Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the largest life insurance company in India, has entered into an agreement with state-owned Corporation Bank to launch credit cards in the country.

LIC intends to launch the business through its wholly owned subsidiary, LIC Cards Services Limited, which will manage all aspects of its credit card venture. The company already has taken approval from Government of India to form a wholly owned company for this purpose.

New York - Maurice Greenberg, a major AIG shareholder who founded and led the insurance giant American Insurance Group until 2006, says the terms of the 123-billion-dollar US government bail-out are unfair and could lead to destruction of the company.

In a letter posted Tuesday at the Securities Exchange Commission, Greenberg pushed AIG chief Edward Liddy to renegotiate the deal with the government.

IDBI Fortis Life Insurance has informed that the company will shortly open 24 branches, including six in Tamil Nadu, to expand its footprints in the southern region. 

The company, a joint venture of IDBI, Federal Bank and Fortis, Europe's banking and insurance firm, has launched its operations in March, this fiscal. 

Under its proposed expansion plan, the firm intends to open 100 branches across the country in coming months. 

Tokyo - Yamato Life Insurance Co became the first Japanese financial firm Friday to fail due to losses linked to the global financial crisis, a media report said.

The medium-sized firm filed for bankruptcy protection Friday in Tokyo, reported Kyodo news agency.

The insurance firm incurred debts of 269.5 billion yen (2.68 billion dollars) from losses from investments in subprime mortgages-related bonds and other securities as their prices plunged amid the US financial crisis, the officials said.