World’s Tallest Building Opens to Media

SHANGHAI, China: The world’s tallest building — Shanghai World Financial Center opens to
the media on August 28th, 2008.

(Photo: http://www.xprn.com/xprn/sa/200808282109.jpg )

Journalists enjoy a spectacular bird’s eye view across Shanghai from the
observatory deck on the 100th floor of Shanghai World Financial Centre. The
observatory deck, the highest in the world, offers sweeping vistas right across
the city and features a special 50m-long glass floor that provides a unique
perspective on the city, and the thriving district of Pudong below. It will
open to the public from August 30th.

For more information, please contact:

Simon Xu
D: +86-21-2405-1625
T: +86-21-2405-1888
F: +86-21-2405-1628
Email: Simon.Xu@ogilvy.com

JP Morgan hires Morparia as CEO from ICICI

HONG KONG: J.P.Morgan Asia Pacific has announced the appointment of
Kalpana Morparia as Chief Executive Officer of the firm’s Indian operations.
Ms Morparia joins J.P.Morgan from the senior management of the ICICI Group,
India’s largest private sector financial services company.

Ms Morparia is vice chairman of the ICICI Group’s insurance,
asset management and securities companies, and Chief Strategy and
Communications Officer. She joined the board of ICICI Bank in 2001 and held
the position of Joint Managing Director until last year, before assuming her
current role with the group.

During her 33 year career with ICICI, Ms Morparia played an
influential role in the firm’s expansion. Her term at ICICI Group placed her
at the forefront of the transformational changes which have reshaped the
country’s banking industry.

Mr Gaby Abdelnour, the Chairman and Chief Executive of
J.P.Morgan, Asia Pacific said he warmly welcomed the experience and knowledge
which Ms Morparia will bring to the role of CEO.

“Ms Morparia offers J.P.Morgan a tremendous opportunity to
accelerate the progress we’ve made in building our Indian franchise. Her
appointment is also further evidence of the importance which J.P. Morgan
places on India as a priority within the firm’s global growth strategy, ” he
said.

Ms Morparia said she was delighted to join J.P.Morgan, and to
have the opportunity to lead the firm’s expansion in India.

“J.P. Morgan has established a strong and highly respected
franchise in India which will support plans to expand all three lines of
business– Investment Banking, Asset Wealth

Management and Treasury and Securities Services.” she said.

Ms Morparia’s role will include membership of J.P.Morgan’s
Asia Pacific Executive Committee and involvement in the development of
several global initiatives being led out of the firm’s New York office.

About J.P. Morgan

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading global financial
services firm with assets of $1.8 trillion and operations in more than 60
countries. The firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for
consumers, small business and commercial banking, financial transaction
processing, asset management, and private equity. A component of the Dow
Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase serves millions of consumers in the
United States and many of the world’s most prominent corporate, institutional
and government clients under its J.P. Morgan and Chase brands. In Asia
Pacific, the firm is based in Hong Kong and operates in 14 countries and has
25 offices. Information about the firm is available at
http://www.jpmorganchase.com.

Reliance Money enters Europe

Starts reliance Money Ireland

MUMBAI: Reliance Money, the largest broking and distribution house in India and part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, today announced its forays into Europe by setting up operations in Ireland and UK, as part of its plans to expand its global footprint.
 
This is the first initiative by Reliance Money to offer its comprehensive bouquet of financial products and services to retail investors in Europe, with Ireland as its base by incorporating a new company – Reliance Money (Ireland).    
 
The announcement was made by Mr. Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Director & CEO of Reliance Money.

“This is our first move to reach out to the large base of over 2 million NRIs and PIOs based in Europe with our unique, cost-effective and efficient bouquet of products and services. Our presence in Ireland and UK will complement our efforts to have a larger role in this region,” said Mr. Bandyopadhyay.
 
Reliance Money provides customers with access to equities, equity and commodities futures, mutual funds, life and general insurance products and off-shore investment. It would also offer its Portfolio Management Services in Europe at a threshold level of as low as USD 50,000.
 
“With a view to providing financial services to a larger section of society, we are introducing our cost-effective PMS to investors with a threshold level of USD 50,000 which will enable a lot of investors, who have not been able to use these services because of high cost of entry, to opt for our services,” Mr. Bandyopadhyay added.
Ireland is the first country in Europe where Reliance Money will start its operation in less than one year of its decision to tap the overseas markets.  The newly incorporated company, Reliance Money (Ireland) shall in turn enter into partnership with appropriate players in other European countries after getting the necessary approval from regulatory authorities in the respective countries.
 
Reliance Money is now present across three continents, i.e., Asia, Europe and Africa and plans to expand its operations in over 15 countries by next year.

Bandyopadhyay said, ”We aim to generate 50 per cent of our revenues from overseas markets by 2012 and capture a bigger share of the record $195 billion invested in India last year by overseas funds.”
 
About Reliance Money

Reliance Money, a Reliance Capital company, is part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group.  It is a comprehensive financial services and solution provider providing customers with access to equities, equity options and commodities futures, mutual funds, IPOs, life and general insurance products, offshore investments and credit cards.

The largest broking house in India with 2.5 million customers and a wide network of over 20,000 touch points, Reliance Money endeavors to change the way investors transacts in financial markets and avails financial services. The average daily volume on the stock exchanges is Rs. 2,000 crores, representing approximately 3% of the total stock exchange volume.

Reliance Capital is one of India’s leading and fastest growing private sector financial services companies, and ranks among the top 3 private sector financial services and banking groups, in terms of net worth.

Birla Financial Services gets into broking; acquires 56% in Apollo Sindhoori

MUMBAI;Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd, a diversified conglomerate, part of the Aditya Birla Group, today entered into an agreement with ASCIL to acquire 56 per cent stake in the retail broking company for Rs. 198.8 crore. The agreement is another step towards growing the Aditya Birla Group’s financial services footprint. This move will strategically further strengthen the position of the financial services group as a manufacturer and distributor of value added financial products.

Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd will make an open offer, post receiving the necessary approvals. Says, Mr. Ajay Srinivasan, chief executive, Financial Services, Aditya Birla Group, “The strategic intent of this agreement is to position Aditya Birla Financial Services Group as a broad based and integrated player in the financial services business. We already have a strong presence across financial services verticals that include life insurance, fund management, distribution and wealth management, security based lending, insurance broking and private equity. Apollo Sindhoori Capital Investments offers us a well established platform with a capable team that will integrate well into our existing business and further strengthen our presence in the financial services space.”

Ms. Suneeta Reddy, Director, Apollo Sindhoori (ASCIL) said, “It gives us immense pleasure to be associated with one of India’s leading business houses and their growing financial services group. It is a win-win situation for our employees and customers who will now have access to a wide array of products and services from one of India’s household brand names.  We have chosen to retain a 10 per cent stake, as we believe the Aditya Birla Group will add substantial value to the company.”

The primary benefits ASCIL adds to Aditya Birla Financial Services Group:

ASCIL is a leading player with over 10 years of experience in the broking business thereby providing the Aditya Birla Group an established and tested platform to enter the retail broking space.
ASCIL has a strong distribution network of over 190 own and 570 franchisee branches, which will increase the reach and accessibility for the Group’s financial services products.
A large 150,000 customer base provides the opportunity for cross selling.
ASCIL has a scalable business model based on a strong technology backbone and a wide product mix:
Trading facility in equity segment and derivative segment on NSE & BSE
Trading facility in commodity segment, including bullion, oils, gaur seed etc. through a subsidiary
Depository participant [DP] services of NSDL and CDSL at major locations
Online bidding for IPO
Distribution of mutual funds
About Aditya Birla Financial Services Group
Aditya Birla Group has a strong presence across various financial services verticals that include life insurance, fund management, distribution and wealth management, security based lending, insurance broking and private equity.  The consolidated revenues from these businesses crossed the US 1 billion dollar mark in 2007-08. In the first quarter of 2008-09, the financial services business continued its strong momentum of growth with consolidated revenues crossing Rs. 982.8 crore for the first quarter, up from Rs. 535.9 crore in the first quarter of last year. The life insurance and fund management companies are both top five in their sectors.

About Aditya Birla Nuvo
Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd is a diversified conglomerate and the platform that has launched many new businesses for India’s premier business house, the Aditya Birla Group. Aditya Birla Nuvo has a dozen businesses under its fold, ranging from textiles to telecom.

The focus on each business has made it a leading player in most segments, including viscose filament yarn, carbon black, branded garments, agri business, textiles and insulators. Over the past few years, Aditya Birla Nuvo, through its subsidiaries and joint ventures, has made successful forays into life insurance, telecom, business process outsourcing (BPO), IT services, fund management and other financial services.

Indian economy growth to be 7.5%; Interest hikes likely

NEW DELHI: The Economist Intelligence Unit, world leader in global business intelligence estimates India’s economic growth to be at 7.5% this fiscal. This revision is in continuation with the earlier forecasts made by the business intelligence arm of The Economist Group, which clearly indicated the slowdown trend. The Economist Intelligence Unit had pegged the figure at 7.7% in March’08.

The Economist Intelligence Unit expects the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to remain under pressure to raise interest rates further, despite the sharp tightening of monetary policy in June and July this year. Economist Intelligence Unit believes that in the second half of 2008 the central bank will increase the repo rate from 9% to 9.5%, and the reverse repo rate from 6% to 6.5%. The RBI’s more aggressive approach reflects its growing concern about the sudden acceleration in inflation to nearly 12.7% earlier this month.

“In the absence of other policy options, such as fiscal tightening or currency appreciation, the onus will remain squarely on monetary policy to tackle inflation. The RBI is aware of the balancing act it has to do, as reflected in its policy statement on July 29th, which not only raised the central bank’s inflation target for 2008-09 to 7% (from 5-5.5%), but also lowered its economic growth forecast to 8% (from 8-8.5%). We, however, expect the real GDP growth to noticeably moderate from 9% last year to 7.5% this fiscal” Manoj Vohra, India Director (Research), The Economist Intelligence Unit said.

The Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (EAC) has accepted that India will witness slowdown in growth and revised India’s GDP forecast to 7.7%—something which the Economist Intelligence Unit had forecasted in March this year.

Mr Vohra said that India’s economic prospects will be undermined by higher borrowing and input costs, weaker consumer sentiment and slower external demand growth. Although the slowdown has so far been restricted to the industrial sector, it will spread to the services sector as the squeeze on costs becomes more pervasive and demand slackens.

The Economist Intelligence Unit believes that monetary easing will not occur until 2009, when it expects inflationary pressures to subside. “We forecast two 25-basis-point cuts in the RBI’s key policy rates in the second half of next year”, Mr Vohra added.

About the Economist Intelligence Unit:

The Economist Intelligence Unit is the world leader in global business intelligence. It is the business-to-business arm of The Economist Group.

The Economist Intelligence Unit provides geopolitical, economic and business analysis on more than 200 countries, as well as strategic intelligence on key industries and management practices. With over 300 full-time professionals in 40 offices around the world, supported by a global network of more than 700 contributing analysts, the Economist Intelligence Unit is widely known for its unparalleled coverage of major and emerging markets.

Corporate blog launched

A blog dedidated to update bloggers and surfers on corporate developments in India has just been floated.
The blog has already begun to post the latest develioments on various sectors like infrastructure, IPO, housing (covering Puravankara plans), corporate battles like the one brewing on Zandu and Emami front, IPO market scan with NHPC filing its DRHP with SEBI, apart from the updates on Reliance Money, NMCE and commodity markets
Pl check: – http://corporateradar.blogspot.com/

Birla Fin ropes in COO from HDFC Bank

MUMBAI: Continuing its key hirings, the one-billion-dollar Aditya Birla Financial Services Group, has appointed Mr G.V. Gopalakrishnan as its Chief Operating Officer.

At ABFSG he will oversee the operations and the technology functions for the Financial Service Businesses.

Mr Gopalakrishnan’s appointment is part of services of key hirings the ABFSG has been making to meet its growth needs.

Mr Ajay Srinivasan, Chief Executive, Financial Services, Aditya Birla Group, said: “We would like to believe that our journey has just begun. Our vision is to be a role-model across our businesses. And our customer’s preferred choice. Right now we are concentrating on building a firm foundation, with the help of our strong and committed team.”

Welcoming Mr Gopalakrishnan aboard, Mr Srinivasan, said: “We are very happy to avail of Mr Gopalakrishnan’s services. With his proven track record, I am sure, he will add value to our services and implementation and up-gradation of technology which is so vital for the smooth, flawless functioning of the services sector.”

Mr Gopalakrishnan said: “I have always liked challenges and I look forward to working with Team ABFSG.”

Mr Gopalakrishnan was till recently the Executive Vice President- Information Technology at HDFC Bank. His experience at HDFC Bank was diverse across retail technology, retail assets, credit cards, corporate internet banking, wholesale, capital markets, and various strategic initiatives.

Mr Gopalakrishnan has a proven track record in technology with about26 years of experience. He has spent 15 years with the Banking sector, including eight years with HDFC Bank. 

Prior to HDFC Bank, Mr Gopalakrishnan was Regional Head of Information Systems, for the Middle East and South Asia in Standard Chartered Bank where he spearheaded the banking applications across the bank’s various businesses in MESA countries – UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Mr Gopalakrishnan is a commerce graduate with a post graduation in management from Anna Institute of Management, Chennai.
 

About Aditya Birla Financial Services Group
 

Adiya Birla Financial Services Group is a part of the Aditya Birla Group. In all its key areas of business- asset management, life insurance, distribution, it is a leading player. In these areas of business it is present as a Birla Sun Life Joint venture. It has recently entered the private equity space. It has presence in retail lending and as a broker in general insurance. 

About Aditya Birla Group 

The Aditya Birla Group is a US $28 billion conglomerate with a market capitalization of   US $31.5 billion (as on March 31, 2008) and is one of the largest business houses in India. It enjoys a leadership position in all the sectors in which it operates.  It is anchored by a force of 100,000 employees, belonging to 25 nationalities. Its operations span 20 countries across six continents and is reckoned as India’s first multinational corporation.  Headquartered in Mumbai, over 50 per cent of the Group’s revenues flow from its overseas operations. The Group nurtures a work culture where success is built on learning and innovation. The Aditya Birla Group has been adjudged “The Best Employer in India and among the top 20 in Asia” by the Hewitt, Economic Times and Wall Street Journal Study 2007.

Additional information is available at www.adityabirla.com

 Else, speak to: B N Kumar on 93210 48332/ 93200 48332

Enter Reliance: NMCE shifts to Mumbai

Plans recruitments at various levels to further strengthen its management   

AHMEDABAD/MUMBAI: National Mutui-Commodity Exchange (NMCE) of India Ltd., the country’s first online demutualised, multi-commodity exchange, has announced its plans to move its Corporate Office from Ahmedabad to Mumbai. 

This announcement comes at the back of Reliance Money, India’s largest financial conglomerate and distribution house, agreeing to acquire up to 26 per cent stake in NMCE, subject to approval and clearances from regulatory authorities.   

“With a renewed focus on growth, NMCE is aggressively looking at expanding its membership network and commodity base offered.  We plan to not only launch newer commodities, but also plan to reach out to the huge investor base in the commodity arena through various new schemes and tie-ups,” said Mr. Sudip Bandopadhyay, CEO, Reliance Money and recently inducted Director on the NMCE Board. 

Besides plans to move its corporate office to Mumbai, NMCE is also looking at recruitments at various levels to further strengthen its management.   

“The decision to move our Corporate Office from Ahmedabad to Mumbai is a part of our overall strategy to revamp the entire working of the exchange.  Though being the country’s first online demutualised, multi-commodity exchange, we have missed out by not being present in the financial capital of the country,” said Mr. Kailash Gupta, Managing Director, NMCE.     

NMCE  is  the  country’s  first  online  de-mutualised,  multi-commodity  exchange  with  nationwide  reach.  It not only revived futures trade electronically in the commodities in India after a gap of 41 years but also integrated the centuries old commodity market with the latest technology.   

About National Multi-Commodity Exchange of India

www.nmce.com 

The National Multi-Commodity Exchange (NMCE) was launched on November 26, 2002 as the country’s first online demutualised, multi-commodity exchange with nationwide reach.  It is promoted by the country’s largest warehousing corporation CWC along with NAFED – the country’s apex body of marketing cooperatives, Punjab National Bank, the second largest public sector bank and the Government of Gujarat.  NMCE not only revived futures trade electronically in commodities in India after a gap of 41 years, but also integrated the centuries old commodity market with the latest technology.   

NMCE offers an electronic platform for futures trading in plantation, spices, food grains, non-ferrous metals, oilseeds and their derivatives and is backed by compulsory delivery based settlement to ensure transparent and fair trade practices.  It is the first to introduce efficient clearing and settlement system backed by adequately capitalised corporate brokerage houses in commodities with sound and reliable transferable warehouse receipt system, using appropriate communication channels. 

Pl contact: B N Kumar, Concept PR, 93210 48332/93200 48332

Concept, Zzebra in 1st India agency alliance

MUMBAI: Breaking trend of alliances with foreign agencies, Concept Communication has taken controlling stake in another Indian agency Zzebra PR.

“This is perhaps the first ever alliance between two Indian agencies,” said Mr. Vivek Suchanti, Managing Director of Concept Group. He confirmed that the value of the deal was to the tune of Rs 5.4 crore at the minimum level, with a step-up option based on the performance of Zzebra.

“The public relations industry in India is growing at a rapid pace, and we believe that consolidation of resources and skill sets between like-minded organizations will help us emerge as a leader in the space. With this strategic partnership, we will be enhancing the range of services provided by the Concept Group of Companies,” Mr Suchanti said.

Mr C P Thomas, founder-partner of ZZEBRA said: “We are thrilled to be a part of the Concept Group, one of India’s largest communication companies. This strategic partnership will enhance our bouquet of services, geographical spread and network of contacts in the corporate and media world. This would enable us to provide much better value and service to our existing as well as potential clients. We are sure that this dynamic combination will enable ZZEBRA to reach greater heights.”

Concept Communication is the largest independent communication company in India that has no foreign alliance. With team strength of 500 professionals and gross revenues in excess of Rs. 600 million, Concept Communication works with some of the leading brands and corporates in the country.

ZZEBRA is a communication company in the business of public relations, book publishing and distribution, founded by senior media professional CP Thomas and communication professional Pooja Chaudhri in 2003. Headquartered in Mumbai, the 50-people strong agency has offices in Bangalore and New Delh.

This strategic partnership with Concept Communication would result in a stronger team and a wider footprint for ZZEBRA PR which will now cover 12 cities and 36 other major centres across India and also the UK, Middle East and Singapore.

Why did Vaidyas sell Zandu stake?

Are you wondering as to why Vaidyas sold their stake in Zandu Pharmaceuticals, this link may be useful. Please check this out for an update on on going battle for control of Zandu and Emami’s bid to gain management pafrtnership at the 100 year old Pharma major.

http://www.moneycontrol.com/india/news/business/why-did-devkumar-vaidya-sell-out-zandu-pharma/21/00/350416