ISLAMABAD // Pakistani police defused a car bomb near the house of the former military ruler Pervez Musharraf yesterday, the same day he appeared in court over the murder of the former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto.
The explosive-laden vehicle was found parked about 150 metres from the main gate of Mr Musharraf's house on the capital's outskirts, police said. The former military strongman is being held under house arrest in connection with a case involving his decision to fire senior judges while in power.
Police were investigating how the vehicle was able to approach Mr Musharraf's house.
The Taliban have threatened to kill Mr Musharraf, and suspected militants tried to assassinate him several times when he was in power betwen 1999 and 2008.
Mr Musharraf returned to Pakistan last month after four years in self-imposed exile to make a political comeback but has suffered several setbacks.
He appeared in an anti-terrorism court yesterday in Rawalpindi where he was accused of conspiracy to murder Bhutto, who died in a gun and suicide bomb attack in December 2007. It is one of three cases registered against him.
His arrest and disqualification from contesting elections on May 11 have been a humiliating blow for the former ruler of Pakistan.
Despite a heavy police and paramilitary presence, scuffles broke out between lawyers and Mr Musharraf's supporters, who threw stones and beat each other with sticks outside the court building.
About 150 lawyers shouted: "Dog, dog, Musharraf dog", while two dozen supporters chanted "Long live Musharraf".
"Today it was [a] routine hearing of [the] Benazir murder case and General Musharraf appeared for the first time in this case," said his lawyer, Salman Safdar.
Mr Musharraf spent about 15 minutes in court and then another 15 minutes with his lawyer, before being driven back to his home.
Nobody has been convicted or jailed for Bhutto's assassination on December 27, 2007, in Rawalpindi.
* Associated Press with additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
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Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
