved requests.

Results. A complex of anti-crisis activities in Argentina provided stabilization of banking system in one year. Though during this period position of foreign banks were significantly strengthened. There share in the total assets of banking system of the country drew up 42%.

The value. Expenses wasted on restructuring banking system of Argentina drew up 2.5-3.5% of the country WIP according to the various estimations.

Scandinavian countries. A complex of activities. notwithstanding distinctions in the reasons provoking crisis in every Scandinavian country, a conception of restructuring banking system leaned upon practically united conditions and principles of state support. They are:

  • founding a special state organ for overcoming banking crisis and providing state support avoiding mediator agencies;
  • strengthening the role of prudential banking management and separating a special organ for its realization;
  • overcoming deposits in relation with as physical, so juridical persons with the method of joint approach (“nobody looses”);
  • supporting every bank in equal principles  and conditions and fluent transparency of information for entire society;
  • total method of estimating situation in banks and displaying need of state support. This support a confluence with usage of “not popular” activities towards owners and managers, which supported them. These are such sanctions, as compensation of material loss at the expense of the property of guilty managers of the bank, devaluation of nominal capital until loosing whole resources (this activity in Norway was obligatory) and so on.

Programs of restructuring banking systems of these countries were being realized by optimal conformity of responsibilities and stimuli at every level including owners, organs of managing separate banks and regulating organs of whole system.

A value. Expenses in Sweden consisted 4.3% of WIP and 9.9% – in Finland.

Hungary. A complex of activities. Restructuring banking system has been continuing in two stages. At the first stage (1992-1995) the state used to transfer important sum of money in problematic and, in the first place, large banks. At the same time clearing of bank assets in the way of changing “bad” credits at state bond took place. They used state guarantees very actively. They tried to use special structure for centralized restructuring – capital investment and development bank of Hungary, but by 1995 the banks appeared again under the critical situation.

At the second stage (1995-1997) method of approach in relation with restructuring has been changed. They used state resources only for supporting those large state banks, which were to be privatized. Restructuring made them attractive for western investors.

Results. State share in the bank capital after first stage has been increased from 41.4% in 1991 till 69% in 1994. The result of second stage was increasing the share of foreign capital in the banking system of the country till 60% by 1997 (in 1996 – 48%, in 199535%, in 1991-1994 – 12-15%) and reduction of the share of state property till 20.66%. Share of “bad” debts in total sum of debts by 1993-1997 has been reduced from 13.2 till 1.2%. There was no occasion of selling deposits or refusing returning money to the debtors.

A value. Expenses provided at restructuring banking system of Hungary consisted from 12 till 18% of its WIP.

Estimating restructuring in Russia. Necessity of restructuring Russian banking system has become evident in the middle of the 90s. They began appropriate practical activities from August in 1998, which at the beginning had an operative anti crisis character. Herewith, they paid special attention in the first variant of restructuring program to the saving of many-profiled (“system forming”), interregional banks, but later they decided to gather middle and small banks.

Operative anti-crisis activities. In 1998-1999 bank of Russia (central bank) together with the government of the country provided operative activities for recovering ability of the bank, to be able to realize basic complex of service.

1.They provided three many-sided interbank clearing, which made it possible to register 30 billion rubles for recovering taxation system. In many regions this gave opportunity to the banks to release from the cargo of nonpayment wholly or partially.

2.They decided to move obligation of numbers of banks towards physical persons to the savings bank of Russia.

3.they used a mechanism of refinancing banks from September 1998 for supporting bank liquidity: they granted Lombard credits to the more, then 80 banks, overnight – to 34, one year credits to 15 on them; they changed normative of obligatory reserves (total 5% normative). They gave banks right of regulating obligatory reserves.

4.Changes took place in the requests towards banks. Central bank postponed usage of activities influencing in case of not consisting minimal normative of own capital of the banks for two years.

5.They involved special norms regulating activities of the selected circle of banks, in which there were: rule of calculating absolute sizes of economical normative, changing of calculating rules of some normative, rule of influencing activities. this gave the banks damaged by the crisis, though having good perspectives opportunity for leaning upon the quantity of their capital owned by the banks till the first of August 1998, or changing currency course of Ruble while taking risks.

6.They reduced limit of open currency positions, strengthened rule of calculating liquidity normative.

7.They reduced 10 times registration of payment and size of the price for opening branch.

8.They changed prohibition for paying entering in the nominal capital by foreign currency.

9.They involved requests towards registration of currency risks formed by balance-free operations and termed agreements. They managed activities of credit organizations working on the consolidated basis. They involved a rule of foreseeing bank risks in the banks.

10. They continued foreseeing licensing of those banks, which abolished law, had not satisfying financial situation, and had no perspectives of development.

At the same time, Bank of Russia and a government processed long-termed activities for solving basic problems of restructuring banking system. We can separate following:

Participating in processing those legislative acts, which are necessary for success of restructuring banking system;

Working of executive government with the local organs for the purpose of defining their possible participation in normalizing banking activities in the regions;

Participation in foundation of the Agency of restructuring banking system (ARBS) and collaboration of central bank with it in the fields of restructuring separate banks;

Creation regime of prior support for restructuring banks.

For the purpose of widening possibilities of postponing own capital by the banks:

They abolished prohibition on paying entering in the nominal capital of the banks and receiving subordination loans by the foreign capital;

They processed a rule of making entering in the nominal capital of the banks, when it takes place at the expense of converting bank obligations in the licenses of participating in the nominal capital;

They changed methods of approach towards requests of minimal size of own capital. These requests are still active for newly founded banks and are abolished for the active ones;

The involved the rule of paying nominal capital of the banks by the state securities.

By the end of 1999 Russian bank announced finishing of the first stage of restructuring banking system, which means, that this system recovered ability of providing basic complex of service, they kept viable kernel of the banks.

According to the Russian bank data, quantity of problematic banks by the first of January 2000 has been reduced from 480 till 199, and by the first of November – till 155. They widened the scales of bank activities, increased their assets. Whole capital of the active banks (except saving banks) has been increased per 2.7, though its size consisted only 46% towards the August of 1998, they reduced the number of those banks, normative of liquidity of which was less, then the obligatory level H3 per 70%.

The affair has been being interrupted by the absence of an evident economical policy of the government. The bank of Russia had no conception of recovering and developing banks, which would be received by the totality of banks and finally state role and the place of central bank, instruments to be used in relation with commercial banks, main goals and directions of working with restructuring. At the way of restructuring lack of resources still remained to be the main problem.

Bank of Russia and ARBS estimated possibilities of forming quite effective instrument, which would give them possibility for organizing, managing and transformation of banking system, also,, their possibilities and readiness in the wealth of the resources of bank refinancing and self-curing.

It is more dangerous, that bank of Russia considers liquidation of the banks to be prior way of working with problematic banks.

Herewith, liquidation of the banks loosing license is processing very slowly and is followed by large expense. To the mind of Bank Association of Russia (BAR), restructuring process is continuing slowly and not progressively. They consider, that bank of Russia has been able to define banks to be supported, discuss the programs of their curing and supporting realization of these programs. They have had enough time for avoiding not viable banks, but they haven’t done that. 40% of credit organizations of banking system have lost their licenses, and only 3/5 of them have been rubbed out of the registration book. Middle term of liquidation procedures is 2-3 years. Herewith, almost half of competition mass is worked for organizing competition management and current expenses. Creditors of the banks in such occasion loose their money forever. It seems that n case of liquidating bank only those of the interested persons win, who provides the procedure of liquidation and bankrupting.

Finally, it must be mentioned, that bank of Russia practically refused providing credit support to the banks for the purpose of providing stabilizing activities. The state refused to support practical programs of restructuring banking system as well. After these, the society suffers more and more loss.

They often call a process of transforming banking system in Russia “slowly progressive restructuring”. Truly, in fact it is brought to the individual and spontaneous “conformity” of the banks to the new request of the time. This makes it dangerous, that this will recover only earlier banking system – with the same weaknesses and defects.

Experience of overcoming banking crisis in the USA. US economy has been influenced by banking problems several times. One of them appeared during the period of large depression of 1929-1933. Thousand of bank deposits were devaluated because of ineffective operations of the banks, also not returning of the granted loans and total degradation of the economy. They closed hundreds of banks and provided confiscation of thousands of objects because of not returning of loans. US congress passed laws about founding federal corporations insuring deposits and also those insuring loans and savings. Except insuring, these corporations were obliged to research a lot of financial institutions for the purpose of finding defects in bank legislation and procedures and regulation of banking operations. This system has been working effectively during many years.

By the end of 1970 and beginning of 1980 banking industry of the USA was fluctuated by another financial catastrophe. To the analytical mind, reason of this was defective practice of granting doubtful credits, also, not transparency of the activities of regulating organs. Such organs that time were department of currency control, corporations mentioned above and institutions of Federal Reserve System. Exactly this time they destroyed reductions on percentage rates set for the banks on the attracted resources. They gave the banks right to pay any percents to the depositors (but higher, then market rates). That’s why rates in the 80s overcame annual 20%. It is evident, that the banks were to grant credits in higher percents (25% and more) for keeping profitableness.

Prices were being grown, especially those of immovable property (mostly because of expensive inner prices on oil). They abolished reductions to the borrower-saving associations on realization financing venture projects related with immovable property and speculative commercial operations (at whole US territory). Then they let the commercial banks grant credits on reconstruction projects and other risky operations related with immovable property (the government stimulated such operations), as in the country, so abroad. Herewith, for guaranteeing such credits, banks attracted deposits with very high percents. By the end of the 80s it was impossible to return such credits because of high percents and side spread of speculative character of the borrowers’ operations. Scales of bankrupting companies and private persons in those years were extreme. Finally, values of oil and immovable property have been significantly cheapened. Because of low level of banking management and under the conditions of deregulation reduced the number of hundreds of borrow-saving associations and financing resources of commercial banks, that they started using deposits attracted by the higher rates for payments on the old deposits and, they continued granting risky credits. By the end of 1988 both mentioned corporations were nearly bankrupted, as they were to give all their resources to the not solvent banks and associations in the way of insurance payment. The US congress was to provide banking reform again.

Under such conditions the congress passed the law about reforming, recovering obligations of financial institutions and compulsory payment (FIRREA). This law signed in 1989 became the most fluent banking law, had ever being passed in the USA. For its realization and according to it they founded Trust Corporation of returning resources (RTC), which has following goals:

  • Liquidation of a lot of bankrupted borrow-saving association;
  • Provision maximal returning of resources and minimizing loss of the payers;
  • Minimizing results of the crisis for immovable property and financial markets;
  • Providing cheap apartments for the people having low and middle income.

The congress didn’t pass those parts of the legislative act, which foresaw financial support of the shareholders of problematic credit organizations and thus didn’t help massive restructuring of such organizations. Thus, Credit Corporation started playing functions of liquidations department and not those of restructuring agency.

Restructuring separate banks of the USA was realized only in exceptional occasions and even if the share-holders were ready to enter additional important resources into the capital and the creditors agreed to find compromised solution of obligations related with discounting. Herewith, they were to like restructuring plan. During whole history, they provided restructuring only of several banks in the USA.

During the six year of existence, Trust Company managed and liquidated 747 not solvent borrow-saving corporations (40% of such organizations). A corporation, usually, was able to find firm and easily managed bank, which would oblige itself with obligations existed at the deposits of the bankrupted organizations. According to the FIRREA law, corporation used to give such banks cash or liquid assets of same volume. When transition of deposits didn’t take place in such banks, the corporation according to the corporation normative paid the depositor guaranteed part of their deposits (not more, then 100 000 dollars). Middle rest on the depository account in the bankrupted organizations consisted 7500 dollars, total quantity of their depositors overcame 25 million people. Total balance value of the shares of these organizations was 451 billion dollars. By the end of the activities of RTC, in December in 1995, 95% of these assets were sold per price equal to the 87% of balance value, or the corporations was able to return 87 cents on every dollar.

RTC processed and involved special methods of marketing and realization of bank assets, most of which have been used widely in other countries, they are:

  • Securitization of commercial loans united in pulls (emission of turnover securities by provision);
  • Wholesale of the rights of request on credit to the large market corporations;
  • Concluding open auctions in the regions;
  • Organization of conducting open tenders on the federal level;
  • Conducting auctions and tenders by participation of foreign investors;
  • Realization of immovable property by the scheme of financing agreement;
  • Creation data base of the objects of immovable property managed by RTC (the base became available for the interested buyers allover the world).

RTC administration knew, that mission of this corporation would be hard to be fulfilled, without having correctly planned strategy, strictly processed methodology and procedures, also without strict control. The most difficult problem was conforming conditions of selling assets, covering loans and restructuring, also stating responsibilities and limits of wasting RTV resources.

They found way out by setting limits and wide distributing obligations. The procedures of transiting obligations to the staff workers foresaw preparing statement on every asset.

As a rule, main reason of banking problems is bad management. Inability of the setting good inner control and strict keeping of the procedures finally brought the bank to the strengthening problems and bankrupting. Unprofessional management may give rise to the mistakes in managing risks and liquidity. When these questions are guaranteed by the managers and administration of the banks, this is followed by problematic assets and problematic banks. Exactly this took place in the USA in 1970-80s. There were too many banks and they granted huge credits, and this was absolutely incorrect. Weak organization of selecting borrowers by the banks, entering of payments and controlling financial position of the borrowers and also weak management showed up.  

Lamara Qoqiauri

Date and place of birth: October 6, 1948

Working place: Tbilisi Iv. Javakhishvili State University

Tel.: (+99532) 79-07-10; (+99532) 760595

Web-site: www.nino.skola.dlf.ge

e-mail: qoqiauri@yahoo.com

Address: Tbilisi, Varketili, 159, Gakhokidze St.

Working experience

A republican department of Georgian State Bank (National Bank) ———from 1970 1976

Tbilisi, 3/5, Kirov (now Leonize) St. – Accountant economist, An inspector of providing accountant-loan operations, cash fulfillment of budget.

A republican department of “MshenBank ————————————— from 1976 – 1977

As a Chief economist

Tbilisi Iv. Javakhishvili State university —————————————— from 1977 – till now

As a Laboratory assistant of a cathedra, Research worker, Associate professor, Professor.

Gori Economical Institute (now State university)

English private school-college “Nino”- Owner

Education/training

Tbilisi, Komarov high school of physics and mathematics

Tbilisi, technical school-college of finances and economy

Tbilisi, Iv. Javakhishvili State University, Faculty of economy (evening department)

Post-graduate course of Georgian scientific academy of economy and logistics

Tbilisi State University, Economical faculty

Nongovernmental association of private schools

Qualification

Scientific status – Professor

Doctor of economical science

Doctor of economical science, professor.

Accountant-economist of Bank

Candidate of economical sciences, associate professor

Published works

Quantity of works -108

Monographs between them – 14

Manuals between them -5

Quantity of works during last 10 years – 84

Quantity of works in the referred magazines- 43

Buying Life Insurance After Being Diagnosed With Cancer

Posted by admin | Finance | Wednesday 6 January 2010 6:45 am

The American Cancer Society estimates doctors will diagnose over 1.4 million new cases of cancer in the U.S. in 2007, with more than 559,650 cancer-related deaths. If you are among the majority of cancer patients and survive for at least five years following your diagnosis, you may face another fight: buying life insurance.

Buying life insurance for cancer patients is challenging, but not necessarily impossible. Your chances for securing a policy depend greatly on the type, stage and grade of the cancer, and even on the treatment plan. There is a relationship between the rate you’ll receive and the curability of your cancer. Certain types of skin cancer, for example, are considered very low risk by life insurance companies and a skin cancer history may not even impact premiums.

Applicants with common and treatable forms of breast and prostate cancer may be able to get a “standard” rating under ideal circumstances. But patients with a history of leukemia or colon cancer may fall into a “substandard” or “high substandard” rating at best, or receive declines. Anyone with cancer that has metastasized likely won’t be able to obtain a policy.

Dr. Charles Levy, senior vice president and chief medical director of AIG American General Domestic Life Insurance Cos., says, “We’re better and better able to differentiate the risks of individual cancers.” Life insurers like AIG American General have sophisticated tables to determine premiums, where they can factor in cancer types and treatments. The end result is better premiums because applicants aren’t lumped together as an “average.”

Most insurers will not offer a policy to someone who is still undergoing treatment for cancer. Depending on your type of cancer, the life insurer may also want to add a surcharge, also called a temporary flat extra. For example, AIG American General sometimes charges temporary flat extras for two to five years, depending on the applicant’s cancer and treatment. The good news is that although these extra premiums can be expensive, they will automatically disappear after a set period of time.

Cancer insurance risk specialists

While a dedicated life insurance agent will search cancer insurance companies to find insurers that will sell you a life insurance policy, in some cases you may be better off seeking out a broker who specializes in finding life insurance for people who have a history of cancer.

These brokers will know the specific questions underwriters will want answered when considering your application. Many brokers have developed relationships with several insurers, so they know which companies offer the best-priced life insurance policies for cancer survivors. Some brokers have experts who specialize in gathering your medical records and organizing them.

By directing your application to life insurers that will view your application most favorably, these brokers will help you find the most accurate price quotes and the lowest premiums for life insurance. Always check the financial strength of the insurer before you buy any policy and be sure that the agent or broker you choose is licensed in your state.

Life insurance strategies for cancer survivors

If you are a healthy cancer survivor, life insurance is even more feasible. There are things you can do to ensure you’re getting the best premium offers possible for your situation.

1. Gather all possible medical records before you apply, from the first pathology report to medical records to treatment records. That ensures medical underwriters have the most complete picture of you, your health, and your cancer history. Having all those records before you apply for cancer insurance will reduce delays in your application process, because your life insurer is going to request them and will wait for them. The information you provide can garner you better premiums in the end: The less life insurer underwriters knows about you, the more likely they are to have to assume you are the highest risk and offer you high premiums accordingly. According to Levy, “If it’s fuzzy, we’re more likely to err on the side of conservatism.”

2. Make sure you have complied with your doctor’s treatment plans. For example, says Levy, if your doctor asked to see you back in one year and you haven’t been back in four years, get to your doctor for your check-up before you apply for life insurance. Your life insurer is not going to offer you a policy without before seeing the results of that check-up. Similarly, if you’ve had breast cancer and you’re due for a mammogram in December and you apply for cancer insurance in October, your life insurer will likely wait for the results of your next mammogram.

3. Get prices from several companies. Policy costs can vary a great deal among companies.

4. See if you can get group life insurance through a professional, fraternal, membership, or political organization to which you belong.

5. Consider a “graded” policy (one with limited benefits) if you cannot get full death benefits. In the first few years of a graded policy, the company pays only the premiums and part of the face value if the insured person dies of a condition, such as cancer, that existed before the policy took effect. If the insured person dies after the specified grading-in period, the company will pay the full face amount of the policy.

If your cancer has been successfully treated, and you are otherwise in good health, you can likely obtain a cancer life insurance policy. If you can show that you are healthy and your treatments have gone well, several insurers may compete for your business.

Visit Insure.com for a comprehensive array of comparative auto, life and health quotes, including a vast library of originally authored insurance articles and decision-making tools that are not available from any other single source. Insure.com is dedicated to providing impartial insurance information to consumers. Visitors can obtain instant quotes from more than 200 leading insurers, achieve maximum savings and have the freedom to buy from any company shown.

How to Collect on Lost Life Insurance Policies

Posted by admin | Finance | Saturday 2 January 2010 10:03 am

A relative has just died. He had a life insurance policy with you listed as the beneficiary. There’s just one problem: the life insurance policy is missing. You have no idea which insurance company wrote it.

If you find the missing life insurance policy in the future, are you still eligible to receive the death benefit?

Hope they paid their insurance bills

If you’re a beneficiary and you find the lost life insurance policy shortly after the insured dies (within six months to a year, for example), claiming the death benefit should be trouble-free.

First, determine if the insured had term or permanent life insurance. If the insured held a term policy, you’ll receive the death benefit if he died before the end of the policy term. If he died after the policy expiration date, you would get nothing.

If the insured had a permanent life policy, you’ll receive the money if the death occurred while the policy was “in force,” meaning all premium payments were made up until the time of death. If the death was a while ago, you’ll receive the benefit with interest from the date of death.

If the life insurance policy lapsed — meaning the insured stopped making premium payments before he died — there’s a chance you might get nothing. When a permanent life insurance policy lapses, most insurance companies switch its status from permanent insurance to one of two options:

“Extended term” — The insurance company uses the cash value of the policy to buy a term life insurance policy for the same death benefit using the cash value of the policy. The death benefit will continue for the longest period the cash value will purchase.

“Reduced paid up” — The insurance company will keep the policy in force permanently, but will reduce the death benefit.

Gerry Brogla, an actuary for State Farm, says in the majority of the cases at his company, the permanent policy continues as extended term if it lapses. At State Farm, extended term is the default option for most permanent policies.

If the policy lapses, and the extended-term period expires before the insured dies, the policy is worthless and the life insurance beneficiary will get nothing. If the insured dies before the extended-term period is up, the beneficiary will receive the death benefit. If the policy lapsed because the insured died (thus ending premium payments and causing the insurance to be placed in extended-term status), the beneficiary will still collect the full death benefit, regardless of when the extended term was up. The beneficiary always needs to supply the insurance company with a death certificate to verify the date of death.

There is no time limit during which a life insurance beneficiary must step forward to collect the money, according to Jack Dolan, spokesman for the American Council of Life Insurers. “If a person shows up 30 years after [the insured's] death, the company still makes good on it,” Dolan assures.

What happens if no one ever reports the death?

If the insured dies and the insurance company does not learn of the death, the policy lapses. Insurance companies will take steps to find out why a policyholder stopped making payments.

When an insurance company stops getting payments, it sends letters to the insured informing him the policy may lapse as a result of unpaid premiums. If the letters go unanswered, the company might initiate a search to find the insured. If that comes up empty, the company will then lapse the policy.

If a beneficiary to a policy never steps forward, it unfortunately means the insured paid money to a policy throughout his life and his beneficiaries never see a penny. This is why its a good idea to make sure beneficiaries are aware of any life insurance policies you have.

If you’re lucky, the state may have your money

In some cases when a beneficiary fails to claim a death benefit for several years, the money is transferred to the state where the insurance policy was purchased under the escheat laws.

If a company knows an insured died and it cannot find the beneficiary, it must turn the full death benefit over to the state comptroller’s department within three to five years of the insured’s death. The money is transferred to the state where the insured bought the policy. The money is considered “unclaimed property” and gets lumped in with dormant bank accounts and uncollected rent deposits. The comptroller’s department maintains a database that lists the names and addresses of lost life insurance beneficiaries.

Many states will try to contact life insurance beneficiaries in an effort to pay the death benefits. In Texas, for example, the names and addresses of the beneficiaries are published annually in each county in the state. In New York, the Web site of the New York State Comptroller’s Office of Unclaimed Funds has an online search to find any unclaimed death benefits owed to you. You can find out the procedures in your state by contacting the office of your state comptroller or treasurer.

Keep in mind your chances of finding the policy with the state are slim. The insurance company has no obligation to hand the money over to the state if it’s unaware the insured died. In most cases, it’s the beneficiary who contacts the insurance company.

Also, the insurer only transfers the money to the state three to five years after it cannot find the beneficiary but knows the insured died. If the state doesn’t have the death benefit, it’s likely the insurer is still looking for the beneficiary or doesn’t know the policyholder has died.

Unclaimed death benefits are rarely transferred to the state. Dave Potter, a spokesman for Hartford Life, says less than 1 percent of his company’s death benefits go unclaimed.

Del Chance, a life insurance claims manager at State Farm, says, “Turning over life policy benefits to an individual state after the death of an insured is extremely rare. State Farm utilizes their own search techniques as well as outside vendors to locate lost beneficiaries in the event of the death of one of our insureds. By and large these procedures have always located the beneficiary.

Tips for making sure your life insurance beneficiaries get your death benefit:

1. Give your beneficiaries your policy information. It can be a difficult and awkward conversation, but an important one.

2. Keep all your financial records (especially your life insurance policies) in one place. Don’t force your beneficiaries to search your house from top to bottom after you die.

Tips for looking for lost life insurance policies:

1. Go through canceled checks or contact your relative’s bank for copies of old checks. Look for checks made out to insurance companies.

2. Ask those who may have known about your relative’s finances. Speak with the relative’s lawyer, banker or accountant. Also contact the relative’s insurance agent.

3. Contact your relative’s past employers. They might know of possible group life insurance. The insured might have also purchased supplemental life insurance through work.

4. Check the mail for a year. Premium bills and policy-status notices are usually sent annually.

5. Look at income tax returns for the past two years. Check for interest income from policies or expenses paid to life insurance companies.

6. Contact the Medical Information Bureau. If your relative bought life insurance fairly recently, there might be a trail of the companies to which he applied. The Medical Information Bureau (MIB) maintains a database that might show if insurers requested your relative’s medical information within the past seven years. Record searches can be requested through the MIB’s Policy Locator Service and cost $75. The MIB says that nearly 30 percent of searches turn up leads.

Visit Insure.com for a comprehensive array of comparative auto, life and health quotes, including a vast library of originally authored insurance articles and decision-making tools that are not available from any other single source. Insure.com is dedicated to providing impartial insurance information to consumers. Visitors can obtain instant quotes from more than 200 leading insurers, achieve maximum savings and have the freedom to buy from any company shown.

Discover a Bank Loophole To Buy Foreclosed Homes Dirt Cheap

Posted by admin | Finance | Saturday 5 December 2009 8:20 am

We’ve all heard the saying where there’s a will, there’s a way; well, how would you like to discover a bank loophole to buy foreclosed home dirt cheap? I can show you how to make money like big investors do.

There was a time when banks wouldn’t even talk to you if you didn’t have A++ credit and a substantial down payment.  Well, things have changed drastically, and you can now purchase property with less than perfect credit, with as little as $100 down.

No, I’m not talking about those infomercials where they promise you the world and deliver information that you can retrieve from your local courthouse.  During these tough economic times, nobody has money to throw away and certainly no time to waste, so let’s get right to the important part.

-Do you want to be a successful real estate investor?
-Would you like to purchase property with little or no money down?
-Do you want the same opportunities as the real estate gurus who buy and sell hundreds of homes without spending a dime of their own money?
-Would you like to tell your boss “I quit,” and never look back as you walk out the door?
-Do you want financial freedom?

If you’ve answered “yes” to all of the above questions, you’re smart.  Who wants to work, work, work and never enjoy life?   You can get in on the best kept secret in the real estate industry – the bank loophole that no one else will reveal.  Sign up now, and get your piece of the real estate pie.

what you just learned about Bank Loophole is just the begining. To get the full story and all the details, check us out at newsecretforeclosures4less.com

American Life Insurance-one of the Most Trusted Company

Posted by admin | Finance | Wednesday 4 November 2009 8:04 am

American Life Insurance  the most trusted company which has a reputation of about 87 years. This company is one of the globally recognized life insurance companies and it has a number of branches all over the world which has a vast customer line following. American Life Insurance gives various tax benefits to all its insurance policy holders and it also takes care of all your life insurance related policies like retirement insurance policy, wealth management policy, medical insurance, health insurance etc.

Life insurance basic terms as you know is an important factor in every person’s life and when it comes to life insurance age is not the main criteria when it comes to get your life insured. American Life Insurance also known as AIG insurance company and majority of Americans has insured themselves with this life insurance company. The market value of this company is high and you can find the companies ratings in the financial books due to their vast financial transactions with other financial institutes.

There are two major life insurance policies that this AIG Insurance Company deals with i.e. the Term Life Insurance and Whole Life Insurance. In case of Term Life Insurance the policy taken is for a short period of time and Whole Life Insurance is where you get yourself insured for your whole life.

AIG insurance company is one such life insurance company that charters to the needs of the common person. One of the benefits of getting insured in this life insurance company is that you reap a rich harvest of life insurance benefits on all your life insurance policies which no other life insurance company provides you as this company provides you with the benefits when you are still alive.

This life insurance company in order to increase its relationship with their vast flowing customer’s have started life insurance online services which has made it easy and convenient for them to get themselves and their family members insured staying within the very comforts of their own house. AIG Insurance is one of the most sought of companies and it is a tough competitor to other life insurance companies.

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