In Fitch’s second annual survey of Corporate Treasury Policies, it was found that 59% of corporate treasury departments in the EMEA and Asia Pacific regions have reviewed their policies for holdings of liquid assets in light of the ongoing dislocation in global financial markets.

“The survey clearly shows that the majority of corporate treasurers are all too aware of the dislocation in the bank and bond markets, and are taking what they consider to be appropriate steps to safeguard their liquid assets,” says Alex Griffiths, Senior Director in Fitch’s Corporate Group in London. “These steps include increasing the number of counterparty banks dealt with, and keeping a far more active watch on the credit quality of those counterparties than had been the case in previous years.”

The 2008 survey found that issuers have reduced, albeit by a relatively small margin, their exposure to money market funds compared to 2007.>>> more

Fitch Ratings notes that the performance of Pakistani banks, which has generally improved over the past three to four years, is likely to be affected by the prevailing extremely weak economic conditions in the country, with banks facing significant challenges to negotiate a rapidly deteriorating environment mainly on account of domestic economic and political uncertainties.

Although their Individual Ratings, which are already quite low at ‘D’ for National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), United Bank Limited (UBL) and MCB Bank Limited (MCB) and ‘D/E’ for Habib Bank Limited (HBL) substantially reflect the aforementioned risks, their ratings may still face downward pressure should the economic weakening cause a significant deterioration in their financial profiles, especially to asset quality and capitalisation.

The agency, however, notes that these four banks, since their restructuring have evolved into stronger entities (in a domestic context) that c>>> more

Background
Over the past few years, Christmas shopping online has become increasingly popular, with a still bigger number of people researching gift ideas through the internet before purchasing on the high street.

Recent reports tell us that:
· 66% of shoppers say they are more likely to shop online for Christmas presents this year
· 77% plan to carry out half or more of their Christmas shopping online
· 86% will research Christmas shopping on the internet before buying in-store
(source: Google)

The last statistic in particular is of interest to cyber criminals as it gives some insight into the potential number of opportunities which they have to attack

With many consumers using corporate networks to access the internet in the run up to Christmas Websense has released a guide to the top five scams which may affect businesses and consum>>> more

Odyssey India Ltd had hosted a panel discussion with Mr. Nandan Nilekani on his book Imagining India: Ideas for the new century.Mr. G R K Reddy, Chairman and Managing Director, Marg Ltd, Mr. Pandiya Rajan, Managing Director, Ma Foi and Ms. Ranjani Manian, founder and director of Global Adjustments were the guest panelist with Mr. Timeri N Murari, the eminent author who moderated the discussion on Imagining India

Mr. Nandan Nilekani was at the Odyssey Adyar store today to put forward his outlook on India’s growth history for the last 60 years which has been well captured in his book. The forum was opened for debate and the audiences participated in an interactive session on the development of India with pass>>> more

Amtex Systems, a fast growing New York based IT consulting and services company, today announced that its Indian subsidiary and BPO division, Amtex Infotech Pvt. Ltd has successfully been awarded compliance status with the Payment Card Industry- Data Security Standard version 1.1 (PCI DSS). The certification was achieved after an extensive independent audit of Amtex Systems’ operations and processes conducted by SISA Information Security Pvt. Ltd, a qualified security assessor from PCI Security Standards Council.

The PCI DSS standard represents the best practices defined by VISA, Amex, MasterCard covering 12 industry-wide requirements for Security Management, policies, procedures, network architecture, software design and other critical protective measure, that service providers must adhere to in order to safeguard sensitive data. All level 1 providers must undergo an annual on-site PCI Data Security Assessment by an independent Qualified Security A>>> more

Mahindra & Mahindra’s Farm Equipment Sector (FES), a part of the U.S. $6.7 billion Mahindra Group, maintained its leadership position in the tractor industry in November 2008.

Cumulatively, during this fiscal, total sales (domestic + exports) were 68766 nos., as compared to 70288 nos. for the corresponding April – November period last year, a growth of 2%. Mahindra & Mahindra tractors sales in the domestic market were 63742 nos., as compared to 65110 nos. for the April – November period last year, a growth of 2%.

For the month of November 2008, domestic sales of tractors of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. were 5051 nos. as compared to 7530 nos. for the same period last year and exports during the month were 436 nos., as against 532 nos. for the same period last year. Total sales (domestic + exports) for the month were 5487 nos., as compared to 8062 nos. for the same period last year.

About The Mahindra Group>>> more

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (M&M Ltd.), a part of the US $6.7 billion Mahindra Group, announced its November 2008 automotive sales figures.

M&M’s domestic volumes for the month of November 2008 stand at 10430 units, as against 17844 units in November 2007.

The company sold a total of 11273 vehicles (Domestic + Exports) in November 2008, as against 18583 vehicles (Domestic + Exports) sold in November 2007.

M&M’s domestic YTD volumes for the month of November 2008 stand at 154654 units, as against 149356 units in the same period last year.

The company exported 843 units in November 2008, as against 739 units exported in November 2007.

About The Mahindra Group
The US $6.7 billion Mahindra Group is among the top 10 industrial houses in India. Mahindra is the market leader in multi-utility vehicles in India It made a milestone entry into the passenger car segment with the Logan. Mahindra &>>> more

Football fans and internet users in India can help raise up to Rs 75 lakhs for underprivileged children, by generating a ‘kick’ in an all-new portal www.EveryKickCounts.com, between Dec 1st ‘08 and 31st May ‘09. This online campaign features AC Milan striker and soccer superstar - Ronaldinho, brand ambassador of Amway’s Nutrilite range of wellness products - who will extend an invitation to all participants.

“With each mail, a contribution is made to Amway’s One By One (OBO) campaign for children, by Amway Corporation, US,” says Bill Pinckney, chairman of the Amway Opportunity Foundation (AOF), Amway India’s CSR arm. AOF will be the recipient of funds generated by ‘kicks’ initiated in India. Under the OBO campaign, AOF extends support to 52 orphanages and institutions for underprivileged and differently-abled children.

“The Nutrilite brand has one the world’s most well kn>>> more

1. 2-wheeler sales were down sharply reflecting both an accelerated slowdown in demand as also the immediate correction in dealer inventories; the latter action shall continue into December 2008.

2. Bajaj intends to counter this trend by an intense new product initiative that will see the launch of a new motorcycle each month for 6 months beginning January 2009.

3. In the meantime Bajaj Auto Finance has introduced an extremely attractive 7.99% low interest retail finance scheme nationwide across almost 300 Bajaj dealers to revive sales in the short term.

4. Stagnant 3-wheeler sales reflect the subdued state of the Commercial Vehicle industry.

5. Exports growth continues on plan.

Gati International announced the appointment of Mr. Sameer Khatri as International Business Chain Officer for the global operations of Gati Limited. He has quality experience of 17 years in International operations in Logistics. His focus will be in developing Gati’s International business in India, in Asia Pacific regions and in the SAARC countries .

Sameer Khatri is a noted figure in the logistics segment .He is known for his expertise in business development and market share enhancement in India and International markets. Prior to joining Gati, he was with Panalpina World Transport -a Global Logistics and Supply Chain Management Company as Vice President- Sales & Marketing- Sout>>> more