Banking and Financial Update for October 23, 2021

 

 23.10.2021 : Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 Bank of India opens first-ever branch in Ladakh : Bank of India on Friday extended its operations to the Union Territory of Ladakh by opening its first-ever branch here with its top official asserting that the bank is fully committed to extending its banking services to the people living in far-flung areas of the country. This was the 5,086th branch opened by a bank in the country and abroad, and is fully computerised and digitised with a facility of E-Gallery to provide 24x7 banking to the residents of Leh, a spokesperson of the Bank of India (BOI) said. He said BOI Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer A K Das opened the branch in the presence of Field General Manager A K Jain, Zonal Manager Vasudev, Branch Manager Sangeeta and various local dignitaries and customers. "The bank is fully committed to extending its banking services to the people living in the far-flung areas of the country. The opening of a branch here is an important step towards this goal," Das said.- Economic Times

🍒 Bank of Maharashtra Q2 net up 103% to Rs 264 cr on robust interest, income : Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) on Thursday reported an over two-fold jump in net profit on a year-on-year (YoY) basis in the quarter ended September 2021 (Q2FY22), helped by robust interest and fee income. The state-owned bank’s net profit rose 102.7 per cent YoY to Rs 264 crore from Rs 130 crore, a regulatory filing said. Its net interest income (NII) grew 33.84 per cent YoY to Rs 1,500 crore in Q2. The non-interest income was up 22.61 per cent to Rs 493 crore, which includes recoveries worth Rs 260 crore from exposure to DHFL. The bank’s deposits increased 14.47 per cent to Rs 1.81 trillion and gross advances grew 11.44 per cent to Rs 1.15 trillion on a YoY basis. - Economic Times

🍒 Federal Bank Q2 net profit up 49.6% : Federal Bank reported a 49.6 per cent jump in its standalone net profit at ₹460.26 crore in the second quarter of the fiscal from ₹307.62 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.  This was aided by higher net interest income and lower provisions. For the quarter-ended September 30, 2021, Federal Bank reported a net interest income growth of 7.2 per cent to ₹1,479.42 crore versus ₹1,379.85 crore a year ago. Other income marginally fell by 1 per cent on an annual basis to ₹444.46 crore in the second quarter of 2021-22. Net interest margin stood at 3.2 per cent as on September 30, 2021. - Business Line

🍒 South Indian Bank posts net loss of ₹187.06 crore in second quarter of FY22 : Thrissur-based South Indian Bank posted a net loss of ₹187.06 crore in the second quarter of FY22 against a net a profit of ₹65.09 crore during the corresponding period of FY21.  The operating profit stood at ₹111.91 crore as against ₹390.94 core for Q2FY21. As per the RBI direction, provision for depreciation on investments amounting to ₹175.56 crore for Q2FY22 has been shown under “other income” in the profit and loss account, which was originally classified under “provisions and contingencies. Further, amounts recovered from written-off accounts were reclassified under “provisions and contingencies” against previous year classification under “other income”. Excluding these amendments, operating profit would have been ₹346 crore, a press statement said. - Business Line.

🍒 YES Bank posts 74% jump in Q2 net profit : Private sector lender YES Bank’s standalone net profit surged by 74.3 per cent to ₹225.5 crore in the second quarter of the fiscal led by a sharp jump in non interest income and lower provisions.  The bank’s standalone net profit was ₹129.37 crore in the second quarter of last fiscal. For the quarter ended September 30, 2021, YES Bank however, reported a 23.4 per cent drop in its net interest income to ₹1,512 crore as against ₹1,973 crore a year ago. Net interest margin was at 2.2 per cent. - Business Line

🍒 Federal Bank opens 300,000 accounts with neo-bank partners : Federal Bank said on October 22 that it has opened more than 300,000 accounts with neo-banking partners. The bank has tied up with three neo-banking platforms; Jupiter, Fi & DGV. Federal Bank’s MD & CEO Shyam Srinivasan in a media call said investment focus around digital and fintech partnerships is showing results, and some of these fintech partnerships have led to opening up of over 300,000 bank accounts with neo-banking platforms. On the user-behaviour and cross-sell opportunity, Srinivasan said, “This is maybe too early to answer but conceptually this is what everybody is asking. It’s been three-four months only and we will have to wait and see how the seasoning happens.” - Moneycontrol.

🍒 KVGB disburses ₹44.28 cr loan at outreach programme : The Dharwad region of Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB) disbursed loans to the tune of ₹44.28 crore to nearly 725 beneficiaries under various heads at the customer outreach initiative organised under the aegis of state-level bankers’ committee (SLBC), according to P Gopi Krishna, Chairman of KVGB. He said the customers outreach initiative was organised on Thursday to boost credit in retail, agriculture and MSME sectors. - Business Line

🍒 HDFC Life Insurance Q2 net profit down 16% : HDFC Life Insurance registered a 15.9 per cent drop in its net profit to ₹274.16 crore in the second quarter of the fiscal as against ₹326.09 crore in the same period last fiscal. “Our profit after tax stands at ₹577 crore for the first half of 2021-22, which is 26 per cent lower than the first half of 2020-21, on the back of higher claims reserving warranted by the second wave of the pandemic,” said Vibha Padalkar, Managing Director and CEO, HDFC Life Insurance. - Business Line

🍒 RBI proposes stricter capital norms for Exim Bank, Nabard, NHB and Sidbi : The Reserve Bank of India has proposed minimum 11.5% capital for the four all India financial institutions (AIFI) in line with Basel III framework to raise their resilience in periods of stress. The stricter capital norms would be applicable to Exim Bank, National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development, National Housing Bank and Small Industries Development Bank of India from the next fiscal. RBI said that these institutions should have minimum total capital at 9% from April 1 2022 along with minimum capital buffer at 2.5%. Minimum common equity tier 1 (CET1) capital would be 5.5% while minimum tier 1 capital requirement proposed at 7%. - Economic Times

🍒 LIC Housing Finance reports 69 per cent y-o-y decline in Q2 net profit at ₹248 crore : LIC Housing Finance (LIC HFL) reported a 69 per cent year-on-year (yoy) decline in second quarter net profit at ₹248 crore against ₹791 crore in the year-ago quarter due to increase in provisions on account of implementation of resolution plans, especially in the case of corporate entities. The housing finance company upped the provisions by ₹424.49 crore during the quarter in respect of 113 corporate entities. It had an exposure aggregating ₹4,629.46 crore to them before implementation of the resolution plans. - Business Line

🍒 RBI needs to ensure nascent revival of economic activity shows signs of durability: Governor Shaktikanta Das : Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das said the central bank needs to ensure that the nascent revival of economic activity shows signs of durability and sustainability. At the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, held between October 6 and 8, 2021, Das referred to an ever evolving and dynamic environment, with the outlook overcast by several uncertainties including the fact that the pandemic is far from over. “At this critical juncture, our actions have to be gradual, calibrated, well-timed and well-telegraphed to avoid any undue surprises,” the Governor said. - Business Line

🍒 CrossTower offers ₹5,000 credit to Indian users to learn crypto trading ; CrossTower on Friday announced a unique feature by offering free credit of ₹5,000 to each Indian user's wallet for trading on cryptocurrency on its platform. “Due to cryptocurrencies' volatility, many users are still wary about investing in the crypto market,” it said in a statement, adding that CrossTower launched this feature to allow Indian users to learn crypto trading comfortably without investing a single rupee. - Business Line

🍒 Failure of any large NBFC may translate into a risk to its lenders: RBI Dy Governor M Rajeshwar Rao : The reputation of the non-banking financial sector has been dented in recent times by failure of certain entities due to idiosyncratic factors, said Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor M Rajeshwar Rao.  The challenge, therefore, is to restore trust in the sector by ensuring that few entities or activities do not generate vulnerabilities which go undetected and create shocks and give rise to systemic risk through their interlinkages with the financial system. “Forestalling and where necessary, decisively resolving such episodes becomes a key focus of our regulatory and supervisory efforts,”Rao said at the CII NBFC Summit. - Business Line

🍒 Protection of customer interest non-negotiable: RBI Deputy Governor to NBFCs : Emphasising on the need to create a culture of responsible governance in the NBFC sector, RBI Deputy Governor M Rajeshwar Rao on Friday urged shadow banking players to give utmost importance to protection of customers as it is “non-negotiable”. Recalling incidents of the coercive recovery practice by some of the players, the Deputy Governor said, such developments spurred by purely commercial considerations have dented the credibility of the whole system which flourishes and thrives on trust. - Financial Express

🍒 Rajneesh Karnatak takes over as Union Bank of India Executive Director : State-run Union Bank of India on October 22 announced the appointment of Rajneesh Karnatak as Executive Director. The former chief general manager of Punjab National Bank has over 27 years of experience in banking services. Karnatak also served as a general manager in the erstwhile Oriental Bank of Commerce, where he headed large corporate credit branches and verticals such as credit monitoring, digital banking and mid-corporate credit, the bank said in a release. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 AU Small Finance Bank launches QR Sound Box to boost digital payments : With an aim to enhance its reach in digital payments, leading small finance bank -- AU Small Finance Bank (AU SFB) -- on October 22 announced the the launch of a QR Code Sound Box. The Jaipur-headquartered SFB said that the QR Sound Box will help small merchants to run their operations smoothly without the hassle of reading SMS every time when a customer makes a payment. So far the bank has deployed over two lakh QR Codes. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 Paytm gets SEBI's nod for Rs 16,600 crore IPO ; One97 Communications, the parent company of fintech platform Paytm, has received the nod from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for its Rs 16,600 crore initial public offering (IPO), according to sources privy to the matter. While Rs 8,300 crore will be primary share sale, Rs 8,300 crore will be an offer for sale (OFS), where existing investors can sell their shares. The company is planning for a mid-November listing. It had filed its draft in July. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 PhonePe starts charging processing fees on phone recharges above Rs 50 : Digital payments leader PhonePe has started charging processing fees of Re 1 to Rs 2 on phone recharges over Rs 50. This is being done on an experimental basis with a small number of users, a company spokesperson said. Recharges between Rs 51 and Rs 100 have a Re 1 charge and those above Rs 100 will be charged Rs 2. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 Rupee slips 3 paise to close at 74.90 : The rupee weakened by 3 paise to end at 74.90 against the US currency on Friday, weighed down by a muted trend in domestic equities and firm crude oil prices.  At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 74.82 and witnessed an intra-day high of 74.69 and a low of 74.94 against the US dollar in the day trade. The local unit finally settled at 74.90 a dollar, down 3 paise over its previous close.

🍒 Volatile Sensex, Nifty close weak, amid continued sell-off : The BSE Sensex closed at 60,821.62, down 101.88 points or 0.17 per cent. It hit an intraday high of 61,420.13 and a low of 60,551.15. The Nifty 50 closed at 18,114.90, down 63.20 points or 0.35 per cent. It recorded an intraday high of 18,314.25 and a low of 18,034.35.  The broader market also continued to witness steeper correction. However, the volatility index further softened 2.71 per cent to close below 18 at 17.55. HDFC, Bajaj Auto, Kotak Bank, Axis Bank and ONGC were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 today while Hindalco, Coal India, Tata Motors, ITC and Tata Consumer were the top laggards.

Banking and Financial News Update for 22 October 2021

 

 22.10.2021 : Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 PSU banks likely to get capital support in Q4 to meet regulatory requirements : The government is likely to pump capital in public sector banks during the last quarter of the current financial year to meet the regulatory requirements. The government in the Budget 2021-22 has made an allocation of Rs 20,000 crore for the capital infusion in the state-owned banks. The capital position of banks would be reviewed in the next quarter, and depending on the requirement, the infusion will be made to meet the regulatory needs. In the current fiscal so far, all 12 public sector banks have posted a profit, which is being ploughed back to bolster the balance sheet of the banks, sources said. Going forward, they said, the rise in stressed assets would determine capital requirement. - Economic Times

🍒 ACC approves appointment of seven executive directors in various PSB : The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has given its nod for the elevation of seven chief general managers and general managers as Executive Directors (EDs) in various public sector banks (PSBs).  Rajneesh Karnatak, Chief General Manager, Punjab National Bank, has been appointed as Executive Director in Union Bank of India for a period of three years. Ashwani Kumar, Chief General Manager, Punjab National Bank, has been appointed as Executive Director in Indian Bank for a period of three years. - Business Line

 🍒Bank of Maharashtra net profit jumps ₹264 crore in Q2 : Bank of Maharashtra reported a 107 per cent year-on-year jump in second quarter net profit at ₹264 crore against ₹130 crore in the year ago quarter.  Net interest income in the reporting quarter rose 34 per cent yoy at ₹1499 crore. Other income was up 23 per cent yoy at ₹493 crore. Loan loss provisions jumped to ₹583 crore, including towards increase in provisions on account of implementation of resolution plans under RBI’s “Resolution Framework for COVID-19 related stress” (August 6, 2020 circular) against a write back of ₹4.55 crore in the year ago quarter. - Business Line

🍒 Banks may set up central repository to tackle gold loan frauds : Banks are exploring whether a centralised repository for reporting frauds in gold loans should be set up to tackle rising incidents of frauds amidst robust demand for these loans since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.  The repository could help prevent/minimise gold loan frauds as lenders will be able to cross-check prospective borrowers’ record on the quality of gold they pledged for their earlier borrowings, said a senior public sector bank official. Loans against gold jewellery (LAGJ) portfolio of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) soared by about 66 per cent year-on-yar (yoy) to ₹62,926 crore as at August 27, 2021, against ₹37,860 crore as at August 28, 2020, according to RBI data. SCBs LAGJ portfolio stood at ₹26,542 crore as at August 30, 2019. - Business Line

🍒 IDBI Bank Q2 net profit jumps 75% to ₹ 567 cr on NII growth : IDBI Bank on Thursday reported a 75 per cent jump in its standalone profit after tax to ₹ 567 crore in the second quarter ended September 30, on higher interest income.  The LIC-owned bank had reported a standalone profit after tax of ₹ 324 crore in the year-ago quarter. “Overall, there has been improvement in the bank's performance parameters. The cost of deposits has come down to 3.60 per cent as of September 30, 2021, from 4.41 per cent last year. Similarly, cost of funds has also declined from 4.73 per cent to 3.88 per cent,” the bank's Managing Director and CEO Rakesh Sharma told reporters. - Business Line

🍒 Subscription to sovereign gold bond to open on October 25 : The next tranche of Sovereign Gold Bonds 2021-22 will be open for subscription for five days from October 25, the finance ministry said in a statement on Thursday. The bonds under the 2021-22 series will be issued in four tranches during October 2021-March 2022, taking the total to 10. Under the series, bonds were issued in six tranches from May 2021 to September 2021. The subscription period for 2021-22 Series-VII will be October 25-October 29, and bonds will be issued on November 2, the finance ministry said in a statement. - Business Standard

🍒 Banks' microloan portfolio contracts 7% to Rs 2.36 trillion in June quarter : Micro loan portfolio of lenders shrunk by 7 per cent to Rs 2.36 trillion in the June quarter (Q1FY22) over Rs 2.53 trillion in Q4FY21 (on economic disruption owing to second wave of Covid-19 pandemic. The quarterly decline in gross loan portfolio (GLP) was seen across all lender types, including commercial banks, finance companies, according to CRIF Highmark. The credit information bureau in Q1 review said the microfinance sector was quick to recover to pre-pandemic level by Q4FY21. The enquiries for loans showed an upturn with month-on-month rise of 7 per cent in September 2021. - Business Standard

🍒 Kotak Mahindra Bank partners Pine Labs to expand point-of-sale services : Kotak Mahindra Bank has tied up with Pine Labs to expand its point-of-sale (PoS) services to more merchants, especially retailers. “Through this tie-up, merchants in India will now be able to get the advantage of Kotak Mahindra Bank’s PoS payment solutions bundled with Pine Labs’ technology stack to help grow their business,” it said in a statement on Thursday. Pine Labs has a network of over 2,45,000 merchants across Asia. Noting that retail and large merchants as well as customers are moving towards digital payments, Shanti Ekambaram, Group President – Consumer Banking, Kotak Mahindra Bank, said, “Pine Labs is a leading player with customised solutions for retailers and B2C service providers, and this collaboration with them opens up a significant market opportunity for Kotak to onboard new merchants and offer them an integrated PoS-plus suite of digital payments and banking products proposition.” - Business Line.

🍒 HDFC Bank, Mastercard, USAID and DFC launch $100 million credit facility for MSMEs in India : HDFC Bank, Mastercard, US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), and US Agency for International Development (USAID) on Thursday launched a $100 million credit facility. This is aimed to promote and encourage small businesses in the country to digitise, while also helping Indian businesses, particularly those that are women-owned, to recover from the economic impacts of the pandemic. “The new credit facility aims to expand lending to small businesses that need financing to maintain and grow their operations, and enable recovery through digitisation, with an emphasis on supporting women-led businesses,” they said in a statement. - Business Standard

🍒 Trade credit insurance norms to kick in from Nov 1 : Companies are gearing up for trade credit insurance covers, for which the guidelines come into effect from November 1. This is expected to improve liquidity for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).  A number of insurance companies are said to be working on the draft agreements and products. “The new trade credit insurance (TCI) guidelines have come at the right time. The Factoring Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2021 allows NBFCs [non-banking financial companies] as factors. Once the RBI [Reserve Bank of India] amends the TReDS [trade receivables discounting system] guidelines to allow an NBFC as a financier on the platform, it will increase liquidity and financiers will have a risk-sharing partner,” said Ketan Gaikwad, Managing Director and CEO, Receivables Exchange Of India Limited (RXIL). - Business Line

🍒 Bitcoin edges off all-time high : Bitcoin fell slightly in Asian hours on Thursday, a day after marking an all-time high on optimism around the launch of the first US bitcoin futures ETF.  The world’s largest cryptocurrency was last down 1.3 per cent at $65,184 after hitting a record $67,016 on Wednesday, but still above a previous peak of $64,895 seen in April. “We think its going to go higher and we can get to 80,000 or 90,000 by the end of this year easy, but that won’t be without volatility,” said Matt Dibb, COO of Singapore-based Stack Funds. - Business Line

🍒 National Asset Reconstruction Company: First set of NPA transfer to bad bank likely by January : The National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL), or the so-called bad bank, is expected to witness the transfer of the first batch of toxic assets worth about Rs 90,000 crore by January 2022, banking sources told FE. Earlier this month, the NARCL got a licence from the central bank to start operations. “It’s (NARCL) in the process of forming its board. Large stressed assets have already been identified, so their transfer is unlikely to be delayed beyond late December or early January,” a top banker familiar with the development told FE. The asset transfer will be a decisive step towards the resolution of large stressed assets worth Rs 2 lakh crore in the banking system. - Financial Express

🍒 Mudra loan scheme for micro enterprises nears 100 percent disbursal rate : Credit disbursement under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) has neared a 100 percent disbursement level in 7 months in the current fiscal. Non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), small finance banks and public and private lenders have disbursed Rs. 1.11 lakh crore out of the Rs. 1.17 lakh crore amount sanctioned.Thus, a little over the first half of the current fiscal, 95.19 percentf sanctioned amount has been disbursed. The disbursement rate under the previous fiscal stood at 94.7 percent, in FY20 it was  97.6 percent, 97 percent in FY19, 97.14 in FY18, 97.11 in FY17 and 96.73 in FY16. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 Bharti AXA Life Insurance signs bancassurance pact with Utkarsh Small Finance Bank : Bharti AXA Life Insurance on October 21 announced its bancassurance partnership with Utkarsh Small Finance Bank Limited (USFBL) for the distribution of life insurance products through the bank’s network of branches across the country. With this collaboration, Bharti AXA Life’s insurance plans including protection, health, savings and investment, will be available for purchase to over 3 million customers of the bank across its more than 600 branches in 202 districts spread across 19 states and 2 union territories in the country. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 Gold prices marginally dip to Rs 47,469/10 gm on global cues; silver touches Rs 65,000 a kg : Gold prices slightly eased by Rs 79 to Rs 47,469 per 10 gram in the Mumbai bullion market tracking muted global cues. The precious metal was also pressured by a firm dollar and US treasury yields soared above 1.67 percent.  The price of 10 gram, 22-carat gold in Mumbai was Rs 43,482 plus 3 percent GST, while 24-carat 10 gram stood at Rs 47,469 plus GST. The 18-carat gold quoted at Rs 35,602 plus GST in the retail market. Silver prices gained by Rs 4 to Rs 65,000 per kg against its closing price on October 19.

🍒 Sensex ends 336 points lower, Nifty below 18,200 as sell-off continues : The BSE Sensex closed at 60,923.50, down 336.46 points or 0.55 per cent. It hit an intraday high of 61,621.20 and a low of 60,485.65. The Nifty 50 closed at 18,178.10, down 88.50 points or 0.48 per cent. It hit an intraday high of 18,384.20 and a low of 18,048.00. Kotak Bank, Tata Motors, Grasim, HDFC and BPCL were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while Asian Paints, Hindalco, Infosys, Reliance and TCS were the top losers.

🍒 Rupee ends flat at 74.87 vs USD ; The rupee settled just 1 paisa higher at 74.87 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday amid a muted trend in domestic equities. At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 74.86 against the greenback, and moved in a range of 74.69 to 74.89 during the session. It finally ended at 74.87, registering a rise of just 1 paisa over its previous close..

Banking and Financial News for October 21, 2021

21.10.2021 : Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 RBI may be looking at changing its reserve management strategy : RBI may be internally exploring shedding its traditional approach to foreign exchange reserve management amidst falling global yields adding to the fiscal costs of managing the reserves. A research paper by RBI economists suggests that the central bank should be more active in its forex assets management including looking beyond SDR currencies and active management of its gold reserves. Global interest rates which have been on declining over the last four decades in advanced economies, touched their historic lows in 2020. "This low yield environment has made it an arduous task for the reserve managers to generate reasonable returns on their foreign assets" said a paper by Ashish Saurabh and Nitin Madan of RBI's department of External Investments and Operations. - Economic Times

🍒 Gross NPAs of banks may decline to 6.9% by March 2022: Report : Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) and net NPAs of banks are likely to decline to 6.9-7 per cent and 2.2-2.3 per cent, respectively, by the end of March 2022 as compared to 7.6 per cent and 2.5 per cent, respectively, as of March 31, 2021, according to a report by rating agency ICRA. GNPAs and NNPAs stood at 8.6 per cent and three per cent, respectively, as on March 31, 2020. "The GNPAs and NNPAs are expected to further decline to 6.9-7 per cent and 2.2-2.3 per cent by March 2022, which will continue to be a relief for the bottomline (profit) of lenders," the credit rating agency said in the report. - Economic Times

🍒 YES Bank showing remarkable progress; to take to two more years to stabilise: Former SBI chief : Crisis-hit YES Bank has shown remarkable progress after its management was taken by the clutch of investors led by State Bank of India (SBI) last year and may take two more years to stabilise, said former SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar. "The situation in which YES Bank was, you have to give three years time at least for it to stabilise... it has shown remarkable progress as the condition was very bad when SBI salvaged it," he told PTI while sharing a sneak peek of his memoir. In his book titled 'The Custodian of Trust', Kumar said that SBI was reluctant to play the lender of last resort role for the YES Bank but circumstances compelled it to rescue the country's fourth largest private sector lender. - Economic Times

🍒 Citi appoints Rajeev Mantri as CFO, Citi India and cluster finance head, south Asia : Citi has announced the appointment of Rajeev Mantri as chief financial officer (CFO), Citi India, and cluster finance head, south Asia, effective October 5, 2021, said a statement issued today. In this role, Mantri will be based in Mumbai, and responsible for the finance function, overseeing business planning and strategy, balance sheet management, financial controls, reporting and tax matters and will focus on delivering the financial plan, while working closely with key stakeholders on franchise-level matters in India. In addition, he will also provide governance and oversight on the finance function of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. - Economic Times

🍒 Banks flag concerns over US rules on consumer data, seek govt guidance : India's banks have approached the government with their concerns over the mandatory sharing of customer details with US authorities under that country's expanded National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which took effect on January 1. A government official confirmed that the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) has sought government intervention and guidance on the issue. Banks have pointed out that the provision will raise costs and any compliance shortfall can have serious implications. - Economic Times

🍒 Insurers settle claims worth ₹20,859 cr : Insurers have so far settled claims worth ₹20,859 crore related to Covid-19. According to the latest data available with the industry, the settlement ratio stood at 88 per cent as on October 13, for ₹20,859.4 crore. Of the total claims of 25,96,072, 22,84,429 have been settled by insurers.  Insurers, however, are now seeing a dip in demand for Covid-specific policies. “We find that the demand for health cover is now shifting towards non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and critical illnesses,” Sanjay Datta, Head - Underwriting & Claims, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company, told BusinessLine. - Business Line

🍒 L&T Finance Holdings’ Q2 net profit down 15.5% : L&T Finance Holdings reported a 15.5 per cent drop in its consolidated net profit for the second quarter of the fiscal. Its net profit stood at ₹224.03 crore for the quarter-ended September 30, 2021 as against ₹265.12 crore in the same period last fiscal. However, on a sequential basis, it posted a 26.5 per cent jump from its net profit of ₹177.02 crore in the June 2021 quarter. Its total revenue from operations increased by 10.5 per cent to ₹3,051.82 crore in the second quarter of the fiscal from ₹3,408.1 crore a year ago. However, other income declined by 18 per cent on a year-on-year basis to ₹82.64 crore in the July to September 2021 quarter. “In the second quarter of the fiscal, all L&T Finance Holdings businesses witnessed robust disbursement momentum,” it said in a statement on Wednesday. - Business Line

🍒 BNP Paribas keen to become ‘go to’ bank for India Inc’s overseas buys : BNP Paribas,which operates in over 70 countries, sees itself emerging as the “go to” investment bank for Indian corporates looking to expand their global footprint through the mergers & acquisitions (M&A) route, Aymar de Liedekerke Beaufort, Head of Territory, India, has said. “We do see several Indian corporates emerging as champions (at the global stage). We want to work with the top 100 Indian corporates and believe many of these will have specific acquisitions to do in Europe and this is where they may need a bank like us,” Beaufort told BusinessLine in an interview. - Business Line

🍒 NPCI launches NTS platform for card tokenisation : National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on Wednesday announced the launch of NPCI Tokenization system (NTS) to support tokenisation of cards as an alternate to storing card details with merchants. “The NPCI Tokenization System (NTS) will support the tokenisation of RuPay cards to further enhance the safety of customers and provide a seamless shopping experience to consumers,” it said in a statement. With NTS, acquiring banks, aggregators, merchants and others can get themselves certified with NPCI and can play the role of Token Requestor to help save the token reference number (Token Reference On File or TROF) against all card numbers saved, it further said. “All these businesses can maintain their RuPay consumer base utilising TROF for future transactions initiated by their respective RuPay consumers,” it said. - Business Line

🍒 RBI imposed a monetary penalty of ₹1 crore on Paytm Payments : The RBI has imposed a monetary penalty of ₹1 crore on Paytm Payments Bank (PPBL) and ₹27.78 lakh on Western Union Financial Services Inc (WUFSI). RBI said the monetary penalty on PPBL has been imposed for an offence under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (PSS Act). The penalty on WUFSI, a money transfer service – cross-border in-bound service (customer-to-customer only) operator – has been imposed for non-compliance with certain provisions of RBI’s directions contained in its Master Direction on Money Transfer Service Scheme (MTSS Directions), according to a central bank statement. - Business Line

🍒 EPFO adds 14.81 lakh members in August : The provisional payroll data of EPFO continued to show a growing trend consecutively for the last five months and added around 14.81 lakh net subscribers in August. The net subscriber addition has increased by 12.61 per cent as compared to July’s figures. Out of the total 14.81 lakh net subscribers, around 9.19 lakh workers are new members of the EPFO. Around 5.62 lakh workers exited but rejoined the EPFO by changing jobs. Workers in the age-group of 22-25 years registered highest number of net enrolments with 4.03 lakh additions during August, the Union Labour Ministry claimed in a release. - Business Line

🍒 RBI rule on recurring payments: Small businesses, start-ups feeling the heat : Small businesses and start-ups running on a subscription model are losing out on users and timely payments due to the Reserve Bank of India’s new rule on recurring payments.  For instance, the non-profit digital rights advocacy group, Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), which runs on a monthly donorship model, lost nearly 70 per cent of its existing membership base of close to 423. Apar Gupta, Advocate and Executive Director, IFF, told BusinessLine: “It took us three years to build our member base. Most of our donors signed up using their debit and credit cards, which has been the primary mode of recurring online payments in India. After the RBI mandate came into being post-September 30, they weren’t able to sign up or make those payments. - Business Line

🍒 Govt to soon reach out to potential buyers of debt-laden IDBI Bank : The government will soon reach out to interested buyers of IDBI Bank and inform them about the broad contours of the strategic disinvestment, which is going to lay the groundwork for privatisation of public sector banks. The Centre, through its advisors, will share the strategic sale plan with investors, and how the deal is expected to be structured, an official said. The exercise would be undertaken before the government comes out with the preliminary information memorandum (PIM) and invites expression of interest (EoI) for the IDBI Bank sale, said an official. The investors’ interest would be gauged, and suitable structuring of the transaction would be done, he added. - Business Standard

🍒 Gold prices jump above Rs 47,500/10 gm on firm global trend, festive demand; Silver costlier by Rs 1,386 a kg : Gold prices rose by Rs 164 to Rs 47,548 per 10 gram in the Mumbai bullion market tracking firm global trend and festive demand. The precious metal upside was capped by sharp appreciation in rupee, firm dollar and rising Treasury yields. The price of 10 gram, 22-carat gold in Mumbai was Rs 43,554 plus 3 percent GST, while 24-carat 10 gram stood at Rs 47,548 plus GST. The 18-carat gold quoted at Rs 35,661 plus GST in the retail market. Silver prices surged by Rs 1,386 to Rs 64,496 per kg against its closing price on October 18. - Moneycotrol.

🍒 Sensex drops over 200 pts in early trade; Nifty slips below 18,400 : Equity benchmark Sensex tumbled over 200 points in opening trade on Wednesday, tracking losses in index majors TCS, Bajaj Finance and Axis Bank as market participants booked profits at higher levels.  The 30-share index was trading 209.46 points or 0.34 per cent lower at 61,506.59 in initial deals. Similarly, the Nifty dropped 85.45 points or 0.46 per cent to 18,333.30. Bajaj Finance was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 2 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Auto, Tata Steel and Axis Bank.  On the other hand, Nestle India, HUL, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints and HCL Tech were among the gainers.

🍒 Rupee ends 47 paise higher against the dollar on Wednesday : The rupee ended 47 paise stronger on Wednesday due to dollar inflows in the backdrop of foreign portfolio investors eyeing investments in public offerings by Indian companies and due to the weakening of the greenback.  The Indian unit closed at 74.88 per dollar against the previous close of 75.35. In intraday trade, the rupee saw a high of 74.83 to the dollar and a low of 75.1350.

Banking and Financial Update for October 19, 2021

19.10.2021 : Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 SBI raises Rs 6,000 crore by issuing Basel III compliant bonds : The country's largest lender SBI on Monday said it has raised Rs 6,000 crore by issuing Basel III compliant bonds. In June, the bank had received approval from its central board for raising fresh additional tier 1 (AT 1) capital of up to Rs 14,000 crore. The committee of directors for capital raising at its meeting on October 18, 2021, accorded its approval to allot 6,000 Basel III compliant fully paid-up debt instruments in the nature of debentures qualifying as AT 1 capital of the bank to bond subscribers, SBI said in a regulatory filing. - Business Standard

🍒 Equitas Small Finance Bank to raise up to Rs 1,000 crore via QIP : Equitas Small Finance Bank (SFB) plans to raise up to Rs 1,000 crore in equity capital by issuing shares to institutional investors to meet minimum public shareholding (MPS) norms. The amount to be raised includes a premium on shares. The firm’s board has approved this raise, which is being done to fulfil requirements stipulated by Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), by raising equity through qualified institutions placement (QIP), the firm informed the BSE. - Business Standard

🍒 RBI imposes penalty of Rs 1 crore on State Bank of India over non-compliance of directions : The Reserve Bank of India imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 1 crore on State Bank of India for non-compliance with the directions contained in ‘Reserve Bank of India (Frauds classification and reporting by commercial banks and select FIs) directions 2016. "This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI under the provisions of section 47A (1) (c) read with sections 46(4)(i) and 51(1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949," read the Central Bank circular. This action is based on the deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers, the RBI release read. - Economic Times

🍒 RBI slaps penalty of Rs 1.95 crore on Standard Chartered Bank : The Reserve Bank of India on Monday imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 1.95 crore on Standard Chartered Bank - India for failing to comply with guidelines issued for customer protection, cyber security, credit card operations and creation of central repository for large exposures.  The RBI conducted a statutory inspection of bank’s books and it’s inspection report revealed that that Standard Chartered had failed to credit the amount involved in the unauthorised electronic transactions back to customer accounts. The regulator’s inspection also revealed that the bank was not reporting cyber security incidents within the prescribed time period. - Economic Times

🍒 Bitcoin hovers near six-month high on ETF hopes, inflation worries : Bitcoin hovered near a six-month high early on Monday on hopes that US regulators would soon allow cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETF) to trade, while global inflation worries also provided some support. Bitcoin last stood at $62,359, near Friday's six-month high of $62,944 and not far from its all-time high of $64,895 hit in April. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is set to allow the first American bitcoin futures ETF to begin trading this week, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, a move likely to lead to wider investment in digital assets. - Economic Times

🍒 Paytm allots ₹100 crore to marketing campaigns during festival season : Digital payments platform Paytm on Monday announced that the company and its partners will allocate ₹100 crore for marketing activities during the festive season in a major push planned for the company and its partners. These campaigns will be aligned to promote digital payments in India and educate users about Paytm UPI for money transfers, Paytm Wallet and Paytm Postpaid (Buy Now, Pay Later) for spends, to drive financial inclusion across the country. - Business Line

🍒 RBL Bank working on Abacus 2.0 for digital engagement, customer acquisition : Private sector lender RBL Bank is working on a new digital platform that would help scale up customer acquisition over the next few years.  Called Abacus 2.0, it would enable the bank to provide products and services to new as well as existing customers digitally, said Surinder Chawla, Head, Branch Banking, RBL Bank, noting that more customers have switched to digital banking channels since the start of the pandemic. The bank has about 40 lakh customers in branch banking and credit card as of June 30, 2021 and it expects it to rise to about 1.2 crore to 1.4 crore product-agnostic customers over the next three to four years through Abacus 2.0, according to its investor presentation for the first quarter of the fiscal. - Business Line

🍒 APSEZ raises ₹1,000 crore via NCDs : Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) on Monday said the company has raised ₹ 1,000 crore by allotment of secured, redeemable, and non-convertible debentures (NCD) on the private placement basis. APSEZ in a BSE filing said that NCDs will be listed on the Wholesale Debt Market segment of BSE Limited. - Business Line

🍒 KreditBee issues over 1 lakh cards within 60 days of launch : Digital lending platform KreditBee has issued over 1 lakh cards within 60 days of its launch.  It aims to expand its portfolio by issuing over 10 lakh ‘KreditBee Cards’ by March 2022, it said in a statement on Monday. KreditBee has provided these cards to all its customers. - Business Line

🍒 Kerala Bank seeks RBI nod to collect NRI deposits : Kerala Bank has sought the permission of the Reserve Bank of India to collect deposits from NRI’s, eyeing the ₹1,50,000,000 crore NRI deposits credited to various commercial and PSU and private sector banks in the State. V N Vasavan, the State Cooperation Minister, pointed out that a major share of this NRI deposit amount is being utilised for disbursing loans to big corporates outside the State and in speculative businesses in stock markets. Kerala Bank is aiming to utilise these NRI deposits for developing the basic infrastructure of the State. - Business Line

🍒 Franklin Templeton strengthens Emerging Markets Equity-India team with new hires : Franklin Templeton on Monday said it has appointed Ajay Argal and Venkatesh Sanjeevi as portfolio managers in a bid to strengthen its Emerging Markets Equity – India team.  Effective October 12, 2021, Argal and Sanjeevi have joined the firm as portfolio managers and both are based at the Franklin Templeton offices in Chennai, reporting to Anand Radhakrishnan who heads up the Emerging Markets  - Business Line

🍒 Nomura India Business Resumption Index rises to an all-time high : The Nomura India Business Resumption Index rose to an all-time high of 108.8 for the week ending October 17 from 105 in the prior week (pre-pandemic level=100), with a broad-based rise across most sub-components. Mobility indices rose sharply ahead of the festive season. The Apple driving index jumped 14.1 percentage points (pp) over the week, while Google workplace and retail & recreation indices rose by 2.7 pp and 3.1 pp, respectively. - Business Line

🍒 PNB Housing locked in lower circuit after it shelves stake sale plan : The shares of PNB Housing Finance Limited (PNBHFL) were locked in the 5 per cent lower circuit on Monday after the company's Board called off its proposed ₹4,000 crore share sale plan to Carlyle Group and other marquee investors, including General Atlantic and Ares SSG, citing protracted delays and uncertainty over regulatory approvals required for the preferential issue. On the BSE, the company's shares opened at ₹607.10, down ₹31.95 or 5.00 per cent as against the previous close of ₹639.05. The company's shares were locked in the 5 per cent lower circuit through the day.- Business Line

🍒 PhonePe reports 85% jump in revenue at ₹690 cr in FY21 : Digital payments company PhonePe has reported a revenue of ₹690 crore in FY 21, which is about an 85.5 per cent jump from ₹372 crore revenue reported in FY20, according to the company's recent regulatory filings. Majority of the company’s revenue has come from payments and allied services. PhonePe claims to have a 45 per cent market share in digital payments, and a 300 million user base. - Business Line

🍒 Edelweiss gets nod, divests stake in insurance broking business : Edelweiss Group on Monday announced the divestment of its majority stake in Edelweiss Gallagher Insurance Brokers Ltd (EGIBL) after approval from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI). On receipt of the necessary approvals, the company, has in the first tranche, transferred 61 per cent of the stake held by the company in EGIBL to Arthur J Gallagher and Company (AJG) on October 18, 2021, Edelweiss Group said in a stock exchange filing. - Business Line

🍒 SBI General Insurance expects 20% growth in FY22 : SBI General Insurance is expecting close to 20 per cent growth in business in FY22 backed by a steady demand for health insurance products and an improvement in motor insurance starting third quarter of this fiscal. In the first half (April-September), the non-life insurer had witnessed 14 per cent growth in gross direct premium underwritten to ₹4,129 crore, as compared with ₹3,620 crore in the same period last year, as per data available on the IRDAI website. - Business Line

🍒 More than 2 lakh crypto accounts blocked in India over 6 months : The past year or so has seen decentralised cryptocurrency slowly becoming part of the mainstream narrative. On the seamy side, the digital currency has also provided an avenue for online criminal activities involving tax evasion and other kinds of serious frauds. In the past six months, between April-September 2021, the top three cryptocurrency exchanges – WazirX, CoinSwitch Kuber and CoinDCX – have blocked over two lakh accounts citing malicious activities. - Business Line

🍒 Cash going to co-exist with central bank digital currency: Subbarao : Former RBI governor D Subbarao on Monday said there is a strong motivation for the central bank to launch a digital currency and cash is going to coexist with the new-age currency.Addressing an event virtually organised by economic think tank NCAER, Subbarao further said cybersecurity is also one of the downside risks of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)."There is a strong motivation for the RBI to launch CBDC... Cash is going to coexist with CBDC," he said.  - Business Standard

🍒 Average cost for state debt across states plunges 27 bps to 6.72% : The weighted average cost of borrowing across states has plunged 27 bps to 6.72 per cent from the previous week, but the weighted average yield of the most-traded 10-year debt was unchanged at 6.97 per cent. The 10-year-state loan yields are ruling at the highest level since mid-August and have been tracing the rise in G-Sec yields since late September, which have inched up on concerns over the rise in global energy prices and the uptick in US treasury yields, Care Rating chief economist Madan Sabnavis has said in a note. - Business Standard

🍒 Gold prices slip to Rs 47,384/10 gm as US bond yields rise; silver down Rs 180 a kg : Gold prices fell on October 18, down by Rs 741 to Rs 47,384 per 10 gram in the Mumbai bullion market tracking a sharp fall on Friday in the global market as the Indian market was shut on account of Dussehra and firm equity markets. The precious metal was also pressured by surging 10-year Treasury yield and strength in the dollar.  The price of 10 gram, 22-carat gold in Mumbai was Rs 43,404 plus 3 percent GST, while 24-carat 10 gram stood at Rs 47,384 plus GST. The 18-carat gold quoted at Rs 35,538 plus GST in the retail market. Silver prices dropped by Rs 180 to Rs 63,110 per kg against its closing price on October 14. - Moneycontrol.

Rupee trades almost flat at 75.28 against dollar in opening deals : The Indian rupee traded marginally lower by 2 paise at 75.28 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday, tracking stronger greenback against key rivals overseas. At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened on a steady note and traded cautiously between a high of 75.26 and a low of 75.29 against the American currency. 

🍒 Sensex ends near 62k, Nifty above 18,400 : The BSE Sensex which recorded a fresh all-time high of 61,963.07, closed at a record high of 61,765.59, up 459.64 points or 0.75 per cent. It hit an intraday low of 61,624.65. The Nifty50 closed at a record 18,477.05, up 138.50 points or 0.76 per cent, after witnessing a fresh all-time high of 18,543.15. It recorded an intraday low of 18,445.30. Hindalco, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, JSW Steel and Tata Motors were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while Mahindra & Mahindra, HCL Tech, Dr Reddy, Asian Paints and Britannia were the top losers.

Banking and Financial News Update for 17 October 2021

 *Financial News Bulletin Dt. 17th October , 2021*

Private sector banks recorded higher loan growth compared to PSBs and foreign banks, with their share in total credit steadily increasing to 35.4% in March 2021 from 20.8% in March 2015, according to RBI.  This has been at the cost of PSBs, whose share in total credit has come down from 71.6% to 56.5% over the same period, said the central bank. As of March-end 2021, foreign banks had a 4% market share (4.9% as of March- end 2015); regional rural banks (3.1% vs 2.6%); and small finance banks/ SFBs (1%).  At the end of March 2021, gross outstanding credit of scheduled commercial banks amounted ₹1,10,78,050 crore (₹68,78,400 crore as of March-end 2015).

-Business Line

HDFC Bank’s standalone net profit rose by 17.6% for the second quarter of the fiscal, supported by a robust growth in net interest income. For the quarter ended Sept 30, 2021, the bank reported net profit of ₹8,834.3 crore, as against ₹7,513.11 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. 

-Business Line

Bank of Baroda today launched centralised agri-loans processing units across 16 Zonal Offices. Christened as the Centre for Agriculture Marketing and Processing (CAMP), the unit is a dedicated credit delivery model with a focus on financing non-traditional agricultural products and handling agri-marketing activities, the bank said in a statement.

-Business Line

Karnataka Bank has received approval from the RBI to appoint Pradeep Kumar Panja, an Independent Director of the bank, as part-time non- executive Chairman with effect from Nov14, for a period of 3 years. He will succeed P Jayarama Bhat, who will complete his term on November 13.

-Business Line

Max Life Insurance has sought insurance regulator IRDAI’s approval to set up a subsidiary to undertake pension fund management business, said Prashant Tripathy, MD & CEO. Pension regulator PFRDA had recently granted approval to MLI to become a sponsor of a pension fund manager.

-Business Line

Petrol and diesel prices on Saturday were hiked again by 35 paise a litre to take retail rates across the country to new record highs. With this hike, petrol is now at the ₹100-a-litre mark or more in all State capitals, while diesel has touched the ₹100-level in a dozen States. Diesel is nearing the ₹100-a-litre mark in Goa and Bengaluru.

-Business Line

Banking and Financial Update for October 16, 2021

 

16.10.2021 : Today's Banking / Financial Bulletin

🍒 ‘Higher loan growth for private banks’ : Private sector banks recorded higher loan growth compared to other bank groups (PSBs and foreign banks), with their share in total credit steadily increasing to 35.4 per cent in March 2021 from 20.8 per cent in March 2015, according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI). This has been at the cost of public sector banks, whose share in total credit has come down from 71.6 per cent to 56.5 per cent over the same period, said the central bank. - Business Line

🍒 PNB Housing shelves ₹ 4,000-cr share sale plan to Carlyle Group, other investors : PNB Housing Finance Limited (PNBHFL) has called off it’s proposed ₹ 4,000 crore share sale plan to Carlyle Group and other marquee investors including General Atlantic and Ares SSG, citing protracted delays and uncertainty over regulatory approvals required for the preferential issue.  At a Board meeting held on Thursday evening, PNBHFL decided not to proceed with the proposed preferential issue and therefore will now evaluate other alternatives to raise capital. Also, all the share subscription agreements executed with the proposed allottees have been terminated. - Business Line

🍒 Fintech firm Tala raises $145 m in Series-E round : Tala, a financial services company, has raised $145 million in Series E fundraise led by Upstart, taking the total funds raised to $350 million.  Stellar Development Foundation, Kindred Ventures and the J. Safra Group, IVP, Revolution Growth, Lowercase Capital, and PayPal Ventures also joined the round. Tala will use the investment to accelerate the rollout of its new financial account experience, which provides customers with fresh tools to borrow, save and manage their money, all through Tala’s top-rated consumer finance app,” a Tala statement has said. - Business Line

🍒 India's Forex reserves rise by $2.04 billion to $639.51 billion : The country's foreign exchange reserves rose by $2.039 billion to $639.516 billion in the week ended October 8, according to RBI data. In the previous week ended October 1, the reserves had dipped by $1.169 billion to $637.477 billion. The reserves had surged by $8.895 billion to a lifetime high of $642.453 billion in the week ended September 3. During the reporting week ended October 8, the rise in the reserves was on account of an increase in the Foreign Currency Assets (FCAs), Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) weekly data released on Friday showed. FCA rose by $1.55 billion to $577.001 billion in the reporting week, as per the data. - Economic Times

🍒 Bitcoin nears $60,000 as investors eye first US ETFs : Bitcoin hit a six-month high on Friday,approaching the record hit in April, as traders became increasingly confident that US regulators would approve the launch of an exchange-traded fund based on its futures contracts.  The world’s biggest cryptocurrency rose nearly 4 per cent to as high as $59,664, its highest since mid-April. It has doubled in value this year and is near April’s record high of $64,895. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is poised to allow the first US bitcoin futures ETF to begin trading next week, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. - Business Line

🍒 RBI Guv to IMF, World Bank: Will remain accommodative in monetary policy : India, which is experiencing robust economic recovery although uneven across sectors, has decided to remain accommodative in its monetary policy, the Reserve Bank of India Governor told the international community on Thursday. India is witnessing a very robust economic recovery, but there is still unevenness across sectors, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said in his address to the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. - Business Line

🍒 Karnataka Bank to get Centenary building : Foundation stone for the establishment of the centenary building of Karnataka Bank was laid in Mangaluru on Friday. Established in 1924, the bank will observe its Centenary Year during the financial year 2023-24.  To be constructed adjacent to the present Head Office premises of the bank in Mangaluru, the proposed new building will be of 2.41 lakh sq ft of area. Laying the foundation stone for the centenary building, Mahabaleshwara MS, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Karnataka Bank, said the bank has always travelled ahead of time to cater to the varying demands of the customers from all walks of life. - Business Line

🍒 Unity Small Finance Bank plans to tap 100 million Payback users : Unity Small Finance Bank (SFB), promoted by the Centrum-BharatPe combine, is looking to target over 100 million members of Payback - a loyalty programme company BharatPe acquired in June - to become a digital bank. Jaspal Bindra, chairman of Centrum Capital, had said that the proposed business model is one of collaboration and open architecture, to deliver a seamless digital experience, and aspire to be India’s first digital bank. Elaborating on the bank's approach on a digital platform, Ashneer Grover, co-founder and managing director, BharatPe, said it would need all possible digital channels, including Payback's 100-million-plus customer base. "This will be done within what the regulatory framework allows us to do at arm's length. This (Payback) is an independent business,” said Grover. - Business Standard

🍒 Public insurers lost 30% motor segment business since FY18: Care Ratings : Even as the motor insurance segment, which had a massive decline in FY21, is returning to the growth path, public sector general insurers have been steadily losing ground to the private insurers overall and more so in the bread and butter motor segment, with pie crimping to 32.6 per cent in August, down from 36.6 per cent a year ago. As against this, the private sector has improved their market pie to 67.4 per cent in the reporting month from 63.4 per cent in the same period last year, shows an analysis of the monthly data by Care Ratings. - Business Standard

🍒 Sensex jumps 50% from last Dussehra to scale 61,000 mark. 169 stocks give multibagger returns : India’s equity markets have generated huge wealth for investors since Dussehra last year as the benchmark indices scaled new highs, even though there was a pause in April-May due to the second Covid-19 wave.  The BSE Sensex has rallied more than 50 percent since last Dussehra on October 25, 2020, to surpass the 61,000 milestone on October 14, a day before Dussehra celebrations across the country this year. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 The 4 largest US consumer banks posted another strong quarter this week as the rebounding economy allowed them to release more cash they had set aside for pandemic losses, while sizzling deals, equity financing and trading also boosted their bottom lines. JPMorgan Chase & Co, Citigroup, Well Fargo & Co and Bank of America Corp, seen by analysts and economists as bellwethers of the broader economy, reported a combined profit of $28.7 billion for the third quarter, beating analyst estimates. - Moneycontrol

🍒 Max Life seeks IRDAI nod to launch subsidiary ; Max Life Insurance (MLI) has sought insurance regulator IRDAI’s approval to set up a subsidiary to undertake pension fund management business, said Prashant Tripathy, Managing Director & CEO. Pension regulator PFRDA had recently granted approval to MLI to become a sponsor of a pension fund manager. - Business Line

🍒 RBI approves appointment of Pradeep Kumar Panja as Chairman of Karnataka Bank : Karnataka Bank Ltd has received approval from the Reserve Bank of India to appoint Pradeep Kumar Panja, an Independent Director of the bank, as part-time non-executive Chairman with effect from November 14, for a period of three years. He will succeed P Jayarama Bhat, who will complete his term on November 13. Pradeep Kumar Panja retired as Managing Director (Corporate Banking) of State Bank of India (SBI). Prior to this, he also held the post of Managing Director of State Bank of Travancore for about a year. - Business Line

🍒 IL&FS seeks NCLT approval to place Rs 4,000 crore of assets in InvIT : The IL&FS group has sought approval from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to move five highway assets of the beleaguered group to an infrastructure investment trust (InvIT). An independent assessment has valued the projects at Rs 4,000 crore, said a company spokesman while confirming the development. The valuation is a regulatory requirement under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) rules. With the NCLT approval, a total of 11 projects would be ready for monetisation through the InvIT route. The first tranche of six projects valued at around Rs 9,200 crore already have the NCLT approval. - Business Standard.

Banking and Financial News Update for 14 October 2021

14.10.2021 : Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 PNB reduces gold loan interest rates: : Punjab National Bank (PNB) has announced that it has reduced interest rates on loans against gold jewellery and Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) by 145 basis points (bps); this is part of its festive season offerings. According to a press release issued by PNB, the bank is now offering loans against Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) at 7.20% and loans against gold jewellery at 7.30%. "Additionally, PNB has slashed the home loan rate which now starts from 6.60%, while customers can avail car loans starting from 7.15% and personal loans from 8.95%," stated the release. - Economic Times

🍒 Dish TV board cites rules, rejects YES Bank's demands to hold EGM : The board of Dish TV Ltd (DTL) rejected on Wednesday, YES Bank's demand to hold an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to consider resolutions, citing regulatory limitations and absence of prior approvals from the government and lenders. Private lender YES Bank, which holds 25.93 per cent stake stake in DTL, had sought the removal of DTL directors Jawahar Lal Goel and others, and appointment of the bank's own nominees. - Business Standard.

🍒 Shivalik Small Finance Bank partners with Go Digit Insurance : Shivalik Small Finance Bank on Tuesday announced a strategic partnership with Bengaluru-based insurtech company, Go Digit General Insurance, to provide an array of instant, easy-to-understand insurance products through the bank’s network of branches across India. This will include health insurance plans, motor insurance, and home and shop insurance. This partnership will enable over 4.5 lakh customers of Shivalik Small Finance Bank to instantly access and purchase from Digit’s list of offerings, through paperless processes, in real time. - Business Line

🍒 Government announces conversion of two G-Secs into six FRBs : The government on Wednesday announced the conversion or switch of two Government Securities (G-Secs), both maturing in 2022 and aggregating ₹36,000 crore (face value) into six floating rate bonds (FRBs) maturing between 2028 and 2034. Thus, the government does not have to redeem the aforementioned G-Secs on their maturity dates — April 13, 2022 (for the security carrying 5.09 per cent coupon rate) and August 02, 2022 (for the security carrying 8.08 per cent coupon rate). Redemption pressure on the government is alleviated to the extent of the face value of the securities being converted or switched. - Business Line

🍒 Mobikwik sees ‘BNPL’ as its fastest growing business segment : IPO-bound One Mobikwik Systems (Mobikwik) sees it’s ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ product — which enjoys higher margins — as a major growth driver and it’s fastest growing business segment in the days to come, said Co-founder Upasana Taku. This digital financial services firm is also aiming to launch its ₹1,900 crore initial public offering (IPO) by this month end, Taku told BusinessLine in an interview. - Business LIne

🍒 PhonePe and NBBL partner to launch ClickPay : Digital payment platform PhonePe has, in association with NPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd (NBBL), launched ClickPay for its customers. ClickPay is a unique payment link that enables customers to make recurring online bill payments (electricity, water, gas, loan, etc) and removes the need to remember tedious account details associated with each biller or service. This link sent by the biller will lead the customer directly to the payment page, fetching the bill amount instantly. - Business Line

🍒 Shriram Housing gets ₹300-cr equity capital from parent firm : Shriram Housing Finance Ltd (SHFL) on Wednesday said it has received the second round of equity capital infusion of ₹300 crore from parent company, Shriram City Union Finance (Shriram City). With this round, the total equity infusion in FY22 stands at ₹500 crore, SHFL said in a statement. The current infusion will increase Shriram City’s holding in SHFL from 81 per cent to 85.02 per cent. SHFL is an affordable housing finance company with Assets Under Management (AUM) of about ₹4,000 crore as of June 2021. - Business Line

🍒 U GRO Capital and Kinara Capital enter into strategic co-origination partnership : U GRO Capital and Kinara Capital have entered into a strategic co-origination partnership to offer collateral-free business loans to small business entrepreneurs in India. Together, both companies plan to disburse ₹100 crores by the end of FY22 to MSMEs in manufacturing, trading and services sectors, per a joint statement. “Available financing for MSMEs will range from ₹1 lakh to ₹30 lakh with tenure ranging from 12–60 months. “Financing can be availed for working capital and asset purchase directly from Kinara Capital, and women-led businesses receive an automatic, upfront discount with the HerVikas program,” according to the statement. - Business Line

🍒 RBI imposes monetary penalty on The Sahyadri Sahakari Bank : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on October 13 imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 3 lakh on Mumbai-based The Sahyadri Sahakari Bank Limited over non-compliance with RBI directions on Frauds - Classification and Reporting, the central bank said in a release. The inspection report of the bank with the bank's position as of March 31, 2019, revealed the bank had not transferred unclaimed amounts in accounts for more than ten years to Depositor Education and Awareness Fund (DEA Fund). Further, the bank had reported frauds to RBI with an inordinate delay. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 Banks' loan growth picks up pace at 3-5%, asset quality stress to remain elevated in Q2 : As the economy revives post deadly second wave of COVID-19, backed by festive demand and season, banks have started seeing growth in their loan disbursals.  In the second quarter of FY22, data released by lenders reveal the loan growth has been around 3-5 percent on a sequential basis. India’s largest private sector bank, HDFC Bank, saw a 4.4 percent sequential growth in its loans and advances. Its outstanding advances were at Rs 11,98,500 crore in the September quarter as compared to Rs 11,47,700 crore in the June quarter of FY22. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 Rupee recovers 15 paise to close at 75.37 against US dollar : The rupee on Wednesday rebounded by 15 paise to close at 75.37 (provisional) against the US dollar following a rally in domestic equities and weak American currency in the overseas markets. In addition, lower crude prices also supported the rupee sentiment, forex deals said. At the interbank forex market, the rupee opened strong at 75.29 against the greenback. During the session, the domestic unit swung between 75.19 and 75.51. On Tuesday, the rupee had closed at 75.52 against the dollar

🍒 M-cap of BSE-listed companies at fresh record high of over Rs 270.73 lakh crore ; Helped by the ongoing rally in equities, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies has reached a fresh record high of Rs 2,70,73,296.03 crore on Wednesday. Rallying for the fifth straight session on Wednesday, the 30-share BSE benchmark jumped 452.74 points or 0.75 per cent to settle at its all-time closing high of 60,737.05. During the day, it rallied 552.32 points to its intra-day all-time high of 60,836.63. In five trading days, the BSE benchmark index has gained 1,547.32 points. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 Sensex, Nifty up nearly 1% after fresh highs, Nifty tops 18,100 : At 1 pm, the BSE Sensex was trading at 60,748.56, up 464.25 points or 0.77 per cent, near its new all-time high of 60,755.70. It recorded an intraday low of 60,452.29. The Nifty 50, after recording a fresh high of 18,162.90, was trading at 18,156.85, up 164.90 points or 0.92 per cent. It recorded an intraday low of 18,050.75. Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Titan, Powergrid and Tata Consumer were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while Maruti, ONGC, Hindustan Unilever, Coal India and Eicher Motor were the top laggards.

Banking and Financial News for October 12, 2021

12.10.2021 : Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 CBI files FIR against company, its directors for cheating SBI-led consortium of over Rs 862 cr : The CBI has registered an FIR against Trimax IT Infrastructure and Services Ltd and its directors for allegedly cheating the State Bank of India-led consortium to the tune of over Rs 862.06 crore between 2009 and 2017, officials said on Monday. The agency has also named TIISL managing director Surya Prakash Madrecha and director Chandra Prakash Madrecha as accused in the FIR, they said. Following the FIR, the agency conducted searches at nine locations, including residential and office premises of the accused at Mumbai, Kolhapur etc, CBI Spokesperson RC Joshi said. - Economic Times

🍒 EoI for strategic sale of IDBI by Dec: DIPAM Secretary : The government intends to come out with Expression of Interest (EoI) for strategic disinvestment of IDBI Bank by December.  “Our preparation for Expression of Interest (EOI) has begun and our target is to issue that by December,” Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), told BusinessLine in an interview. Government of India (GoI) and LIC together own more than 94 per cent of equity of IDBI Bank (GoI 45.48 per cent, LIC 49.24 per cent). LIC is currently the promoter of IDBI Bank with Management Control and GoI is the co-promoter - Business Line

🍒 Bank credit to grow at 7.5- 8.0 per cent for FY’22: CARE Ratings : The outlook for bank credit growth is expected to be in the range of 7.5 per cent to 8.0 per cent for FY22 on the back of a low base effect, economic expansion, extended Emergency Credit (ECLGS) support, and retail credit push, according to CARE Ratings.  On a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, non-food bank credit growth stood at 4.9 per cent in March 2021 as compared to 6.7 per cent in March 2020, per Reserve Bank of India data. “The medium-term prospects look promising with diminished corporate stress and increased provisioning levels across banks. Retail loan segment is expected to do well as compared with industry and service segments,” the credit rating agency said in a report. - Business Line

🍒 Indian Bank to leverage Fisdom tie-up for offering more wealth management products : Indian Bank has said it has expanded the partnership with Fisdom, a fintech player, by adding new digital products to widen the suite of wealth management products for its customers.  In addition to existing products of mutual fund investment and e-NPS, new digital products such as mutual fund HNI advisory products, digital gold and e-tax filing were on-boarded under the association by way of an agreement, according to a statement. Imran Amin Siddiqui, Executive Director, Indian Bank pointed out that the bank’s latest initiatives were part of its efforts to upscale business generation through digital channels both for liability and asset products of the bank. “Considering our rich experience of working with various banks and Indian Bank’s commitment to delivering customer delight, we are confident that the partnership will be able to deliver great products, high quality service and a user-friendly wealth management ecosystem to Indian Bank customers,” said Anand Dalmia, Co-founder, Fisdom. - Business Line

🍒 Bank of Maharashtra slashes lending rate by up to 0.1% : State-owned Bank of Maharashtra on Monday said it has reduced lending rate by up 10 basis points, a move which will make housing, car and other loans cheaper. Repo Linked Lending Rate (RLLR) has been reduced from 6.90 per cent  to 6.80 per cent with effect from October 11, 2021, it said in a statement. Customers availing home, car, education, personal loans along with MSME loan products can avail this benefit, it said. - Moneyccontrol.

🍒 Axis Bank unveils open APIs to help customers use integrated services : Axis Bank has launched open APIs (Application Programming Interface) to facilitate its retail and corporate customers/ partners to use banking services integrated across partner platforms. The API Banking portal has a suite of API products covering 200 plus retail APIs across cards, deposits, accounts, loans, 51 corporate APIs across payments, trade, collections, bill payments as well as cross-cutting APIs, India’s third largest private sector bank said in a statement. - Business Line

🍒 RBI may hike rates in March quarter of 2022; coal and chip shortages a worry: Report : The Reserve Bank is likely to change the stance of its monetary policy and hike rates from the first quarter of 2022, a Japanese brokerage said on Monday. The central bank will start with liquidity normalisation moves this month, narrowing the difference between the rate at which it funds the system and at which it absorbs excess liquidity in December, Nomura said.  The brokerage upped its consumer price index (CPI) inflation target for 2022 to 5.2 per cent from 5 per cent earlier. - Economic Times

🍒 RBI imposes Rs 30 lakh penalty on Janata Sahakari Bank, Pune : The RBI on Monday said a penalty of Rs 30 lakh has been imposed on Janata Sahakari Bank Ltd, Pune for non-compliance with certain directions. The penalty, the RBI said, has been imposed for non-compliance with specific directions issued by RBI under the Supervisory Action Framework (SAF) and RBI directions on 'Frauds in UCBs: Changes in Monitoring and Reporting mechanism'. The statutory inspection of the bank with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2019, the Inspection Report pertaining thereto, and examination of all related correspondence revealed that the bank had not complied with the directions on exposure to sensitive sectors (real estate) and classification and reporting of frauds, the RBI said. - Economic Times

🍒 RBI retains advisory committee on Srei group companies : The RBI on Monday said it has decided to retain the advisory committee of Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd (SIFL) and Srei Equipment Finance Ltd (SEFL) to advise the administrator in the operations of the two Srei group companies during the corporate insolvency resolution process. After superseding the boards of SIFL and SEFL last Monday, the Reserve Bank had appointed a three-member advisory committee to assist Rajneesh Sharma, administrator of the two crisis-ridden firms. The members of the committee are: R Subramaniakumar (Former MD & CEO, Indian Overseas Bank), T T Srinivasaraghavan (Former Managing Director, Sundaram Finance Limited), and Farokh N Subedar (Former Chief Operating Officer and Company Secretary, Tata Sons Limited). - Economic times

🍒 I-bankers make $761 million in advisory fees during Jan-Sept; lowest in three years, says report : Despite deal making scaling past a three-year-high level during the first nine months of the year at over USD 90 billion, investment bankers' advisory fees fell to USD 761.5 million during the period, the lowest in three years, according to a report. SBI Caps tops the underwriting fees league table with 8.6 per cent wallet share or USD 65.7 million, followed by Morgan Stanley (6.3 per cent with USD 48.1 million) and JPMorgan (6.2 per cent pie with USD 47.5 million) during the first nine months of the year 2021, according to a report by financial markets data provider Refinitiv, is an entity owned by the London Stock Exchange Group. - Economic times

🍒 IIFL Finance launches instant business loan on WhatsApp : IIFL Finance has launched instant business loan on WhatsApp, whereby users of the latter will be able to avail loan up to ₹10 lakh with minimum documentation and get approval in five minutes.  The retail-focussed non-banking finance company (NBFC), in a statement, claimed that it has become the first NBFC in the country to launch instant business loan on WhatsApp. WhatsApp’s 45 crore-plus users across India can avail a 24x7 loan facility to get a loan in under ten minutes from IIFL Finance, per the statement. - Business Line

🍒 Rupee slumps 37 paise to 75.36 against US dollar : The rupee tumbled by 37 paise close at a 15-month low of 75.36 against the US dollar on Monday as rising crude oil prices and a stronger American currency in the overseas market weighed on investor sentiment. The Indian currency for the first time this year settled below the 75 level. The unit had closed at 74.99 on Friday. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened lower at 75.11 and witnessed an intra-day high of 75.06 and a low of 75.39 against the US dollar in day trade. - Business Line

🍒 ICAI against exempting small firms from mandatory statutory audit ; The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has defended its stance, saying it is not for exempting micro, small, and medium firms from mandatory statutory audit and that the National Fin­an­cial Regulatory Authority has no jurisdiction over MSMEs. ICAI said the audit is a preventive check on companies, whether small or big, which enjoy limited liability of their shareholders. “It is not within its purview to propose whether an audit of a particular class of companies is required or not. However, we may look at merits in having audits of these companies,” Nihar N Jambusaria, president, ICAI, in response to email queries. - Business Standard

🍒 Finance companies sell Rs 25,000 cr loans in Q2FY22, up 65% year-on-year : Non-banking finance companies and housing finance firms (HFCs) sold loans worth Rs 25,000 crore through the securitisation and direct assignment (DA) in the second quarter (Q2FY22), up 65 per cent over the same period last year. Sequentially, volume of activity was 45 per cent over Rs 17,200 crore in June 2021 quarter (Q1FY22).  Reflecting receding investor concerns about collections, the share of DA moved back to the normal trend of two-third of volumes Q2FY22 from 50 per cent in quarter ended June 2022 (Q1FY22), according to rating agency Icra. - Business Standard

🍒 RBI issues revised operational guidelines on on-tap SLTRO scheme for SFBI : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday issued revised operational guidelines on the special long-term repo operations (SLTRO) scheme for small finance banks (SFBs). In the monetary policy announced last week, the RBI had extended the on-tap SLTRO for SFBs till December 31, 2021. This facility was earlier made available till October 31, 2021.The RBI in a statement on Monday said all SFBs eligible under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) can participate in the scheme."There is no tenure restriction regarding lending by SFBs under the scheme. However, the SFBs will have to ensure that the amount borrowed from the RBI should at all times be backed by lending to the specified segments till maturity of the SLTRO," the statement said. - Business Standard

🍒 Air India divestment: Tata to retain all employees for 1 year, offer VRS in second year : The central government has clarified that Tata Sons, the successful bidder for Air India, will have to retain all employees of the airline for one year. For retrenching employees after this period, the company will have to offer them a voluntary retirement scheme. “The winning bidder will retain all employees, which means they will not retrench anybody for a period of one year. Thereafter, for the second year, if anybody is to be retrenched or removed, they will be offered a VRS," said Civil Aviation Secretary Rajeev Bansal on Friday while announcing the new owner of the embattled carrier. - Live Mint

🍒 PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm retain UPI market share, even as WhatsApp transactions double : The top three in the digital payments space using the UPI platform maintained their market share ahead of the festive season despite WhatsApp doubling its transactions. PhonePe stayed the market leader in the United Payments Interface (UPI) segment, followed by PhonePe, Google Pay and Paytm Payments Bank. PhonePe logged in 165 crore transactions in September, amounting to Rs 3.06 lakh crore. The digital payments-to-financial services company commanded a 45 percent share of the volume pie and 47 percent of the value of UPI transactions, according to data by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). - Moneycontrol.

🍒 Gold prices soar to Rs 47,102/10 gm on weaker rupee, silver climbs Rs 410 a kg : Gold prices rose by Rs 122 to Rs 47,102 per 10 gram in the Mumbai bullion market on rupee depreciation and muted global cues. The precious metal was also pressured by surging Treasury yield and strength in the dollar.  The price of 10 gram, 22-carat gold in Mumbai was Rs 43,145 plus 3 percent GST, while 24-carat 10 gram stood at Rs 47,102 plus GST. The 18-carat gold is quoted at Rs 35,327 plus GST in the retail market. Silver prices soared by Rs 410 to Rs 61,490 per kg against its closing price on October 8.

🍒 RBI staff writes to Governor Shaktikanta Das on delay in wage settlement; no resolution yet : All India Reserve Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) has written to Governor Shaktikanta Das seeking intervention in the wage settlement issue of central bank employees. RBI staff wages are decided through a bipartite settlement once in five years through negotiations between management and employee unions. The current round of wage revision is pending since November, 2017. The wage settlement applies to all central bank staff although officers typically get slightly higher revision compared with lower level employees. The Indian central bank has around 12500-13000 employees. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 Sensex, Nifty surrender all gains to end flat; Nifty tops 18K intraday : The Nifty 50, after recording a fresh all-time high of 18,041.95, closed at 17,945.95, up 50.75 points or 0.28 per cent. It hit an intraday low of 17,839.10. The BSE Sensex, which recorded a fresh all-time high of 60,476.13, closed at 60,135.78, up 76.72 points or 0.13 per cent. It recorded an intraday low of 59,811.42. Tata Motors, Coal India, Maruti, Powedgrid and Grasim were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while TCS, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, HCL Tech and Britannia were the top losers.

Banking and Financial News Update for October 11, 2021

11.10.2021 : Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 Punjab National Bank (PNB) launches ‘6S Campaign’. : With India celebrating 75 years of Independence, the Government of India has launched “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav" for various outreach activities on financial services, with the focal theme of ‘Janta Se Jodna’. In line with the above Government’s initiative, Punjab National Bank, as the country’s second-largest Public Sector Bank, has launched a “6S Campaign" encapsulating different schemes such as – Swabhiman, Samruddhi, Sampark and Shikhar, Sankalp and Swagat. The objective is to drive a special awareness campaign for the development of financial services in the country and to accelerate credit growth, improve penetration of social security schemes and drive digital banking push. - Live Mint

🍒 Most PSUs on govt's privatisation list created by private sector: Sanjeev Sanyal : Defending privatisation policy, Principal Economic Adviser Sanjeev Sanyal on Saturday said most of the public sector undertakings (PSUs) that the government intends to sell were actually created by the private sector. Stressing that this government is unapologetic about privatisation, he said "you (Opposition) made the point that this (PSUs) has been built through the blood and sweat of the public sector. So, let me put the record straight on this: Actually much of what we are attempting to privatise were actually built by the private sector." Citing an example, he said Air India was simply taken away from the private sector and nationalised in 1993. "In 1969, banks were simply taken away and nationalised. So, when people say that these institutions were built by the blood and sweat of the Indian bureaucracy, let me point out to you that these things were originally built by private companies," he said at India Today Conclave. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 Uttarakhand: HDFC Bank launches 24 gold loan desks : Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami digitally launched 24 Gold Loan desks by private sector lender HDFC Bank, as reported by Moneycontrol. The CM also launched the Green Card for Char Dham Yatra at the event which will be issued to facilitate easy movement for pilgrims. The facility will allow people to make the most of their idle gold with minimal documentation and transparent charges. The loans will be available for tenures starting from three months up to 24 months. The branches include Kashipur, Rudrapur, Khatima, Sitarganj, Haridwar, Haldwani, Rishikesh, Dehradun among others. - Economic times

🍒 FY22 credit growth turns positive first-time ever : Credit growth turned positive year-to-date (YTD) at 0.1 per cent in September for the first time in 2021-22 (FY22), reflecting gradual pick-up in demand. According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, bank lending rose Rs 7,283 crore till September 24, against a contraction of 1 per cent (or Rs 99,280 crore) on a YTD basis in the same period last fiscal year (2020-21). Outstanding bank credit stood at Rs 109.56 trillion as on September 24. - Business Standard

🍒 Govt initiates process for filling posts of independent directors in PSBs, FIs : The government has initiated the process of filling about 100 vacancies of independent directors in public sector banks and financial institutions to meet regulatory norms of corporate governance. There have been vacancies at the independent director level across the public sector space leading to regulatory non-compliance, sources said. - Live Mint

🍒 FPIs invest Rs 1,997 crore so far in October : Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) remained net buyers to the tune of Rs 1,997 crore so far in October as India continues to be a competitive investment destination from a long-term perspective.  As per depositories data, Rs 1,530 crore was invested by FPIs in equities and Rs 467 crore into the debt segment between October 1-8. The total net investment stood at Rs 1,997 crore. FPIs have been net buyers for two consecutive months and have invested Rs 26,517 crore in September and Rs 16,459 crore in August. - Business Line

🍒 Court takes cognisance of charge sheet against Avantha Group promoter Gautam Thapar : A Delhi court on Saturday took cognisance of a charge sheet by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against businessman and Avantha Group of companies promoter Gautam Thapar and 20 others in connection with Rs 500 crore money laundering case. Special judge Sanjeev Aggarwal summoned the accused persons and companies on five dates from October 20 to November 30, noting that the presence of such a large number of accused persons and their counsels on a single date may not be conducive for adhering to the Covid SOPs. "I hereby take cognisance of offence as there are sufficient grounds to proceed against the accused persons arraigned in the present complaint," the judge said. - Economic times

🍒 Rupee Bank administrator seeks its merger with another lender : Rupee Co-operative Bank's administrator Sudhir Pandit said on Saturday that he has requested the RBI authorities to merge the city-headquartered bank with another, stronger lender. He had a meeting with Reserve Bank deputy governors Rajeshwar Rao and M P Jain in this regard, he said in a statement here. "Liquidation is not the solution. Instead, we requested for the merger of the bank with another strong bank and protection of the interest of depositors with deposits of over Rs five lakh," Pandit said. - Economic times

🍒 Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank resolution at an advanced stage: RBI : The resolution process for Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank is at an advanced stage, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deputy governor M Rajeshwar Rao said on Friday. In June, the central bank had given in-principle approval to a consortium set up by Centrum Financial Services and BharatPe to acquire the beleaguered co-operative bank. “Centrum and its partner BharatPe have submitted their application for licence and is at an advanced stage of consideration. Once that final licence is approved, we will very shortly be proceeding ahead with the draft scheme and getting the requisite approvals,” Rao said, adding, “So, it is in an advanced stage.” - Financial express

🍒 Industrial loan growth, which has been decelerating during the last decade, turned negative for the first time during 2020-21 as economic activity slowed down in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the latest RBI data. Working capital loans in the form of cash credit, overdraft and demand loans, which accounted for a third of total credit, contracted during 2020-21, the RBI said. The RBI on Friday released data on 'Basic Statistical Return on Credit by Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) in India March 2021'. -Business Standard

🍒 M-cap of 8 of top-10 most valued companies jump Rs 2.32 lakh crore; Reliance Industries lead gainer : Eight of the top-10 most valued companies together added a whopping Rs 2,32,800.35 crore in market valuation last week in-tandem with rally in the broader market, with Reliance Industries and Tata Consultancy Services emerging as the biggest gainers. Last week, the 30-share BSE benchmark rallied 1,293.48 points or 2.20 percent. The benchmark soared past the 60,000 level on Friday. The market valuation of Reliance Industries zoomed Rs 93,823.76 crore to reach Rs 16,93,170.17 crore. Tata Consultancy Services added Rs 76,200.46 crore taking its valuation to Rs 14,55,687.69 crore. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 Over 100 smallcaps jump 10-59%, market jumps 2% on supportive cues : Market recovered all the previous week's losses and jumped 2 percent on the back of positive cues including expectations of better quarterly earnings and in-line RBI policy with no rate change. In the last week, BSE Sensex rose 1293.48 points (2.20 percent) to close at 60,059.06, while the Nifty50 added 363.15 points (2.07 percent) to close at 17,895.20 levels. The broader indices - BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rose 2.4 and 3.9 percent, respectively.