Headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana, the company has a capital base of INR 3,250 mn
(approx. $81 mn), of which HSBC had contributed INR
1,770 mn (approx. $43.6 mn), Canara Bank INR 1,020 mn (approx. $25.1 mn) and Oriental Bank
of Commerce INR 460 mn (approx. $11.3 mn). Canara Bank holds 51%, HSBC Insurance (Asia
Pacific) Holdings Ltd. holds 26% and Oriental Bank
of Commerce holds 23% of the equity. The company commenced its business on June 16, 2008
after receiving requisite approval from the
Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA).
It is one amongst the 18 private life insurance companies who commenced operations in
India since the market opened up in 2000-01. The
private life insurance premiums have risen from Rs.180
cr in 2001-02 to Rs. 29,267 cr in 2007-08, a
compound annual growth rate of 134%.
Canara Bank, established in 1906, is one of the largest nationalized banks in India in terms
of aggregate business comprising of deposits and
loans. It has an asset size valued at about Rs.
2,19,645.80 cr and a global business valued at Rs. 3,25,112 cr
as on March 31, 2009. Almost 73.17% of the bank's ownership is with the Government of India. It is
an established bank in the field of commercial
banking services, mutual funds, housing and venture
capital financing, factoring and other financial
services segments for the past many years. Known for
its strong fundamentals and sound business
policies, Canara Bank has the distinction of improving
its profits every year since inception. The bank has
a network of over 2,734 branches nationwide and 44,090 employees serving nearly 35
million customers. It has a credit rating of BBpi and
AAA/stable from Standard & Poor's and Credit
Rating Information Services of India Limited
(CRISIL) respectively. The bank offers a host of
e-enabled delivery channels, including 2,019 ATMs, 2,065 Anywhere Banking Branches and
1,359 branches offering Internet and mobile facilities.
For the year ended March 2009, net profit of
the bank rose to Rs. 2,072 cr recording a 32.4%
increase as compared to Rs. 1,565 cr for the year
ending March 2008. The bank's credit to Micro, Small
and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) grew by a healthy 28% to reach Rs. 23,823 cr. It has obtained
approval from the Reserve Bank of India to open 10
more branches/offices in Johannesburg, Frankfurt,
Muscat, Manama, QFC-Qatar, Leicester, New York,
Sao Paulo, Dar-er-Salam and Tokyo for expanding
its network globally. |
