Weekly Wrapup: Bitter betrayals and hopeful beginnings
In this week’s wrapup, we talk about why Karvy Stockbroking Ltd. was barred by SEBI, the future of health insurance in India, the disparity between stock market performance and economic growth, Air India’s attempts to go private and Ujjivan small finance bank’s IPO. So let’s get to it.
Why did SEBI bar Karvy?
On Monday, we spoke about Karvy’s alleged betrayal. The story goes that Karvy, one of India’s largest stockbroker was misappropriating its clients’ shares to fund the company's real estate arm. Once the National Stock Exchange got wind of this development, they wrote to SEBI, and Karvy was prohibited from adding new clients and undertaking new business.
Want to know more? Read the full draft here. You won't regret it.
A New Roadmap for Health Insurance?
On Tuesday, we spoke about Government policy and insurance. What are the problems with health insurance in India? What can we do to make sure the impoverished don't go bankrupt when there's a health emergency? How do we increase penetration of health insurance in India? So many questions. So few answers.
Fortunately for us, a report by Niti Aayog attempted to answer these very questions. However, it's 320 pages long and we don’t want you to fall asleep reading the damn thing.
So here’s a Finshot just for you.
The Great Divergence
On Wednesday, we spoke about an interesting trend. We’re sure you’re hearing news of the stock market rising to new heights, even as everyone around you keeps talking about slowing economic growth. How is that even possible? The whole premise seems absurd and yet this divergence keeps getting bigger.
So we tried to collate some of the arguments explaining this divergence and present it in a lucid manner. You can read the full story here.
The Air India conundrum
On Thursday, we talked about how Air India might just finally wind up its operations. For a decade now, the state owned airline has been making losses, and the Government has been very generous in bailing the company out time and time again using taxpayer money. But over the past few years, the government's stance has changed and it's now desperately seeking to sell the beleaguered airlines . The problem is, no one wants to buy the carrier.
And if you want to know why, you can read more here.
The Ujjivan small finance bank IPO
On Friday, we covered the IPO of Ujjivan small finance bank. Ujjivan started off as an NBFC focussed on Microfinancing. They targeted the unbanked and the underprivileged by offering them small loans at reasonable interest rates. They did this until they were granted a small finance banking license and that's when things started to change in a massive way.
How is a small finance banking license different from a regular license? How do small finance banks manage to remain profitable while granting loans to the needy? What are some of the biggest stumbling blocks for Ujjivan?
We answer this and more in our full review and you can read it right here.
...aaand that’s a wrap. See you next week!