China and India are Asia's top two targets for merger and acquisitions in the financial services space, due to underlying economic growth conditions and interest in the two fastest growing economies of the world, a survey says.

"China and India still remain the top two targets for M&A in the region and interest in India has increased to 39 per cent to 36 per cent," financial advisory firm PricewaterhouseCoopers said in an annual survey conducted with the Economist Intelligence Unit.

The survey of 230 executives in Asia revealed that the financial services sector is expected to continue witnessing M&A deals in the next five years which are now expanding into other related sectors.

"M&A activity is now broadening as sectors, such as insurance and trusts have also begun to open up," it said.

Meanwhile, in China interest in M&A activity slightly declined to 47.3 per cent from 52 per cent last year.

Taiwan, Pakistan and Vietnam are also fast emerging as growing markets of M&A activity after opening up of both regulatory and vendor perspective.

According to the findings of 'Financial Services M&A: Going for growth in Asia', the financial services sector is expected to continue to undergo significant M&A activity over the next five years buoyed by high levels of confidence and optimism in the economy.

Expectations are slightly up on the previous year with 74 per cent of survey respondents predicting significant M&A activity in the coming five years compared to just over 68 per cent in 2006.

Courtesy : Expressindia.com

Software giant Microsoft said it plans to provide a unique email id for every Indian, which will be powered by Windows Live Hotmail through a new feature called custom domains.

The company has already provided an id for residents of Lokhandwala in Mumbai, called www.lokhandwalarocks.com at which users can have their id and use all features of Windows Live Hotmail, a Microsoft press release said.

"This is Microsoft's first step towards customising email for consumers in India. We aim to deliver an email id for every Indian which reflects their identity and personality," Jaspreet Bindra, Country Manager of Microsoft Online Services Group, said.

Windows Live Hotmail would give users a high degree of customisation along with its features of safety, productivity, stability and speed, Bindra said.

The company would offer wide range of email ids using domains like www.mumbairocks.in and www.goarocks.com.

"With these ids, users can also sign on Windows Live Messenger and Windows Live Spaces and connect with friends and family in a more fun and personal way," MSN India Executive Producer Krishna Prasad said in the release.

Courtesy : Expressindia.com