Role of Credit Rating Agencies in Securitization

The credit rating agencies play a major role in the securitization process is to help investors to make informed decisions regarding investment in the underlying securities.   As guardians of the public through their research, analysis, and grading of various risks, rating agencies are expected to protect investors against taking excessive credit risk. The ratings allow institutions such as insurance companies and pension funds, who are prohibited to invest in securities rated below investment grade by their respective regulators, to actively participate in the securitized market as investors. Investment grade rating conveys information to the investors that the underlying instrument will pay coupon interest and principal according to the terms of the indenture. Rating agencies play a pivotal role in the securitization process as the ultimate appraiser of the underlying pool of collateral. In their process of appraising and evaluating the likelihood of default by subjecting the cash flows of Continue reading

Types of Letters of Credit

A Letter of Credit (L/C) or documentary credit is an undertaking issued by a bank, on behalf of the buyer (the importer), to the seller (exporter), to pay for the goods and services, provided that the seller presents documents, which comply with the terms and conditions of the letter of credit. Letters of credit are classified in to various categories on the basis of their nature which are used depending on the needs of the importer/opener. Revocable Letter of Credit: A revocable L/C is one that can be amended or cancelled at anytime by the issuing bank without the notice or reference to the beneficiary, consequently, revocable credit does not constitute a legally binding undertaking between the banks and the beneficiary as it can be modified or cancelled at any time without notice to the Beneficiary. Irrevocable Letter of Credit: An irrevocable L/C constitutes a definite undertaking of the issuing Continue reading

Certificate of Deposit (CD) – Definition, Features and Advantages

Certificate of deposits (CD) are short term deposit instruments issued by banks and financial institutions to raise large sums of money. Certificate of Deposit (CD) is a negotiable money market instrument and issued in dematerialised form or as a Usance Promissory Note, for funds deposited at a bank or other eligible financial institution for a specified time period. CDs can be issued by (i) scheduled commercial banks excluding Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and Local Area Banks (LABs); and (ii) select all-India Financial Institutions (FIs) that have been permitted by RBI to raise short-term resources within the umbrella limit fixed by RBI. Read More: Money Market In India Features of Certificate Of Deposit Document of title to time deposit. Unsecured negotiable promotes. Freely transferable by endorsement and delivery. Issued at discount to face value. Repayable on a fixed date without grace days. Subject to stamp duty like the usance promissory notes. Continue reading

Implementing BPR in Hierarchical Authority Organizations

Today the business world is characterized by unpredictable changes, under the global competition and the customers’ demands. To be successful in such an environment, a firm must operate with speed, flexibility, low overheads and a clearly defined customer focus. The term business process reengineering (BPR) refers to an approach that is used by organizations seeking improvements in their business performance.  Organizations consider BPR as an important tool of organizational improvement, as it helps them achieve the radical change necessary for today’s volatile business environment. Additionally, BPR stresses the importance of linkages within an organisation. Though its structure integrated processes are generated concerning the nature of people’s jobs and how people are grouped and organized in the working environment. What is more, through BPR people’s jobs become multidimensional instead of narrow and traditional task orientation. When the concept of process is promoted in the BPR, cross boundary teamwork is incorporated and Continue reading

Case Study of Johnson & Johnson: Creating the Right Fit between Corporate Communication and Organizational Culture

Early in Bill Nielsen’s tenure as the director of corporate communication  for Johnson & Johnson, Ralph S. Larsen, the CEO to whom he reported,  told him, “I believe in sunlight about everything.” Larsen wanted to  know the truth about company activities, whether good or bad, in an  open way and without embellishment, and offered his assistance to  Nielsen. From the start, then, Nielsen knew that the CEO would support  him as long as he, Nielsen, was honest and direct. New to the company in the late 1980s, Nielsen soon discovered that none of the benchmarking studies about corporate communication could provide a model for Johnson & Johnson’s corporate communication function, because its culture is unique. As he explained to us: “Johnson & Johnson is a consensus management organization, a culture of shared understanding about how to run the business, not a culture of elaborate rules.” Building consensus–rather than imposing one’s Continue reading

What Is Augmented Reality?

Augmented reality refers to the utilisation of computers to modify reality, usually in order to provide additional assistance when a human user is interacting with the real environment. The real world around humans provides a wealth of information which the human user must absorb and process through their senses. The most useful and informative of all human senses is the sense of vision and a huge amount of information about the ambiance is required to be sensed as well as processed by the human visual system. Computers are useful because they can provide an overlay of information to assist with the human processing of the information which they perceive through their senses, mostly the visual sense. As an example, a human who is walking around an urban area can be provided additional information through a head mounted display which superimposes textual information about identification of buildings and other important landmarks Continue reading