Banking and Financial Update for October 24, 2021

 

 *Financial News Bulletin Dt. 24th October , 2021*

The RBI decided to extend Basel-III Capital framework to All India Financial Institutions (AIFIs) such as EXIM Bank, the NABARD, National Housing Bank (NHB) and the SIDBI. Basel-III standards mainly seek to raise the quality and level of capital to ensure that financial entities are better able to absorb losses on both a going concern and a gone concern basis.

-Business Line

RBI 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

ICICI Bank reported a 30% jump in its standalone net profit for the second quarter of the fiscal with robust growth in net interest income and lower provisions. The bank’s net profit was ₹5,510.95 crore for the quarter ended Sept 30, 2021 as against ₹4,251.33 crore in the same period last fiscal.

-Business Line

Fintech platform Razorpay has announced a new tokenisation solution for businesses in India to enable their end-customers to continue experiencing the convenience of saved card transactions, now with added security and in compliance with RBI guidelines. The solution termed ‘Razorpay TokenHQ’ is a multi- network Card- on-File (CoF) Tokenisation solution that will work across all major card networks including Mastercard, RuPay, and Visa.

-Business Line

The country's foreign exchange reserves rose by $1.492 billion to reach $641.008 billion in the week ended October 15, RBI data showed. In the previous week ended October 8, the reserves had increased by $2.039 billion to $639.516 billion. The reserves had touched a lifetime high of $642.453 billion in the week ended Sep 3, 2021.

-Business Standard

Petrol and diesel prices were hiked for the fourth consecutive day  today by 35 paise per litre, pushing the total increase in rates on petrol to ₹36 per litre and on diesel to ₹26.58 since early May 2020 when taxes on the two fuels were raised to record levels. Petrol in Delhi now costs ₹107.24 a litre and diesel comes for ₹95.97, according to a price notification of State-owned fuel retailers.

-Business Line

Banking and Financial Update for October 20, 2021

 20.10.2021 : Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 SBI board wanted letter of support from govt before approving Jet Airways resolution plan: Rajnish Kumar : SBI's board members were keen on a letter of support from the government before giving nod to the resolution plan of crisis-ridden Jet Airways, the bank's former chairman Rajnish Kumar has said. In his book titled 'The Custodian of Trust', Kumar said dealing with the Jet Airways issue was the one of the most difficult assignments that he had faced during his eventful term as the head of the country's largest lender. Most of the banks were extremely reluctant to support a resolution plan for Jet Airways, he wrote, while recalling the developments with regard to the resolution plan of the airline which unfortunately could not get through as promoters were not able to fulfil the required conditions in the stipulated time. "For me too, this was one of the most challenging cases with even the SBI board being uncomfortable in backing me on this issue, not because I did not enjoy their support or goodwill but because they felt that it posed a huge risk to the reputation of the bank.  - Economic Times

🍒 HDFC Bank suspends employees held for attempts of unauthorised withdrawal from high-value NRI account: HDFC Bank has suspended the employees who were arrested by the Delhi Police for alleged involvement in attempts of unauthorised withdrawal from high-value NRI account. "Basis the FIR, police has arrested suspects including bank staff. We have suspended bank staff pending outcome of the investigation," the bank said in a statement on Tuesday. "Our systems detected unauthorised and suspicious attempts to transact in certain accounts. Basis the system alerts, we reported the matter to law enforcement agencies for further and necessary investigation, and lodged an FIR," added the bank. - Economic Times

🍒 Axis Bank bets big on merchant acquiring : Private sector lender Axis Bank has outlined an ambitious strategy for merchant acquisition and onboarding and has begun small ticket lending to them. Axis Bank is now the third-largest point of sale (PoS) acquiring bank in the payments acceptance business in the country with an installed base of 7.09 lakh PoS devices. The bank processes around ₹20,000 crore of volumes per month as on August 31, 2021. Sanjeev Moghe, EVP and Head, Cards and Payments, Axis Bank said the bank has about 15 per cent market share in terminals and expects it to grow further. “Every terminal comes with a current account for the merchant and that means that at some ratio, we can lend to the merchant,” he said in an interaction with BusinessLine. - Business Line

🍒 Axis Bank to waive 12 EMIs on select home loans under festive offer : Private sector lender Axis Bank on Tuesday announced waiver of 12 EMIs on select home loan products, and discounts on various online purchases as part of its festival offer. Axis Bank is offering waivers of 12 EMIs on select home loan products and providing on-road finance without any processing fee for two-wheeler customers, it said in a release. For business owners, it will offer several benefits on term loans, equipment loan and commercial vehicle finance. Announcing the launch of 'Dil se Open Celebrations : kyunki Diwali roz roz nahi aati', the bank said it will offer deals and discounts on shopping in restaurants and other retail loan products on purchases made through Axis Bank debit and credit cards. - Economic Times

🍒 Banks hire for $93 billion India, Southeast Asia tech deal hunt : Investment banks are boosting their technology hiring in Southeast Asia and India as the region’s fast-growing consumer internet markets catch up with their peers, pushing deals to new heights. Global lenders Barclays Plc and Citigroup Inc. have created new senior roles, while regional and boutique players are staffing up to capture a surge of activity in mergers and acquisitions and initial public offerings. “Every single investment bank is looking to hire technology, media and telecommunications bankers,” said Anand Menon, managing director of Executive Principles, a head-hunting firm in India. “TMT is an animal producing multiple babies. We need new-age bankers who think like entrepreneurs to cover them with the same speed as these startups.” - Economic Times

🍒 Indian banks face rise in bad loans to 8-9% of lending: CRISIL : Indian banks are likely to see a rise in gross non-performing assets (NPA) to 8-9% of total lending at the end of this fiscal year from 7.5% last year, rating agency CRISIL said in a report on Tuesday. The rises will be led by retail clients and the micro, small and medium (MSME) segments, said Krishnan Sitaraman, senior director and deputy chief ratings officer, noting they represent 40% of total bank credit. "Stressed assets in these segments are seen rising to 4-5% and 17-18%, respectively, by this fiscal year-end (March 2022). The numbers would have trended even higher but for write-offs, primarily in the unsecured segment," Sitaraman said. - Economic Times

🍒 Moody's upgrades outlook for Indian banks : Global ratings firm Moody's has revised the outlook for the Indian banking system to stable from negative following its upgrade of India's sovereign outlook two weeks ago. Besides receding asset quality concerns since the onset of the pandemic, declining credit costs as a result of improving asset quality is expected to result in higher profitability. Also, capital will remain above pre-pandemic levels, the global rating firm said. - Economic Times

🍒 Govt sanctions ad hoc bonus to employees for FY21 : The government has sanctioned non-productivity linked or ad hoc bonus for central government employees for fiscal year 2020-21. In an office memorandum, the Department of Expenditure under the Finance Ministry said the employees of central para military forces and armed forces too would be eligible for the bonus. Employees who were in service as on March 31, 2021, and have rendered at least six months of continuous service during 2020-21 fiscal year would be eligible for this ad hoc bonus. - Economic Times

🍒 India ranks 40th out of 43 global pension systems, as per survey : India has ranked 40th out of 43 pension systems across the world in the 2021 Mercer CFS Global Pension Index survey, suggesting the need for strategic reforms in India to revamp the pension system so as to ensure adequate retirement income. India had stood at 34th position out of 39 pension systems rated in 2020.  According to the survey, India had an overall index value of 43.3 among the countries analysed, lower than the index value of 45.7 for 2020. Globally, Iceland was ranked highest with an overall index value of 84.2 while Thailand had the lowest overall index value at 40.6. - Economic Times

🍒 Financial stability taken care of under flexible inflation targeting regime: RBI research : Financial stability is well taken care of in the RBI's flexible inflation targeting regime and it need not be a separate explicit monetary policy goal, according to a research paper by RBI economists. The present flexible inflation targeting (FIT) regime in India envisages policy action to ensure price stability, ‘while being mindful of the growth objective’. "The empirical results show that through a proper co-ordination between monetary and macroprudential policies, the financial stability goals are implicitly met under the FIT regime without diluting the inflation targeting objective" said a research paper by RBI economists in the latest monthly bulletin. - Economic Times

🍒 Utkarsh Small Finance Bank forays into Tamil Nadu : Utkarsh Small Finance Bank on Tuesday announced the inauguration of its first branch at Chennai in Tamil Nadu.  The branch is located at Ashok Nagar in the city. “We are pleased to set our footprint in the state of Tamil Nadu with our first branch in the vibrant city of Chennai. The location augurs well and is of prime importance in the overall strategic plan of expansion and growth of the Bank. The city has been the hub of trade, manufacturing, and commerce and has numerous factors that contribute towards the growth of commerce and trade in the country,” Govind Singh, MD & CEO, Utkarsh Small Finance Bank said in a press release. - Business Line

🍒 PhonePe transactions grew 33.6% between July and September : During July to September 2021, PhonePe saw 33.6 per cent growth in transactions from the previous quarter at 526.5 crore, while the value of transactions grew 23.3 per cent to ₹9,21,674 crore. According to the Q3 (July-September) 2021 data released on PhonePe Pulse — an interactive website with digital payment data, insights and trends in India — money transfers with UPI and merchant payments clocked 221 crore and 231 crore transactions, respectively. Further, offline merchant payments grew faster than online, 65 per cent higher than the previous quarter, marking a period of recovery after the second wave of the pandemic and the rapid reopening of stores. - Business Line

🍒 Bitcoin investing could get boost from exchange-traded fund : ProShares said Monday it plans to launch the country’s first exchange-traded fund linked to Bitcoin. The ETF with the ticker symbol “BITO” is expected to begin trading Tuesday, barring any opposition from regulators. In a statement, ProShares CEO Michael Sapir compared the launch of a crypto-linked ETF to the 1993 launch of the first stocks ETF and the 2002 roll-out of the initial bond ETF. The US market for ETFs has grown to more than $5.4 trillion and they’re owned by roughly 9 per cent of all the nation’s households, according to the Investment Company Institute. - Business Line

🍒 Balasubramanian elected as Chairman of Association of Mutual Funds : Balasubramanian has been elected Chairman of Association of Mutual Funds in India, at the recently concluded board meeting of AMFI. Balasubramanian is Chief Executive Officer of Aditya Birla Sun Life Asset Management. He would take over from Nilesh Shah, Managing Director, Kotak Mutual Fund. - Business Line

🍒 RBI unions ask Guv Shaktikanta Das to break deadlock in wage talks : The United Forum of Reserve Bank of India’s Officers and Employees has written to Governor Shatikanta Das requesting him to break the impasse over wage revision negotiations between the unions and the central bank management which hit a roadblock during the final round of discussions. The revision of wages for all RBI staff is due since November 2017, but has been delayed due to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Discussions started at the end July virtually, but hit a roadblock in the last week of September. In a communication to Das, the United Forum, which represents four unions of RBI employees, said that the negotiations had started at a brisk pace, but were held up for ‘some unexplained reason’. - Business Standard

🍒 ICICI Bank seeks buyers for Rs 338-crore exposure to Soma Infrastructure : ICICI Bank on Monday sought expressions of interest (EoIs) from asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) for its Rs 338-crore exposure to Soma Infrastructure. The asset is being offered on a full-cash basis. Soma Infrastructure is a Hyderabad-based company that owes ICICI Bank over Rs 149 crore in principal dues, and another Rs 189 crore in accrued interest and other charges. In an order dated September 20, the Hyderabad ‘B’ bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal had said that Soma Infrastructure was a subsidiary of Soma Enterprise. “…it is clear that assessee is a subsidiary company and assessee has diverted the funds sanctioned by ICICI Bank to the step down subsidiaries i.e. Beta Infratech P. Ltd. and Soma Jabalpur Rewa Tollway Pvt. Ltd.(SPV),” the tribunal observed in the order. - Financial Express

🍒 The Finance Ministry officially has started the process of preparing the Union Budget 2022-23 with meetings scheduled to firm up the revised estimates for this year and demands for next year. While policymakers in North Block are happy with the strong tax collections on the back of a sustained economic recovery, there is worry about the mounting expenditure burden as well. The Covid-19 relief measures announced in the past six and a half months could increase expenditure for the year by Rs 2.01 lakh crore. -Moneycontrol.com

🍒 Sensex turns choppy as investors book profits : Equity benchmark Sensex turned choppy after rallying past the 62,000-mark in opening trade on Tuesday as investors booked profits at higher levels.  Extending its record-setting run, the 30-share index soared nearly 400 points to touch an all-time high of 62,159.78 in opening deals. It, however, pared early gains in the morning session, as it traded 137.33 points or 0.22 per cent higher at 61,902.92. Similarly, the Nifty was quoting 20.75 points or 0.11 per cent at 18,497.80. It touched a new intra-day record of 18,604.45 in early deals. L&T was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 3 per cent, followed by HUL, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Reliance Industries and Nestle India. - Business Line

🍒 Gold prices climb above Rs 47,500/10 gm on positive global trend, weaker dollar : Gold prices soared above Rs 47,500 per 10 gram on October 19 tracking firm global trend and feeble dollar. The precious metal is trading above $1,780/oz levels breaching the intraday resistance of $1,770-1,773 levels.  The domestic gold market is shut on account of the Eid Milad un Nabi holiday. The price of 10 gram, 22-carat gold in Mumbai settled yesterday at 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 soared by Rs 1,705 to Rs 64,971 per kg in the evening trade. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 Sensex adds 10,000 points in 8 months to cross 62,000 as 53 stocks surge 100-400% : The run-up in the stock markets seems endless. The momentum continued for the eighth consecutive session on October 19, taking the BSE Sensex above the 62,000 mark and helping the Nifty 50 surpass 18,600, following positive global cues and strengthening economic sentiment. The fall in Covid-19 cases and better corporate earnings have also contributed to the current rally. The BSE Sensex surged 428.31 points to 62,193.90 and the Nifty 50 jumped 106.50 points to 18,583.50 at 12:31 hrs IST, taking the gains over eight sessions to over 5 percent. - Business Line.

Banking and Financial Updates for 18 October 2021

 

 18.10.2021 : Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 Bank of India cuts home, vehicle loan rates : State-run Bank of India on Sunday announced a cut in its interest rates on home and vehicle loans by 35 basis point and 50 basis points, respectively. With this cut, the interest rate on home loans starts at 6.50 per cent against earlier 6.85 per cent, and at 6.85 per cent against 7.35 per cent prior on vehicle loans, the bank said in a release. This special rate, which is effective from October 18, 2021, till December 31, 2021, is available for customers applying for fresh loans and also for those seeking transfer of loans, it said. - Economic Times

🍒 Bank of Baroda launches centralised agri-loans processing units : Bank of Baroda (BoB) on Saturday 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 public sector bank said in a statement. - Business Line

🍒 NARCL: Bad bank to soon bring more directors on board : The National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL) better known as bad bank will soon bring more directors on board for better corporate governance. The move aims to ensure fair representation of shareholders as well, sources close to the developments informed. In the beginning of this month, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had given licence to the ₹6,000 crore NARCL led by public sector banks with 51 per cent stake in the entity. There would be shareholders' representation from the private sector banks' side, which will have 49 per cent, sources said. Besides, the central bank of India has asked NARCL to submit details of the full board soon, sources added. - Live Mint

🍒 Sundaram Finance to look at co-lending to add more asset classes: MD Rajiv Lochan : Sundaram Finance that built a lending business by financing truck purchases is preparing for the next phase of growth by funding more asset classes amid a possible boom in rural incomes and the government's infrastructure projects, its chief executive said. While its traditional way of doing business like physical interaction and verification of customers' credit worthiness is unconventional, it would leverage digital, technology and data without compromising on its ethos of safety and customer orientation. - Economic Times

🍒 Gold imports jump multi-fold to USD 24 bn in Apr-Sep : Gold imports, which have a bearing on the current account deficit, zoomed to about USD 24 billion during April-September 2021 due to higher demand in the country, according to data from the Commerce Ministry. Imports of the yellow metal was USD 6.8 billion in the corresponding period last year, the data showed. Gold imports during September this year too rose to USD 5.11 billion as against USD 601.4 million in the same month last year. - Economic Times

🍒 Finance Ministry to seek Cabinet nod for setting up company to monetise land assets of privatisation-bound CPSEs : The finance ministry will soon move the Cabinet to seek approval for setting up a company for transfer and subsequent monetisation of land and non-core assets of privatisation-bound CPSEs, an official said. A special purpose vehicle (SPV) in the form of a company would be set up to hold these assets which would be monetised to fetch value to the exchequer, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said. - Economic Times

🍒 HDFC Bank Q2 net up 17.6% on robust interest income : Private sector lender HDFC Bank’s standalone net profit increased 17.6 per cent in the second quarter of the current fiscal supported by a robust growth in net interest income. For the quarter ended September 30, the bank reported net profit of ₹8,834.3 crore against ₹7,513.11 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.Net interest income grew 12.1 per cent to ₹17,684.4 crore (₹15,776.4 crore). Core net interest margin was at 4.1 per cent. Other income was up 21.5 per cent at ₹7,400.8 crore (₹6,092.5 crore). Provisions and contingencies increased 6 per cent to ₹3,924.7 crore (₹3,703.5 crore). “Total provisions for the current quarter included contingent provisions of approximately ₹1,200 crore,” HDFC Bank said in a statement on Saturday. - Business Line

🍒 Bond yields trend higher despite softer inflation : Benchmark yield closed marginally higher this week despite positive inflation data even as rising crude prices, higher US treasury yields and domestic liquidity factor take precedence. During the monetary policy, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) halted the G-SAP programme while saying it would increase the quantum of VRRR auctions to Rs6 lakh crore by December. The central bank last week conducted an 8-day Variable Rate Reverse Repo auction in which the cut-off yield came in at 3.9 per cent.  - Business Line

🍒 Outward remittances under LRS rose 31% : Outward remittances under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) for individuals rose about 31 per cent year-on-year (yoy) in July 2021 to $1.31 billion, mainly on the back of increase in expenses towards studies and travel, according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data. The remittances were $995.16 million in the year ago period. - Business Line

🍒 Life insurance sees good growth, claims fall post second wave : The life insurance industry is slowly coming back to normal after facing a high claim burden in the first five months of the current fiscal following the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. “The industry is doing well. With every passing month, business is improving. Private sector life insurance companies are doing well and public sector bank-led banca companies are doing especially well,” said Rushabh Gandhi, Deputy CEO, IndiaFirst Life Insurance. - Business Line

🍒 FPIs turn net sellers in capital markets in Oct so far, pull out net Rs 1,472 crore : Foreign portfolio investors (FPI) have turned net sellers in the capital markets in October so far, reversing the trend of net investments in the previous two months, due to depreciation in the rupee and global factors, experts said.  According to the depositories' data, FPIs have pulled out Rs 1,472 crore from capital markets on a net basis in the current month so far. A trend reversal was witnessed in the debt segment in October from the big buying in the previous two months when FPIs had invested Rs 13,363 crore in September and Rs 14,376.2 crore in August. In October so far, they pulled out Rs 1,698 crore. "This trend reversal in debt investment is due to the INR depreciation in October," said VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services. - Business Line

🍒 Gold ETFs attract Rs 446 crore in September : Gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) attracted Rs 446 crore in September and inflow may continue in coming months due to strong demand on the back of festival season in the country.  The was sharply higher than the net inflow of ₹24 crore recorded in the previous month. In July, the category saw a net withdrawal of ₹61.5 crore,data with the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) showed. With this, gold ETF category has received a net inflow of ₹3,515 crore so far. The segment witnessed just one month of net outflows, which was in July. - Business Line

🍒 Mcap of eight of top-10 most valued firms jump over ₹ 1.52 lakh crore : Eight of the top-10 most valued companies together added ₹ 1,52,355.03 crore in market valuation last week, with HDFC Bank and State Bank of India emerging as the biggest gainers. Last week, the BSE benchmark Sensex rallied 1,246.89 points or 2.07 per cent. The benchmark went past the 61,000-mark for the first time ever on Thursday. Leading the gainers' chart, HDFC Bank's valuation jumped ₹ 46,348.47 crore to ₹ 9,33,559.01 crore. - 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 Update for 15 October 2021

 

Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 UCO Bank CEO Atul Kumar Goel appointed chairman of Indian Banks' Association : UCO Bank CEO Atul Kumar Goel has been appointed as chairman of the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) for 2021-22 succeeding Union Bank of India CEO Rajkiran Rai. Last month Goel was shortlisted by the Banks Board Bureau (BBB) to take over as Punjab National Bank (PNB) CEO from January 2022. In the managing committee meeting on Thursday, IBA members also elected State Bank of India chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara, Canara Bank CEO L V Prabhakar and IDBI Bank CEO Rakesh Sharma as deputy chairmen of the IBA. Madhav Nair, country head of Mashreq Bank was elected as honorary secretary of the association. - Economic Times

🍒 Atleast 50% of retail, MSME loans to move to digital lending: Union Bank MD : With digitization gaining pace, close to 50 per cent of retail and MSME loans offered by banks will shift to digital lending platforms over the next two to three years, Union Bank of India's Managing Director and CEO Rajkiran Rai G said on Thursday. Rai said digital lending is changing the banking landscape in a big way because of the availability of data and many ecosystem partners collaborating with banks. "I feel that at least 50 per cent of the loans under retail and MSME segments will move to the digital lending platforms, right from sourcing to documentation level, in two to three years," Rai said while speaking at Sibas 2021, an annual banking and finance conference. - Business Standard

🍒 RBI approves reappointment of Amitabh Chaudhry as MD & CEO of Axis Bank : The Reserve Bank on India (RBI) on October 14 approved the reappointment of Amitabh Chaudhry as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Axis Bank. The private sector lender, in a regulatory filing, confirmed that it has received the central bank's nod to reappoint Chaudhry as the MD and CEO for another three-year period. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 RBI withdraws restrictions on Hindu Cooperative Bank, Pathankot : The RBI on Thursday withdrew all restrictions imposed on Hindu Cooperative Bank Limited, Pathankot. The Reserve Bank had issued directions stipulating certain restrictions on the bank in March 2019. The directions were modified from time to time and were last extended up to October 24, 2021. "The Reserve Bank of India on being satisfied that in the public interest it is necessary to do so...hereby, withdraws with effect from close of business on October 14, 2021, the said directions so issued to Hindu Cooperative Bank Limited, Pathankot, Punjab," it said in a statement. - Economic Times

🍒 PMC Bank fraud case: HC rejects Rakesh Wadhawan's medical bail plea : The Bombay High Court on Thursday refused to grant bail on health grounds to jailed businessman Rakesh Wadhawan, accused of money laundering in the multi-crore Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank fraud case. Wadhawan, founder of Housing Development Infrastructure Limited (HDIL), was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in 2019 in the case. A single bench presided over by Justice Nitin Sambre said that Wadhawan's submission that he was immediately required to be released on temporary bail on medical ground, was "not justified". - Economic Times

🍒 Five banks may bid for Citi's India consumer businesses : Five top lenders, including HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank, are expected to submit binding bids for the Citi India consumer businesses before the October 26 deadline, two officials aware of the development told ET. Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank and DBS India are also in contention for the businesses Citi is exiting in India. Although the US lender is seeking a valuation in excess of $2 billion, the bids could be more circumspect after Citi lost significant market share in its retail and credit card books, one of the executives cited above said. HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank, two of India's top three most valued private sector lenders, are considered front-runners to win the business that generates about $1 billion in revenue. - Economic Times

🍒 PhonePe revenue up 85%, losses down 44% in FY21 : PhonePe, a digital payments platform backed by US-based retailer Walmart Inc and homegrown ecommerce entity Flipkart, has reported revenue from operations of Rs 690 crore in the previous financial year, a jump of 85%, according to its latest regulatory documents sourced by ET. PhonePe, which competes with Paytm, Google Pay and Amazon Pay, has reported marginally lower net loss of Rs 1,727 crore for the period. Excluding a one-time allocation for employee stock options, the loss is around Rs 884 crore, down around 44%. The narrowed losses is an outcome of PhonePe cutting operational costs. It has significantly reduced its marketing and promotional spends, by around 47%, to about Rs 535 crore from Rs 1,016 crore in FY20. - Economic Times

🍒 Capital account convertibility: India on the cusp of fundamental shifts, says RBI Dy Guv : India is on the cusp of fundamental shifts in the capital account convertibility space, with increased market integration in the offing and freer non-resident access to debt on the table, according to T Rabi Sankar, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI). In this regard, Sankar observed that there is an effort to liberalise foreign portfolio investment (FPI) debt flows further, with the introduction of the Fully Accessible Route (FAR), which places no limit on non-resident investment in specified benchmark securities. - Business Line

🍒 Securitisation volume more than doubled to Rs 50,000 cr in H1 FY22: Report ; Securitisation volume more than doubled to Rs 50,000 crore in the first half of the current fiscal year, Crisil Ratings said in a report. The volume zoomed to Rs 20,000 crore in September 2021, growing around 85 per cent year-on-year, marking a clear recovery from the subdued activity seen in the beginning of this fiscal due to the pandemic's second wave, the agency said in a report. It said the investors are getting reassured by the return to near normalcy across businesses and improvement in collection ratios in securitised pools and portfolios of originators. Crisil's senior director and deputy chief ratings officer Krishnan Sitaraman said market activity typically suffers in times of uncertainty like in the pandemic's wake. - Business Standard

🍒 Rupee gains 12 paise to 75.25 against US dollar in early trade : The Indian rupee appreciated 12 paise to 75.25 against the US dollar in opening trade on Thursday, buoyed by heavy buying in domestic equities and fresh foreign fund inflows. Weakness of the American currency in the overseas market also helped the domestic unit, forex dealers said. However, higher crude prices restrained the rupee to gain momentum, they added. At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened strong at 75.27 against the US dollar, then gained further ground to 75.25, registering a rise of 12 paise against the previous close. - Business Line

🍒 Still strong bias for cash payment; need to reassess PSS Act: Report : The pandemic forced an inevitable shift to digital payments but Indians continue to have a strong bias for cash payments, a report said. Due to the emergence of disruptive technologies leading to technology led payment solutions, there is a need to reassess the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (PSS), a key enabler for promoting digital transactions, the report by Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy said. The Act was enacted more than a decade back when the digital payments market in India was at its nascent stage and the law was primarily enacted to regulate payment systems from a systemic perspective and to confer the RBI with necessary powers to regulate these systems, it said. - Financial Express

🍒 PNB Housing terminates deal with Carlyle-led investor group ; The board of PNB Housing Finance Ltd has terminated a Rs 4,000-crore fund raising deal with a Carlyle-led group of investors citing pending legal issues which may delay regulatory approvals. Subsequently, Pluto Investments, a Carlyle entity will be initiating the process to withdraw an open offer made by them, the finance company said in a notice to stock exchanges. The Securities and Exchange Board of India had asked PNB Housing to halt a preferential allotment of shares and warrants to entities including Pluto investments, an affiliate of the Carlyle Group, General Atlantic, Salisbury Investments Private Ltd. and Alpha Investments to raise Rs 4,000 crore - Financial Express

🍒 Gold prices rise above Rs 48,000 per 10 gm ahead of Dussehra; silver soars Rs 1,154 a kg : Gold prices continued uptrend for the eighth consecutive day on October 14, up by Rs 638 to touch Rs 48,125 per 10 gram in the Mumbai bullion market a day before Dussehra, tracking sharp gains in the international market and weak dollar. The precious metal edged closer to $1,800/oz on rising inflation- boosted safe-haven appeal. The bullion soared Rs 1,145 or 2.44 percent in this holiday-shortened week in the domestic market. The price of 10 gram, 22-carat gold in Mumbai was Rs 44,083 plus 3 percent GST, while 24-carat 10 gram stood at Rs 48,125 plus GST. The 18-carat gold is quoted at Rs 36,094 plus GST in the retail market. Silver prices climbed by Rs 1,154 to Rs 63,290 per kg against its closing price on October 13.

🍒 RBI imposes monetary penalty on The Kurla Nagarik Sahakari Bank : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on October 14 imposed a monetary penalty of Rs one lakh on The Kurla Nagarik Sahakari Bank for violation of certain rules. "The penalty is for contravention of Section 26-A read with section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (the Act), the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund Scheme, 2014 (the Scheme) framed under section 26 A of the Act," the RBI said. - Moneycontrol

🍒 Sensex tops 61,000, Nifty moves past 18,300 as bulls take charge : The BSE Sensex, which recorded a fresh all-time high of 61,353.25 during the day, closed at a record high of 61,305.95, up 568.90 points or 0.94 per cent. It hit an intraday low of 60,978.04.  The Nifty 50 closed at 18,338.55, up 176.80 points or 0.97 per cent, after recording a fresh all-time high of 18,350.75. It recorded an intraday low of 18,248.70. Adani Ports, Wipro, Grasim, HDFC Bank and ITC were the top gainers on the Nifty 50, while Coal India, Tata Motors, Eicher Motor, HCL Tech and HDFC Life were the top losers.

Banking and Financial News Update for 13 October 2021

 Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 RBI allows multinational banks to store limited data abroad : Bringing a closure to a contentious issue, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed multinational banks operating in the country to store a limited set of data in offshore servers. Certain fields of static information such as name and address of client, some know-your-customer details along with select transaction particulars like date and amount, name of beneficiary, and reference number can be stored abroad by foreign banks. This was communicated a week ago by the regulator to the Indian Banks' Association (IBA), an industry source told ET. - Economic Times

🍒 Air India sale kicks off major privatisation drive, next up LIC listing, says official : The sale of national carrier Air India to conglomerate Tatas has opened the way for faster privatisation of state firms and the government is on track to list Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) early next year, a top government official said on Tuesday. Tuhin Kanta Pandey, spearheading the drive to sell state enterprises or shut them down, said the government hoped to complete the valuation exercise of LIC by November-December before filing the draft red herring prospectus for the IPO planned by March. - Economic Times

🍒 HDFC Bank inks lease renewal for head office building in Mumbai’s Worli : HDFC Bank has renewed the lease for an entire office building that houses its head office on Dr Annie Besant Road in Mumbai’s Worli locality at a monthly rental of Rs 1.45 crore. The lease tenure for the office where the bank's top officials sit is set at 36 months, taking the total rent payout to over Rs 52.2 crore. The commercial property, Sandoz House, with a basement, ground floor and eight upper floors has a total 64,872 sq ft space. The office building has parking slots for 40 cars. HDFC Bank has paid Rs 3.79 crore as security deposit for the lease, as per documents accessed through real estate data analytics firm CRE Matrix. - Economic Times

🍒 Five foreign investors shortlisted for majority stake in Yes Bank-backed ARC : Five foreign investors have made presentations to the Yes Bank management to form a new joint venture asset reconstruction company (ARC) that will house the lender's bad loans, three people familiar with the development told ET. The investors which have made presentations include Los Angeles based $149-billion Ares-SSG Capital, $15-billion alternative investment firm Varde Partners, US based $55-billion Cerberus Capital and distressed asset giants $156-billion Oaktree Capital and private equity company JC Flowers, people familiar with the move said. - Economic Times

🍒 Kotak Mahindra Bank launches Micro ATMs across India : To deliver essential banking services conveniently to a larger section of consumers living in relatively far-off areas, private lender Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd on Tuesday announced the launch of Micro ATMs across the country. Customers of all banks who possess a debit card can use a Kotak Micro ATM for key banking services such as cash withdrawals and checking account balances. A mini version of an ATM, micro ATMs are small handheld devices. The bank will use its extensive Business Correspondents (BC) network to launch micro ATMs. - Economic Times

🍒 Bank FD to fetch negative real interest with elevated inflation : Senior citizens and others depending upon income from bank fixed deposit (FD) schemes will be at the receiving end with the retail inflation exceeding the interest rates. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest monetary policy review has projected retail inflation at 5.3 per cent for the current financial year. Last week, the RBI said that the Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation is now projected to be at 5.3 per cent for 2021-22 with risks evenly balanced. - Economic Times

🍒 RBI authorises Karur Vysya Bank to collect direct taxes : Private sector Karur Vysya Bank on Tuesday said it has commenced the integration process with the Central Board of Direct Taxes to collect direct taxes on its behalf, following the approval it received from the Reserve Bank. "Reserve Bank of India has authorised Karur Vysya Bank to collect direct taxes on behalf of Central Board of Direct Taxes. Following the approval received, the bank has initiated the integration process with CBDT", the Tamil Nadu based-bank said in a statement. - Economic Times

🍒 Evergrande bond coupon payments crisis intensify contagion fears : As China's Evergrande looks set to miss its third round of bond payments in three weeks, markets remain on edge over contagion fears involving other property developers as a wall of debt payment obligations come due in the near-term. A total of $38.8 billion offshore bonds issued by 40 Chinese developers will be maturing from October to end of 2022, according to brokerage CGS-CIMB, with the next peak of $6.2 billion in payments coming up in January. The deadline for Evergrande's $148 million of coupon payments was 0400 GMT Tuesday, but bondholders hadn't received anything by end of Asian trading on Monday. Markets expect the distressed developer is likely to miss payments again, following two other payments it missed in September. - Business Line

🍒 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

🍒 Saraswat Bank and Axis Securities tie-up to offer a 3-in-1 account to the lender’s customers : Saraswat Bank and Axis Securities (ASL) have come together to offer the bank’s customers a 3-in-1 account that comprises savings, demat and online trading, all in one account. “With this tie-up, Saraswat Bank’s customers can conveniently perform a perfect blend of banking and trading transactions,” the two entities said in a joint statement. This facility will make it easier for customers to transfer funds quickly, reduce paperwork and most importantly, provide a comprehensive platform to invest in various investment instruments like equities, derivatives, currency, commodities, MF, IPO, etc., per the statement. - Busines Line

🍒 AUMs of NBFCs to rise 18–20% y-o-y this fiscal: Crisil Ratings. : Assets under management (AUM) of non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), which primarily offer loans against gold, are expected to rise 18–20 per cent to ₹1.3 lakh crore this fiscal against ₹1.1 lakh crore in FY21, according to Crisil Ratings. The credit rating agency said that this growth would be despite a contraction in the first quarter, when pandemic-driven lockdown measures hindered branch operations and kept potential borrowers away. - Business Line

🍒 RBI debars Haribhakti & Co from undertaking audit assignments in central bank regulated entities : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has debarred Haribhakti & Co. LLP, Chartered Accountants, from undertaking any type of audit assignments in any of the entities regulated by RBI for a period of two years with effect from April 1, 2022.  This is the first case of debarment of a CA firm under section 45MAA of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. “This action has been taken on account of the failure on the part of the audit firm to comply with a specific direction issued by RBI with respect to its statutory audit of a Systemically Important Non-Banking Financial Company,” RBI said in a statement titled “Action against Statutory Auditors of NBFC under section 45MAA of RBI Act, 1934”. - Business Line

🍒 RBI issues SFB licence to Centrum-BharatPe consortium ; The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has on Tuesday issued licence to the consortium of Centrum and BharatPe to set up a small finance bank (SFB). The lender, to be named Unity Small Finance Bank, will start operations in few weeks with atleast Rs 1,500 crore loan book. This SFB will take over the beleaguered urban co-operative lender Punjab and Maharashtra Bank over period. Jaspal Bindra, Chairman of BSE listed Centrum Capital, said with RBI issuing the license, the focus will shift to board formation and building top management team. The bank will become functional before close of calender 2021 and aspires to be India’s first digital bank. - Business Standard

🍒 Bajaj Finserv cuts home loan interest rate to 6.70% per annum : The NBFC Bajaj Finserv Limited announced an interest rate reduction for its home loans today. The rate of interest for salaried and professional applicants now starts from 6.70%* p.a. - 0.05% down from the earlier 6.75%* p.a.Applicants with strong credit and income profiles stand a good chance to be offered this promotional rate, effectively making their home loan EMIs as low as Rs. 645/lakh*. Existing home loan customers can also benefit from this new interest rate by transferring their home loan to Bajaj Finserv.  - Business Standard

🍒 ICICI Bank launches 'Home Utsav'; offers attractive interest rates :  ICICI Bank today announced the launch of ‘Home Utsav’, a virtual property exhibition that digitally showcases real estate projects by renowned developers from key cities across the country. The exhibition offers enhanced convenience to prospective home buyers as they can select their dream home simply by browsing through projects, which are approved by the Bank, and avail exclusive benefits from the comfort of their home and office.   The ‘Home Utsav’ showcases over 350 projects by more than 200 leading developers across 12 cities, namely, Mumbai MMR, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Pune, Nashik, Vadodara, Surat and Jaipur.  - Live Mint

🍒 71 loans cleared during Rana Kapoor’s  tenure turned bad:  ED : At least 71 loan accounts worth more than ₹31,855 crore sanctioned during the tenure of Rana Kapoor, the co-founder and former managing director of Yes Bank, have turned into non-performing assets (NPAs) or non-performing investments NPIs, according to a charge sheet by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The charge sheet, reviewed by Hindustan Times, was filed on 1 October in a Delhi court in connection with irregularities in a loan worth ₹514.27 crore granted to Avantha Group by Yes Bank in 2018. - Live Mint

🍒 RBI cancels registrations of six NBFCs : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on October 12 announced the cancellation of registration (licenses) of six NBFCs. The list includes names such as Cartel Finance and Investments Private Limited,  Alamgir Motor Finance Limited, Nau-Nidh Finance Limited, Kim Investment Limited, Sambandh Finserve Private Limited, and  BTL Holding Company Limited. On April 22, Moneycontrol had reported that RBI had issued a show cause notice to Sambandh Finserve prior to cancelling the license. In a separate announcement, RBI said seven NBFCs have surrendered their Certificate of Registration. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 Gold prices rise to Rs 47,335/10 gm on rupee slide; silver up by Rs 148 : Gold prices climbed for the sixth consecutive day on October 12, up by Rs 233 to touch Rs 47,335 per 10 gram in the Mumbai bullion market, as the rupee slipped and overseas trends remained positive. The precious metal was also supported by a dollar downtick and fall in Treasury yield.  The price of 10 gram, 22-carat gold in Mumbai was Rs 43,359 plus 3 percent GST, while 24-carat 10 gram stood at Rs 47,335 plus GST. The 18-carat gold is quoted at Rs 35,501 plus GST in the retail market. Silver prices rose by Rs 148 to Rs 61,638 per kg against its closing price on October 11. 

🍒 Sensex, Nifty recover in late session to end at record highs : The BSE Sensex closed at a record high of 60,284.31, up 148.53 points or 0.25 per cent. It hit an intraday high of 60,331.74 and a low of 59,885.39. Nifty 50 closed at a record high of 17,991.95, up 46.00 points or 0.26 per cent. Nifty managed to cross the 18,000-mark intraay with a high of 18,008.65. It recorded an intraday low of 17,864.95. Titan, Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finserv, State Bank of India and Divi’s Lab were the top gainers on the Nifty 50, while HCL Tech, HDFC Life, Coal India, Ultratech Cement and Tech Mahindra were the top laggards.

🍒 Rupee extends losses, declines 16 paise to 75.52 : Falling for the third day in a row, the rupee weakened further by 16 paise to end at 75.52 against the US currency on Tuesday, weighed down by a strong greenback in the overseas market and firm crude oil prices.  At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 75.41 and witnessed an intra-day high of 75.16 and a low of 75.66 against the US dollar in day trade. The local unit finally settled at 75.52 a dollar, down 16 paise over its previous closed figure.

Banking and Financial News for October 5, 2021

05.10.2021 : Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 RBI grants licence to NARCL: IBA CEO : The Reserve Bank on Monday gave licence to the Rs 6,000 crore National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (NARCL), a move that will help kickstart operations of the bad bank. NARCL was incorporated in July in Mumbai following registration with the Registrar of Companies (RoC). "Happy to share #RBI has given License to #NARCL on 4.10.2021. The approval has been accorded under Section 3 of #SARFAESI Act 2002," Indian Banks' Association (IBA) CEO Sunil Mehta tweeted. IBA, entrusted with the task of setting up the bad bank, has put a preliminary board for NARCL in place. - Economic times

🍒 SBI, Indian Navy launch NAV-eCash card : State Bank of India and Indian Navy on Monday launched SBI's NAV-eCash card onboard the country's largest naval aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya. The card will obviate the difficulties faced by personnel onboard in handling physical cash during deployment of the ship at high seas, the bank said in a release. The infrastructure at naval ships inhibits traditional payment solutions particularly when the ship is in high seas where there is no connectivity. NAV-eCash card, with its dual-chip technology, will facilitate both online as well as offline transactions, the release said. - Economic times

🍒 Bank of Baroda to anchor its app, bob World, as the main bank : Bank of Baroda is planning to position its digital platform bob World centrally as the main bank, added to which all the other banking channels will function. The public sector lender is taking up a strategy similar to what SBI has been trying to do by integrating all its services on its YONO platform. MD & CEO Sanjiv Chadha told TOI that post the pandemic the bank had seen a spike in digital transactions, and that almost twice the number of branch visits were happening on the app. - Economic times

🍒 HSBC executes blockchain-enabled trade transaction for AMNS and UAE's Universal Tube : Foreign lender HSBC on Monday said it has successfully executed a blockchain-enabled live trade finance transaction between ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India and UAE's Universal Tube and Plastic Industries. Benefits of executing such a transaction include enhancing transparency and security for all parties, and reducing document negotiation cycle time to around one day from a week, it said. The transaction reinforces the commercial and operational viability of blockchain as an alternative to conventional exchanges for paper-based documentation, as per a statement from HSBC. - Economic times

🍒 Reserve Bank supersedes boards of Srei Infrastructure, Srei Equipment Finance ; Atmadip Ray The Reserve Bank of India said on Monday it has superseded the board of directors of non-banking financial companies Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd and Srei Equipment Finance Limited due to governance concerns and defaults, adding that it will initiate bankruptcy proceedings against them. Rajneesh Sharma, the former Chief General Manager of the Bank of Baroda, has been appointed the administrator. Last week, a consortium of lenders led by UCO Bank sought central bank directions on pursuing recovery of dues from the Srei Group after loans worth about Rs 30,000 crore to the Kolkata-based financier officially qualified to be moved to the list of non-performing assets (NPA) this quarter. - Economic times

🍒 KVG Bank bags two PFRDA awards : Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB) sponsored by Canara Bank Bank has bagged two awards from Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) for significant enrolment under Atal Pension Yojana (APY). P Gopi Krishna, Chairman of KVGB, who received the awards from Supratim Bandopadhyay, Chairman of PFRDA in a summit at Chennai on Monday, said so far the bank has enrolled (cumulative) 2.30 lakh accounts under APY. During 2020-21, the bank enrolled 68,961 accounts against the target of 38,160, he said. - Business Line

🍒 FIDC seeks refinance mechanism for NBFCs : Finance Industry Development Council (FIDC) has sought a refinancing mechanism for non-banking finance companies and other measures to further credit flow to MSMEs through these shadow banks. In a letter to SIDBI Chairman and Managing Director S Ramann, FIDC has said there is a dire need for an effective refinance mechanism on similar lines as the NHB refinance to ensure diversity and greater regularity in sources of funds to NBFCs. - Business Line

🍒 YES Bank advances edge up 3.6 per cent, deposits rise 30 per cent : Private sector lender YES Bank posted a 3.6 per cent increase in its loans and advances as on September 30, 2021, to Rs 1.72 lakh crore from Rs 1.66 lakh crore a year ago. Of this, gross retail disbursements expanded at a much faster pace and jumped up by 126.6 per cent to Rs 8,531 crore as on September 30, 2021, compared to Rs 3,764 crore a year ago. - Business Line

🍒 Retail and MSMEs likely to see rise in slippages, say bankers : Asset quality of lenders did not see a sharp uptick despite severe economic disruptions due to Covid-19 in 2020 and 2021 on timely regulatory steps like restructuring and liquidity support. Now, owing to the present economic recovery phase, households and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) saw a rise in defaults due to the end of payment moratorium and delayed business payments, said bankers. Rating agency CRISIL has estimated that stressed assets — non-performing assets and restructured loans — in banks’ portfolios could touch 11 per cent by March 2022, up from 9 per cent in March 2021  - Business Line.

🍒 Axis Bank offers 10-15% cashback on Flipkart, Amazon to new customers : Axis Bank has announced mega offers for its new customers of its recently launched ASAP Digital Savings Accounts. Over and above the offers by the back for e-commerce platforms, customers will get flat 10 per cent to 15 per cent cashback at Flipkart and Amazon and up to 45 per cent cashback on more than 30 major brands. The announcement comes as both e-commerce majors are hosting their flagship festive sales - The Big Billion Days and Great Indian Festival. - Live Mint

🍒 Banks launch credit card blitz to target festive spends : Banks are turning upbeat about credit cards as the festival season nears, launching several new cards and dangling offers at a time customers traditionally loosen their purse strings. While lenders remain cautious on unsecured loans, they are making calculated bets on credit cards. Apart from market leaders such as SBI Card and HDFC Bank, which are launching new cards, banks that did not offer credit cards so far are also entering this extremely competitive market. Many lenders are zooming in on their existing customers about whom they have enough historical data. - Live Mint

🍒 Fino Payments Bank gets Sebi nod to float IPO, likely to raise Rs 1,300 crore : Fintech firm Fino Payments Bank has received approval from the capital markets regulator Sebi to go ahead with its initial public offering (IPO). The company had filed its draft papers in July-end this year. The public issue comprises a fresh issue of Rs 300 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 1,56,02,999 equity shares by promoter Fino Paytech Limited. The offer includes a reservation of Rs 3 crore of shares for the company's employees. The company is expected to raise Rs 1,300 crore through IPO, say the market sources. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 Karur Vysya Bank share price rises 2% on improved operational numbers : Karur Vysya Bank share price rose 2 percent intraday on October 4 after the bank reported a 6.8 percent jump in its advances at Rs 53,851 crore in the quarter ended September against Rs 50,408 crore in a year ago period. Its deposits were up 7 percent at Rs 65,410 crore versus Rs 61,122 crore and CASA was up 11.9 percent at Rs 23,159 crore versus Rs 20,697 crore, YoY. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 CSB Bank share price surges over 14% on higher deposits, advances : The share price of CSB Bank, formerly Catholic Syrian Bank Limited, surged more than 14 percent intraday on October 4 after the private lender posted a 9.12 percent jump in its September quarter deposits at Rs 19,061.62 crore against Rs 17,468.44 in the year-ago period. The bank's gross advance rose 12.09 percent at Rs 14,304.14 crore against Rs 12,761.80 crore in the same quarter in 2020. - Moneycontrol

🍒 Gold prices slightly dip to Rs 46,394/10 gm on global cues, ETF outflow; silver up Rs 416 a kg : Gold prices marginally eased by Rs 40 to Rs 46,394 per 10 gram in the Mumbai bullion market tracking weak global cues, ETF outflows, firm equity markets and rising treasury yields. However, the downside in the precious metal was capped by rupee depreciation and weakness in the dollar index.  The price of 10 gram, 22-carat gold in Mumbai was Rs 42,497 plus 3 percent GST, while 24-carat 10 gram stood at Rs 46,394 plus GST. The 18-carat gold is quoted at Rs 34,796 plus GST in the retail market. Silver prices rose by Rs 416 to Rs 59,997 per kg against its closing price on October 1.

🍒 Rupee falls 19 paise to close at 74.31 against US dollar : The rupee tumbled 19 paise to close at 74.31 against the US dollar on Monday as a stronger greenback against key rivals and rising crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiment. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 74.16 and witnessed an intra-day high of 74.13 and a low of 74.41 against the US dollar in day trade. The local unit finally settled at 74.31 a dollar, down 19 paise over its previous close. On Friday, the rupee had settled at 74.12 against the US dollar.

🍒 Sensex, Nifty jump 1% as RIL, pharma, metal stocks shine : The BSE Sensex closed at 59,299.32, up 533.74 points or 0.91 per cent. It hit an intraday high of 59,548.82 and a low of 58,952.11. The Nifty 50 closed at 17,691.25, up 159.20 points or 0.91 per cent. It hit an intraday high of 17,750.90 and a low of 17,581.35. Amidst the broader rally, the BSE Smallcap index touched a fresh all-time high of 28715.93 on Monday. Divi’s Lab, Hindalco, NTPC, Bajaj Finsrv and Tata Motors were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while Cipla, Grasim, UPL, IOC and Eicher Motor were the top laggards.

Banking and Financial Updates for September 29, 2021

 29.09.2021 : Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 Indian Bank onboarded as partner bank for offline-online collection of treasury : Public sector Indian Bank on Tuesday said it has become the official partner bank for the collection of offline and online treasury for the Integrated Financial and Human Resources Management System. The Integrated Financial and Human Resources Management System is a portal developed by the government of Tamil Nadu to integrate human resources and finance related services providing a comprehensive management system, Indian Bank said in a bank statement. - Economic times

🍒 Centre starts talks with RBI to kick off bank privatisation process : The government is set to initiate consultations with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to devise a new security clearance framework for screening potential bidders of public sector banks (PSBs) as it kick-starts the privatisation process, beginning with the strategic divestment of IDBI Bank. As the government is moving ahead with strategic divestment of IDBI Bank and is looking to privatise two PSBs, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) is looking to put in place an appropriate framework as the potential buyers will have to meet the RBI’s fit and proper criteria, said an official. - Business Standard

🍒 Banks, big tech companies, fintech can collaborate to further financial services: Standard Chartered Bank MD Zarin Daruwala : Banks, big technology companies and fintech can collaborate for better customer acquisition and use analytics for an informed credit decision, Standard Chartered Bank MD Zarin Daruwala said on Tuesday. "It is about co-existence that to my mind, will evolve in the next few years," Daruwala said while speaking at a fintech webinar. The payment tech companies and fintech cater to the very low friction customer base and they feel very comfortable using it (their services), she said. "But having said that, the banks are also upping their ante. They are using cloud computing in a big way," she added. - Economic Times

🍒 FinTech regulation should be more entity-based than activity-based: RBI deputy governor : With FinTech and Big Tech players increasing emerging as competitors to incumbent banks, the Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday batted for lenders saying that banks are at the centre of the payments system as they work as a bridge between the depositors and borrowers. Without naming the Google and Equitas tie up to garner deposits, T Rabi Sankar, RBI deputy governor while speaking at the Global FinTech Fest also said that entities other than banks are not allowed to directly deal in deposits. “Banks are uniquely placed to provide this service because they can create money and credit and thereby act as liquidity providers to the economy,” said T Rabi Sankar, deputy governor, RBI. - Economic Times

🍒 Data privacy should not be compromised in using fintech: FM : Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said there should be no compromise on data privacy and safeguard of client data with an increasing number of Indians now using digital mode of payment. Addressing the fintech industry, the minister said the value of digital transactions jumped to Rs 6 lakh crore in January-August 2021 from Rs 4 lakh crore and Rs 2 lakh crore in 2020 and 2019, respectively. "Data privacy is one of the things which is very important and it is an issue on which there can be a lot of contentious views. However, basic respect for privacy...as the guiding principle is well appreciated. - Economic times

🍒 Yes bank scam: HC rejects bail pleas of Rana Kapoor’s wife, daughters ; The Bombay High Court Tuesday rejected bail pleas filed by jailed banker Rana Kapoor’s wife Bindu Kapoor and their daughters Roshini and Radha Kapoor Khanna in a case of alleged fraud caused to Yes Bank Ltd (YBL). Kapoor is the cofounder of YBL who was arrested in the said matter in March, 2020. Justice Bharati Dangre, after hearing all the parties had posted the matter today for the pronouncement of the order. The court gave an oral in the said matter. - Economic times

🍒 ICICI Bank faces intermittent downtime on payment stack : Private lender ICICI Bank on Tuesday faced intermittent issues in its digital delivery for a few hours with some users taking to social media to complain about problems in processing transactions. While it could not be ascertained what was the glitch, it was fixed in a few hours.  Prior to the lender fixing the issue, bank users complained that they were unable to access either their net-banking or the mobile app. Some other users also complained about failure in UPI related transactions. - Economic times

🍒 DHFL lenders set to mark ₹37,400 crore recovery this week, the biggest among NPAs this fiscal : Lenders led by State Bank of India (SBI) are set to log recoveries of ₹37,400 crore this week, as Piramal Capital and Housing Finance's (PCHF) acquisition of Dewan Housing Finance (DHFL) should be completed this month itself, multiple people aware of the deal told ET. Banks will get a mix of upfront cash and non-convertible debentures (NCDs) due in seven years to complete what is billed as the biggest recovery of stressed loans this fiscal. - Economic times

🍒 Insurance cos hope for a hike in PMJJBY premium : Life insurance companies have pitched for a re-pricing of the government’s flagship Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Beema Yojana.  According to calculations, the premium would have to be fixed at a little over ₹400 per annum per policy from the current ₹330. - Business Line

🍒 NPCI, YES Bank launch RuPay On-the-Go : The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has partnered with YES Bank to launch a contactless payments solutions --- RuPay On-the-Go. This was launched on Tuesday in association with fintech infrastructure partner, Neokred, and manufacturing partner- Seshaasai at the Global Fintech Festival 2021. “RuPay On-the-Go will allow customers to make small and large value transactions from the accessories they wear every day. This innovative wearable payment solution would redefine the contactless payments space by eliminating the need to carry a physical card and enabling instantaneous payments with a simple ‘Tap, pay, go’ mechanism,” said a statement. - Business Line

🍒 NFRA Chief’s term ends on Thursday; no clarity yet on successor, second term : National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) Chairperson Rangachari Sridharan is expected to demit office on Thursday with his three-year tenure coming to an end on September 30. There is still no clarity on whether he will get reappointed although the rules provide for such a step, official sources said. The “competent authority” is yet to take the final call, they added, noting that the matter has to go to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) for approval. Over 70 persons including bureaucrats, chartered accountants and retired judges have applied for the post, it is learnt. - Business Line

🍒 Muthoot Finance launches AI-powered virtual assistant 'Mattu' : Muthoot Finance has joined hands with Senseforth.ai, a leader in Conversational AI technology to launch ‘Mattu’, an AI-powered virtual assistant. Available on the website and mobile app, the intelligent assistant enables users to apply for various kinds of loans, address concerns, and perform transactions like checking account balance, paying gold loan interest, availing loan top-ups, making part payments and much more. - Business Line

🍒 SEBI tightens risk management rules for mutual funds : India's market regulator on Monday tightened risk management rules for mutual funds,including specifying guidelines to identify, measure and report various risks, in an effort to protect the interest of investors in a fast-growing industry. The new rules mandate the appointment of a chief risk officer, creation of risk management committees and maintaining metrics such as investment risk, liquidity risk and credit risk for each scheme, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said. - Business Line

🍒 Bond market sees signals of normalisation in RBI move on 7-day reverse repo : In what is being interpreted as a normalisation signal by the bond market, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday let the cut-off for the 7-day variable rate reverse repo at 3.99 per cent, or the existing repo rate. RBI accepts excess overnight liquidity from banks at 3.35 per cent, its reverse repo rate. But it also conducts a separate variable rate auction for a longer period under its variable rate reverse repo window. Ideally, the rate should be closer to the reverse repo rate, but the latest cut off touches the repo rate of 4 per cent. - Business Standard

🍒 FinMin officials pitch for better sovereign rating outlook with Moody's : Finance Ministry officials and representatives of rating agency Moody's on Tuesday discussed economic growth prospects, during which India pitched for an upgrade in its sovereign rating outlook. Sources said the meeting was attended by Chief Economic Advisor K V Subramanian and other officers from the Department of Economic Affairs and Moody's analyst. The meeting is a precursor to Moody's annual sovereign rating action. - Business Standard

🍒 Banks put loans worth over Rs 10,000 crore on sale in Q2 : Fifteen banks have placed bad loans worth a total Rs 10,201 crore on sale to asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) so far during Q2FY22, data compiled by FE showed. The assets on the block include some large accounts as well as some loans to small businesses where exposure is under Rs 50 crore. Lenders have been looking to offload some retail and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) loans as also some larger non-performing assets (NPAs) where they expect quick resolutions through an auction process. Some of the large assets which are at various stages of the auction process include JBF Industries, Imagicaaworld Entertainment, JBF Petrochemicals, Sew Infrastructure and IVRCL Chengapalli Tollways. - Financial express

🍒 ICICI Bank, SBI customers complain of digital outage in internet, mobile banking channels : Some customers of private sector lender, ICICI Bank and country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) on September 28 reported digital outages in the internet and mobile banking platforms. According to the downdetector, a website that tracks digital outages, the outage happened between around 8 AM to 11 AM. Around 217 ICICI Bank customers reported problems with internet banking. According to the website, some customers of the State Bank of India (SBI) too reported problems with internet banking channels. The problems appear to have been resolved at the time of filing this story. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 LIC seeks to appoint CFO before its mega IPO planned in 2021/22 : State-backed Life Insurance Corp of India (LIC) is seeking to appoint a chief financial officer, according to a notification on its website, ahead of an initial public offering slated before the end of the fiscal year. The move to hire a CFO follows a decision to re-designate LIC's top job to chief executive officer from chairman earlier this year. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 Suryoday Small Finance Bank to discontinue ATM services from October 1 : Suryoday Small Finance Bank will discontinue its ATM services from October 1. The bank on its website said, "due to operational reasons, Suryoday Bank ATMs will be discontinued w.e.f. 1st Oct 2021." However, one can continue to use their Suryoday Bank ATM/Debit Card at any other Bank’s ATM for your cash withdrawal requirements, it added. - moneycontrol.

🍒 Sensex, Nifty down 1% amid volatility : The BSE was trading near the day’s low of 59,305.65 at 59,325.43, down 752.45 points or 1.25 per cent. It hit an intraday high of 60,288.44. The Nifty 50 was trading at 17659.45, down 195.65 points or 1.1 per cent. It hit an intraday high of 17,912.8 and a low of 17,654.05. Powergrid, NTPC, Coal India, IOC and ONGC were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while Bharti Airtel, Divi’s Lab, Bajaj Finance, Tech Mahindra and HCL Tech were the top losers.

🍒 Rupee inches 8 paise higher to 73.75 against US dollar in early trade : At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 73.79 against the dollar, then edged higher to 73.75, up 8 paise over its previous close. On Monday, the rupee had settled at 73.83 against the US dollar.

🍒 Gold rate today falls further, near lowest in 6 months; silver rates slump : Gold prices weakened further today in Indian markets amid a slide in global rates. On MCX, gold futures were down 0.52% to near six-month low of ₹45,828 per 10 gram while silver rates dropped 1.3% to ₹59,843 per kg.

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.