Banking and Financial News Updates September 24, 2021

 

☕ 24.09.2021 : Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 Bank deposits rise 12 per cent in FY21 on higher CASA growth: RBI data : Bank deposits grew 11.9 per cent year-on-year during 2020-21 compared to 8.8 per cent in 2019-20 on the back of high growth in current account and savings account (CASA) deposits, RBI data showed. The share of CASA deposits increased to 43.7 per cent in March 2021 compared to 41.7 per cent a year ago, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI's) Deposits with Scheduled Commercial Banks - March 2021 data released on Thursday. Among institutional categories, the household sector held 64.1 per cent share in total deposits. - Economics times

🍒 BPCL, SBI Card launch co-branded RuPay contactless credit card : Fuel retailer BPCL and SBI Card on Thursday announced the launch of a co-branded RuPay contactless credit card, offering fuel and other benefits. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and SBI Card have joined hands to launch the 'BPCL SBI Card co-branded RuPay Contactless Credit Card', according to a joint release. The card will provide rewarding fuel savings and other benefits to the customers, it said. - Economic times

🍒 UTI Credit Risk Fund's NAV jumps 8.44% in a day : The net asset value (NAV) of UTI Credit Risk fund, a debt oriented scheme rose by 8.44% on Sep 22 as the fund house valued its existing DHFL bonds at Rs 20.5. Earlier when the rating of DHFL was downgraded to D, the fund house had marked down the security to zero. “With the ongoing developments in the resolution process of DHFL, the valuation of existing DHFL bonds was reviewed and revised upward by UTI MF in line with the weighted average price given by valuation agencies to Rs. 20.50per face value of Rs 100,” said a spokesperson for UTI MF.  - Economic times

🍒 Yes Bank asks Dish TV to call EGM to reconstitute board : Yes Bank, the largest shareholder of Dish TV India Ltd, has asked the satellite television service provider to hold an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of shareholders and act on its recommendations to reconstitute the company's board. This follows Dish TV postponing the annual general meeting that was scheduled on September 27. No new dates have been communicated yet. - Economic times

🍒 Citi raises target price on HDFC Bank : Citi has opened a 90-day positive catalyst watch on HDFC Bank. The stock has underperformed both Nifty and Bank Nifty this year on concerns over growth, RBI restrictions and retail asset quality stress in the wake of COVID. Citi said most of these concerns should get addressed starting from the second quarter of FY22. The brokerage has raised target price to Rs 1,900 from Rs 1,800 and retained a buy rating on HDFC Bank shares. - Economic times

🍒 BharatPe appoints Nehul Malhotra as head of consumer lending : Fintech company BharatPe has brought on board Nehul Malhotra as head of consumer lending, said a statement issued today. Malhotra will work closely with the CEO, Suhail Sameer, to scale up the consumer-focused lending products at the firm. - Economic times

🍒 Short of lending targets, banks seek priority sector tag for retail, infrastructure : Banks have reached out to the government seeking priority sector tag for retail trade and infrastructure. This comes as most lenders are struggling to meet their priority sector targets with premium on lending certificates rising by almost 200 basis points in the last one year. At present only, regional rural banks or RRBs are suppliers of priority sector lending credit. "We have had informal discussions with the Reserve Bank of India, and have made representation to the government as well," said a bank executive, aware of the developments, adding that there was a need to broaden the priority sector. - Economics times

🍒 Modan Saha to lead Tata Digital's fintech play : Tata Digital Limited, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Tata Sons Private Limited, today announced Modan Saha as CEO – Financial Services at Tata Digital. Modan was the CEO of Tata Strategic Management Group (TSMG). In his role, Modan would be responsible for building the Fintech business portfolio. In addition, he shall guide Strategy and Strategic Investments at Tata Digital. - Business Line

🍒 Amazon pumps in ₹450 crore into payment unit in India : Amazon Pay India Private Limited, the online payment business of e-commerce giant Amazon, has raised ₹450 crore from Amazon Corporate Holdings Private Limited, Singapore, and Amazon.com Inc Limited, Mauritius. According to documents submitted by the payments company to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, the bulk of the funding have come from Amazon Corporate Holdings Private Limited, Singapore. The documents reviewed by BusinessLine was sourced from Tofler. - Business Line

🍒 Indel Money plans to raise ₹150 crore via NCDs : Indel Money plans to raise ₹150 crore of funds through secured and unsecured redeemable non- convertible debentures. The issue includes a base issue size for ₹75 crore with an option to retain over subscription up to ₹75 crore aggregating up to ₹150 crore. - Business Line

🍒 Utkarsh Small Finance Bank starts operations in Kerala : Utkarsh Small Finance Bank Limited has announced the inauguration of its first branch in Kerala at Kochi. The bank today has 600 branches in 201 districts spread across 18 states and 2 Union Territories. Govind Singh, MD & CEO, Utkarsh SFBL, said, “the city has numerous factors that contribute towards the growth of commerce and trade, and we are in a position to provide banking and financial services to various categories of business and more. - Business Line

🍒 IIFL Finance to raise up to ₹1,000 crore through secured bonds : IIFL Finance will raise upto ₹1,000 crore through a public issue of secured bonds. “Fairfax -backed IIFL Finance will issue secured redeemable non-convertible debentures, aggregating to ₹100 crore, with a green-shoe option to retain over-subscription up to ₹900 crore,” it said in a statement on Thursday, adding that the funds will be used business growth and capital augmentation. - Business Line

🍒 LIC Housing Finance to offer home loans up to ₹2 crore at interest rates starting from 6.66% :  This is irrespective of whether the customers are salaried or professional/self-employed, having a CIBIL score of 700 and more LIC Housing Finance (LICHFL) on Thursday said it will offer home loans up to ₹2 crore at interest rates starting from 6.66 per cent to borrowers, irrespective of whether they are salaried or professional/self-employed, having a CIBIL score of 700 and more. Hitherto, the company was offering home loans up to ₹50 lakh at interest rates starting from 6.66 per cent. - Business Line

🍒 Market yet to respond to rate cuts on home loans, share prices unaffected : The housing finance majors are trying to create demand during the festive period by cutting interest rates. Mortgage major HDFC has cut its minimum mortgage rate to 6.7 per cent. The NBFC is responding after cuts from State Bank of India (SBI), Bank of Baroda, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Punjab National Bank (PNB). Most are offering rates between 6.5 per cent and 6.9 per cent. Every lender is looking at the mortgage market as a relatively safe stream. Mortgage defaults are rare and, at least in theory, a recoverable asset exists in case of a default. Given corporate NPAs are fairly high, housing loans are therefore a target. - Business Standard

🍒 After RBI's move, card networks may raise rates for tokenisation services : The recent Reserve Bank of India (RBI) norms on tokenisation services, which will be offered by card networks, are likely to result in merchants and payment aggregators incurring a cost as they have to pay a fee to the networks. The merchants and the payment aggregators, in turn, may pass on the cost to the customers. - Business Standard

🍒 HC reserves orders on bail pleas of wife, daughters of Yes Bank founder : The Bombay High Court on Thursday reserved the orders on bail applications of Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor's wife Bindu Kapoor and daughters Radha and Roshini Kapoor in an alleged corruption case involving housing finance company DHFL. They have challenged a special CBI court's orders denying them bail. - Business Standard

🍒 Karur Vysya Bank cuts base rate, benchmark prime lending rate : Private sector lender Karur Vysya Bank on Thursday said it has cut the base rate and the benchmark prime lending rate to 8 per cent and 13 per cent, respectively, effective Friday. "We advise that base rate and BPLR of the bank would be revised with effect from September 24, 2021," Karur Vysya Bank said in a regulatory filing. Both the rates have been slashed by 0.45 per cent each. - Business Standard

🍒 Fresh troubles surface for Dhanlaxmi Bank : Problems seem to be never ending for Dhanlaxmi Bank, with major shareholders, including NRI Ravi Pillai, engaging in conflict with the board of directors. A shareholder and two others have approached the court against the board’s decision of rejecting their candidature for the office of director, to be placed before members during the annual general meeting scheduled for September 29. - Financial express

🍒 After UPI, PhonePe dominates Bharat BillPay with 49% volume share in August : In a first, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) released company-wise data for the month of August 2021 on the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) – the platform that offers interoperable bill payment services for customers. The data shows that after maintaining its lead in monthly United Payments Interface (UPI) transactions, digital payments company PhonePe now makes up almost half of the BBPS monthly volumes too. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 RBI announces Rs 15000 crore bond buy, sale on September 30 : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on September 23 announced Open Market Purchase and simultaneous sale of government bonds for Rs 15,000 crore each on September 30. As announced in the Governor’s statement of June 04, 2021, the Reserve Bank will conduct the open market purchase of government securities under the G-sec Acquisition Programme (G-SAP 2.0) for an aggregate amount of Rs 15,000 crore on September 30, 2021, the RBI said in a release. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 M-cap of BSE-listed firms touches all-time high of Rs 261.73 lakh crore : The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies reached an all-time high of Rs 261.73 lakh crore on Thursday, helped by a massive rally in the equities where the benchmark Sensex zoomed 958 points to end at a fresh lifetime peak. The 30-share BSE benchmark jumped 958.03 points or 1.63 per cent to settle at its new closing peak of 59,885.36. During the day, it gained 1,029.92 points to touch an intra-day record high of 59,957.25. - mMoneycontrol

🍒 FPIs stock holding value soars to $630 billion as of August: Report : Even as foreign funds are getting jittery about the domestic market due to the steeply higher valuation amid the massive market rally, their holding in the domestic equities rose to $630 billion as of August, according to a American brokerage report. As of June this year, the value of FII investment was only $592 billion, which means that as the market rallied frenetically, their holding value jumped by $38 billion even though their net incremental investment was almost nil between this period. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 Rupee rebounds 23 paise to close at 73.64 against US dollar : The rupee on Thursday rebounded by 23 paise to close at 73.64 (provisional) against the US dollar following a firm trend in domestic equities and losses in the American currency in the overseas market. At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened flat at 73.85 against the greenback. During the session, the domestic unit witnessed an intra-day high of 73.61 and finally settled at 73.64. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 Favourable FOMC meeting outcome leads Sensex, Nifty to new highs : The BSE Sensex is inching closer towards 60,000, recording a fresh all-time high of 59,957.25. It closed at a record high of 59,885.36, up 958.03 points or 1.63 per cent. It hit an intraday low of 59,243.15. The Nifty 50, after surpassing the 17,800-mark with a fresh all-time high of 17,843.90, closed at a record 17,822.95, up 276.30 points or 1.57 per cent. It hit an intraday low of 17,646.55. Bajaj Finserv, Hindalco, L&T, Tata Motors and Coal India were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 today while HDFC Life, Dr Reddy’s, JSW Steel, Tata Consumer and ITC were the top laggards.

🍒 Gold price today falls sharply, silver rates slump : Gold and silver rates fell sharply in Indian markets today, tracking a drop in international rates. On MCX, gold futures were down 0.6% to ₹46,377 per 10 gram while silver rates slumped 1%. In the previous session, gold had ended flat while silver surged 1.2%. In global markets, gold rates today dropped after US Federal Reserve after its two-day meeting, which ended on Wednesday, signalled easing its monthly bond purchases.

Banking and Financial News For September 23, 2021

 

 Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 Bank of India to raise up to Rs 1,800 cr in capital via tier-II bonds : Public sector lender Bank of India (BoI) plans raise upto Rs 1,800 crore in capital through tier-II bonds in order to meet regulatory norms, and for business growth. Meanwhile, rating agency Crisil upgraded the lender's tier-I bonds from "AA-" to "AA", reflecting the lender's improved capital ratios and greater ability to make future coupon payments. The BoI stock closed 0.4 per cent lower at Rs 54.5 per share on BSE. - Business Standard

🍒 India likely to block Chinese investment in LIC's IPO ; India wants to block Chinese investors from buying shares in Life Insurance Corp (LIC), which is due to go public, four senior government officials and a banker told Reuters, underscoring tensions between the two nations. State-owned LIC is considered a strategic asset, commanding more than 60 per cent of India's life insurance market withmore than $500 billion assets. While the government plans to allow foreign investors to participate in what is likely to be the country's biggest-ever IPO worth a potential $12.2 billion, the sources said it is cautious of Chinese ownership, the sources said. - Business Line

🍒 Axis Bank commits Rs 30,000 cr till FY26 towards sustainable lending : The country's third largest private sector lender Axis Bank has committed Rs 30,000 crore lending till fiscal year 2025-26 under its sustainable financing framework, a senior official said. These commitments are in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), supporting India's commitments under the Paris Agreement. "As part of its commitments, the bank has set a target of incremental lending of Rs 30,000 crore over the next 5 years, under wholesale banking towards pertinent sectors included in its Sustainable Financing Framework (SFF)," Rajesh Dahiya, Executive Director (Corporate Centre), Axis Bank told PTI. - Economic times

🍒 Depositors of 21 failed cooperative banks including PMC to get deposit insurance cover : Depositors of 21 failed cooperative banks including PMC Bank will now get deposit insurance cover of upto Rs 5 lakh from Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC). Depositors of Kapol cooperative bank, Rupee cooperative bank and several other cooperative banks have been asked to submit depositor claims within 45 days. The DICGC (Amendment) Act, 2021 came into force with effect from September 1, 2021 for banks insured under DICGC Act, 1961. As per the amendment, DICGC will pay the depositors of the insured banks, upto Rs 5 lakh within 90 days of claim submission. - Economics times

🍒 Your auto-debit from debit/credit card may fail from next month if not approved : Do you use your debit/credit card or mobile wallet for recurring auto-debit payments? If yes, then you should know that from October 1 onwards, as mandated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), banks and other financial institutions will have to ask customers to provide additional factor authentication if the auto-debit mandate for the payment is above Rs 5,000. - Economic times

🍒 Lenders hire specialist agencies to analyse default probability of borrowers : Risk-averse lenders wary of large exposures in the post-Covid era are hiring consultants and specialist agencies to analyse the default potential of all proposals in excess of Rs 500 crore.  Lenders want to ensure that they have a clear perspective of the borrower’s future default risks and cash flow situation in light of peculiar challenges brought about by the pandemic. “The pandemic has disrupted cash flows of businesses in a significant way, and since large value loan proposals are on the rise, we thought it prudent to hire agencies and check the company’s default risk and default probability,” said a lender that has hired one such agency. “These agencies are checking the total debt, debt-service coverage ratio, cash flows and various other metrics to determine whether they will be able to service debt obligations.” - Economic times

🍒 Beware of trojan malware attack, MeitY warns customers of 27 major banks : Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) on Tuesday notified that customers of nearly 27 Indian banks including major public and private banks are at the risk of attack from a new banking trojan malware masquerading as income-tax refund related link. The victims first receive an SMS link to a phishing website, disguised as the Income Tax Department website, they are then asked to fill in a few personal details before being sent a malicious APK file to be downloaded to complete verification. On opening the app, the victim is asked to grant permissions to access SMS, call logs and contacts. - Business Line

🍒 ‘Automation may lead to slack in labour market’ : Governor Shaktikanta Das said a major challenge to inclusiveness in the post-pandemic world would come from the fillip to automation provided by the pandemic even as he underscored the need to guard against any emergence of digital divide as digitisation gains speed. “Greater automation would lead to overall productivity gain, but it may also lead to slack in the labour market. Such a scenario calls for significant skilling/ training of our workforce. “We also need to guard against any emergence of digital divide as digitisation gains speed after the pandemic,” said Das at the 48th National Management Convention of the All India Management Association (AIMA). - Business Line

🍒 Finance Ministry extends Uday Kotak's term as IL&FS Chairman by six months : The Finance Ministry has now paved the way for Uday Kotak, Managing Director & CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank to remain chairman of the Board of Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS) for six more months. The Department of financial services (DFS) in the Finance Ministry has now extended by six months (from October 3, 2021 to April 2 next year) the existing exemption accorded to Kotak Mahindra Bank regarding its MD& CEO Kotak serving as a non-executive director in IL&FS. This finance ministry move comes on the recommendation of the Reserve Bank of India. - Business Line

🍒 Federal Bank partners OneCard for mobile-first credit card : Federal Bank on Wednesday announced a tie-up with OneCard for a mobile-first credit card that targets the country’s young, tech-savvy population. It will target young working professionals aged 23-35, primarily representing the millennials and Gen Z, it said in a statement. - Business Standard

🍒 Federal Bank partners with Ashok Leyland for vehicle finance : Federal Bank on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ashok Leyland, which will enable the two to offer customised financial solutions to their customers. “The bank will work towards catering to the customers’ needs through commercial vehicle loans with easy monthly repayment plans best suited for the customers. Moreover, the bank will leverage technology for enhancing customer experience,” Federal Bank said in a statement. - Business Line

🍒 ZestMoney raises $50 mn from Australia’s Zip : ZestMoney has raised $50 million from the global Buy Now Pay Later provider Zip Co Ltd.  This is part of a larger Series C fundraise which will see participation from existing investors. Zip will acquire a minority shareholding in the company and a board seat as part of the investment.   - Business Line

🍒 After CEO's exit, Ujjivan SFB trying to get the house in order : Ujjivan Small Finance Bank is seeking to get its house in order after the sudden announcement of the exit of its Managing Director and CEO Nitin Chugh last month, and the old order is likely to make a comeback at the lender. Three independent directors including BA Nambiar – Chair Designate, Ujjivan SFB, Rajni Mishra – Chair of Risk Committee, and Ravichandran Venkataraman – Chair of Nomination and Remuneration Committee, are a part of the RBI approved Special Committee of Directors to oversee the operations and administration of the bank, Samit Ghosh – Common Director on Ujjivan SFB and Ujjivan Financial Services told BusinessLine in a message. He, however, did not respond to requests to speak further on the bank. - Busines Line

🍒 RBI must deal more with consumers, review rules impacting them: CUTS talks : At an online discussion organised by Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS) International on the issue of evaluating consumer welfare in digital payments, several industry stalwarts discussed the way forward for India's banking regulator. “The Reserve Bank of India needs to engage with consumers and clearly explain the rationale and impact of its regulations,” said Montek Singh Ahluwalia, former Deputy Chair, Planning Commission of India. - Business Standard

🍒 FinMin suggests restarting decades-old apprenticeship scheme in railways : The Finance Ministry has recommended the railways restart a 94-year-old apprenticeship scheme, which was discontinued in 2015, to "catch the talent young" and tailor them to meet the requirements of the rail transport sector. - Business Standard

🍒 Bank officers' union extends support to 'Bharat Bandh' by farmers on Sep 27 : The All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AlBOC) on Wednesday extended its support to the 'Bhrat Bandh' called by Samyukta Kisan Morcha on September 27. AIBOC requested the government to re-open dialogue with the Samyukta Kisan Morcha on their demands and rescind the three contentious farm laws. - Business Standard

🍒 Govt sets up asset management company for bad bank :  The government has set up India Debt Resolution Company Ltd (IDRCL), an asset management company that will work in tandem with the National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (NARCL) to clean up bad loans, showed documents. It has been set up with a paid-up capital of ₹80.5 lakh on an authorized capital of ₹50 crore. Arvind Sadashiv Mokashi has been appointed on the board as State Bank of India’s (SBI) nominee director and other directors are Narayan Keelveedhi Seshadri and Anilraj Chellan. - Live Mint

🍒 RBL Bank MD Vishwavir Ahuja gets nearly all votes at AGM for 4th term : An overwhelming 99.94 per cent of RBL Bank shareholders have approved the reappointment of Vishwavir Ahuja as the managing director and chief executive for the fourth term beginning June this year. Ahuja joined the bank in 2010 from Bank of America and has been the force behind the successful listing of the lender in August 2016 and driving its balance sheet by mani-fold. Though the board had in January this year cleared his fourth three-year term till June 2024, the Reserve Bank in June had only cleared his reappointment for only one year beginning June 2021. - Economic times

🍒 IDFC Shareholders Reject Vinod Rai's Reappointment To Board : Shareholders of IDFC Ltd. rejected a resolution to appoint Vinod Rai as non-independent, non-executive director on the company's board. At IDFC's annual general meeting on Wednesday, 62.3% of the shareholders who participated voted against the proposal, with only 37.7% in favour, according to disclosures to the stock exchanges. Rai is currently the non-executive chairman of IDFC and his term as an independent director ended on July 30. In May, the nomination and remuneration committee and IDFC's board had approved Rai's appointment as non-executive, non-independent director till May 2023. Rai had already completed two terms as independent director. - Bloomberg quint

🍒 CRISIL upgrades Bank of India’s Tier-I Bonds rating : CRISIL Ratings has upgraded its rating on the Tier-I bonds (under Basel III) of Bank of India (BoI) to ‘AA/Stable’ from ‘AA-/Stable’. The credit rating agency has also assigned its ‘AA+/Stable’ rating to the public sector bank’s ₹1,800 crore Tier-II bonds (under Basel III). The upgrade in the rating of Tier-I bonds (under Basel III) factors in improved position of BoI to make future coupon payments, supported by an adjustment of accumulated losses with share premium account, and the improved capital ratios, CRISIL said in a statement. - Business Line

🍒 FDI equity inflows up 112% to $20.42 billion in April-July period: Govt data : Foreign direct investments into the country more than doubled to $20.42 billion during the April-July period of the current fiscal, the commerce and industry ministry said on Wednesday. Total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow rose to $27.37 billion during the first four months of 2021-22. In the year-ago period, the same was at $16.92 billion. Total FDI comprises equity inflows, reinvested earnings and other capital. "FDI equity inflows grew by 112 per cent in the first four months of 2021-22 ($20.42 billion) compared to the year ago period ($9.61 billion)," the ministry said in a release. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 Gold rate today falls, down ₹10,000 from record highs, silver rises ;:Gold prices struggled in Indian markets today ahead of Fed rate decision. On MCX, gold futures prices were slightly lower at ₹46,633 per 10 gram while silver rates rose 0.7%. In the previous session, gold had jumped 0.7% while silver had surged 1.2%. Gold prices have been volatile in India this year after hitting a record high of ₹52,200 last year. - Live Mint

🍒 Sensex, Nifty end flat amid volatility : The BSE Sensex closed at 58,927.33, down 77.94 points or 0.13 per cent. It hit an intraday high of 59,178.44 and a low of 58,878.38. The Nifty 50 closed at 17,546.65, down 15.35 points or 0.09 per cent. It hit an intraday high of 17,610.45 and a low of 17,524.00. Coal India, Tech Mahindra, Hindalco, Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while Nestle India, HDFC, ICICI Bank, ONGC and HDFC Bank were the top losers.

🍒 Rupee slumps 26 paise to 73.87 against US dollar : At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 73.70 and witnessed an intra-day high of 73.66 and a low of 73.93 against the US dollar in day trade. The local unit finally settled at 73.87 a dollar, down 26 paise over its previous close. On Tuesday, the rupee had settled at 73.61 against the US dollar. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.02 per cent higher at 93.22.

Bank and Financial News Update, September 20, 2021

 Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 IDBI Bank strategic sale: Most merchant bankers indicate 52 weeks' time : Most of the merchant bankers who had submitted bids for facilitating strategic sale of LIC-controlled IDBI Bank indicated a time-frame of one year to complete the elaborate process, sources said. During a presentation before the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) held recently, most of the eligible transaction advisers gave a time-frame of 50-52 weeks to undertake several stages of the privatisation process of IDBI Bank, market sources said. However, the government intends to complete the transaction during the current fiscal itself. Thus the merchant banker has to find a buyer in about 26 weeks or six months. - Economic times

🍒 LIC launches mobile app for its Development Officers : Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has launched a new mobile app for exclusive use of its Development Officers. Called PRAGATI (Performance Review Application, Growth And Trend Indicator), it is a comprehensive mobile application which gives information that is updated near real-time on the performance of their agency force in critical areas of business like premium collection and agency activisation, apart from monitoring the team in activities such as usage of agents mobile app and NACH validations, LIC said in a statement. - Business Line

🍒 BCs emerging as predominant delivery channels for banks to expand last mile outreach: RBI study : From being an alternate model, the Business Correspondent (BC) model is emerging as the predominant delivery model for banks to expand their last mile outreach in unserved/ underserved areas of the country, per a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) study. The number of BCs across the country have grown at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.05 per cent to 11,76,221 as at March-end 2020 from 6,37,029 as at March-end 2016. However, the number of branches/ banking outlets in villages have only increased at a CAGR of 2.29 per cent to 58,042 as at March-end 2020 from 51,830 as at March-end 2016. - Business Line

🍒 International arbitration centre at Gift City: IFSCA in talks with Law Ministry : Gift City regulator IFSCA is close to setting up an international arbitration centre in Gift-IFSC, its Chairman Injeti Srinivas has said.  This international arbitration centre will be on the lines of Singapore international Arbitration Centre or London Commercial Arbitration centre. "We will be able to do this by little tweaking of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act. IFSCA has already prepared a proposal and is in discussion with Union Law Ministry on this", Srinivas said at a recent CII organised Financial Summit. - Business Line

🍒 FPIs net buyers at Rs 16,305 crore so far in September : Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) remained net buyers in Indian markets so far in September by investing a net sum of Rs 16,305 crore.  As per depositories data, overseas investors invested Rs 11,287 crore into equities and Rs 5,018 crore in debt segment on a net basis between September 1-17. During this period, the total net investment stood at Rs 16,305 crore. In August, FPI investment stood at Rs 16,459 crore. - Business Line

🍒 Muthoottu Mini Financiers launches 3 zonal offices for customer experience : Muthoottu Mini Financiers Ltd, one of the largest Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFC) in India, announced the launch of three new zonal offices across India to upgrade operational efficiency and to provide better customer experience. The newly inaugurated Zonal offices are in Ernakulam, Alappuzha, and Hyderabad. The launch is in-line with Muthoottu Mini's restructuring and geographical expansion plan to outreach the customers for fast and seamless transactions. The zonal office at Alappuzha was inaugurated by Roy M Mathew, Chairman, Muthoottu M Mathew Group. Ernakulam Zonal office was inaugurated by Mathew Muthoottu, Managing Director, Muthoottu Mini Financiers Ltd and Zonal office in Hyderabad was digitally inaugurated by Mathew Muthoottu, Managing Director, Muthoottu Mini Financiers Ltd. - Business Standard

🍒 Yes Bank scam: CBI court sends Rana Kapoor's wife, daughters to judicial custody : A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court here Saturday rejected the bail pleas of family members of jailed banker Rana Kapoor, arrested in connection with the alleged fraud caused to the Yes Bank Ltd (YBL). The court remanded his wife, Bindu and daughters Roshini and Radha Kapoor-Khanna to judicial custody. Observing that the trio are involved in the wrongful loss of public money to the tune of Rs 4,000 crores which belongs to public at large including poor bank depositors and shareholders, judge SU Wadgaonkar opined, “...considering the gravity and nature of offence and in the larger interest of society, as accused/applicants involved in causing wrongful loss to the huge public money of Rs.4,000 crores. Accordingly, applicants (bail plea) deserve to be rejected”. - economic times

🍒 Sensex, Nifty gain 1% each on positive cues. 50 smallcap stocks gain over 10% ; Market surged more than 1 percent in the week ended September 17 helped by the positive macro data points and government reforms, which helped indices to hit all-time highs. Indian benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, touched their fresh record high levels of 59,737.32 and 17,792.95 on September 17, respectively. However, for the week, BSE Sensex added 710.82 points (1.21 percent) to close at 59,015.89, while the Nifty50 rose 215.95 points (1.24 percent) to end at 17,585.2 levels. - Business Line

🍒 Market cap of four of top-10 most-valued firms jumps Rs 65,464 crore; Airtel, SBI lead gainers : Four of the top-10 most valued companies together added Rs 65,464.41 crore to market valuation last week, with Bharti Airtel and State Bank of India emerging as the biggest gainers. During the last week, the 30-share BSE benchmark jumped 710 points or 1.21 per cent. Market benchmark Sensex scaled the 59,000-mark for the first time on Thursday. From the top-10 list, Reliance Industries Limited, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever Limited, HDFC, ICICI Bank and Bajaj Finance were the laggards, whose cumulative erosion was at Rs 43,746.79 crore. Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India and Bharti Airtel were the winners. The valuation of Bharti Airtel jumped Rs 22,984.14 crore to reach Rs 3,99,901.97 crore. - Moneycontrol.