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Thursday, August 23, 2012
Subbarao isn’t an isolated hawk on inflation anymore
CCTV alone not a solution, say experts
....Former Security Advisor to RBI Maj Gen (Retd) Soli Pavri —his vision paper on security of RBI had won appreciation from the RBI Governor — said, “Our approach to security is reactive which should ideally be predictive. CCTV is helpful after the crime. It is in no way a crime prevention gadget. It is wrong to assume your city is 100 per cent safe because you have installed CCTVs. It is helpful on premises such as municipal corporations and airports where controlled movement of population is monitored. But in cities, especially, if we are installing them to counter terrorism, I doubt how much it can help given that a terrorist who is willing to die is not bothered about whether he is being photographed or not.”........
Awareness drive against fake currency at Jaisalmer
JAISALMER: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), worried over increasing cases of fake currency at the border areas of Rajasthan, has started awareness campaigns to alert the general public about counterfeit notes. Teams of RBI officers are visiting border areas and holding workshops and meetings. RBI General Manager B.S.Khatri, who is on a visit to Jaisalmer, said that RBI is making all possible efforts to stop circulation of counterfeit notes.................
Personal loss of a wonderful boss...........
I had the privilage of working with Ms.Nalini Ambegaonkar for over over 7 years--first at the Division of Trade in Economic Department for nearly 5 years and latter at CPC for nearly 3 years. I have only fond memories. It is true that many of my colleagues found it extremely difficult to work with her. But, from my own experience, it could vouch that she was much misunderstood in this respect. All she expected from her junior colleagues was sincerity in the work, English without mistakes, and absolutely no gossip especially about her. Once one meets these requirements, she had been an angel. In fact, when she became in-charge of CPC, she wanted one of two of us--Shri. R.V. Borkar or me (I was sent because I was Junior)--who faithfully met these needs. The nobility streak was very much in her. Again, I have several instances to this effect. Hers was a great soul. I feel a personal loss of a wonderful boss for whom I have a high regard and respect. I pray for her.
- Dr. N Nagarajan, Ex-Advisor, DEAP, RBI, CO, Mumbai (via e-mail)
RBI needs to be proactive
..... While the ratio of restructured standard advances to gross advances is 1.45% for agriculture, and 2.3% for micro and small enterprises, this is a whopping 9.34% for medium and large industrial units. It’s not enough for the deputy governor to make such statements, RBI needs to follow this up with some serious action.
Govt now wants competition watchdog to okay bank mergers
....If this decision is enacted into law, the RBI will not have the last word on bank mergers and acquisitions, as envisaged, sources said. “The entire para in the original Bill that brings bank mergers out of the CCI ambit will be deleted.”........
Regulatory issues pose hurdle on buyback route
....“Going by recent trends, PEs are not able to use the buyback route for exits,” said Aakash Choubey, partner Khaitan & Co. “This is largely due to the fact that in certain cases, buybacks may be regarded by the regulator as put options and would, therefore, be unenforceable. Also, there is challenge of meeting RBI (Reserve Bank of India) pricing requirements, as well on those on buyback.”......
Banking Ombudsman: to the aid of the customer
.....The Banking Ombudsman is appointed by Reserve Bank of India. He is a senior official appointed from the staff of the office of RBI. Unlike many other sectors where the senior authority usually a retired official holding top positions in government institutions/banks, the banking ombudsman is an in-service official of RBI mostly Chief General Managers/senior General Managers. Under the amendment in the year 2006, it was decided that the banking ombudsman should not be from any bank and should solely be from the staff of RBI so as to maintain the idea of impartial justice. There are 15 offices of banking ombudsman in India presently. A customer has to file his complaint to the nearest office in his area.......
Banking activities paralysed as strike begins
Business and commercial activities across India were paralysed Wednesday as employees of public sector and private banks went on a two-day strike to protest proposed amendments in banking regulations and outsourcing of jobs.............
RBI, 926 bank branches to collect advance tax in Mumbai
..."As many as 926 computerised branches of public and private sector banks will receive advance income tax in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. These arrangements have been made for the convenience of the income tax assesses," RBI said in a notification Wednesday.......
PSBs must rejig loan portfolios
....A recent speech by an RBI Deputy Governor K.C. Chakraborty highlights the dubious asset quality of public sector banks (PSBs) on account of the dramatic rise in loans restructured in 2011-12. The restructured advances of PSBs rose by 48 per cent, taking the share of restructured advances as proportion of gross advances to 5.73 per cent in 2011-12......
Why bad loans may be higher than what banks, RBI claim
......RBI had of late, regulated the process of recognizing NPAs. Instead of doing manually, most banks now identify bad loans through computer generated system. An asset turns into NPA when a loan account stops repaying interest for 90 days. Despite this core banking solution, many industry experts believe, banks still have a room for hiding NPAs. They resort to certain adjustments so that some NPAs do not reflect in their books of accounts especially at the quarter-end. For example, bank managers can coax borrowers to make some payment at the end of every quarter, which will then be reversed the next day............
Read..........
Floating rate deposit scheme from IDBI Bank
IDBI Bank, on Wednesday, became the first lender to come out with a floating rate deposit product after the Reserve Bank of India nudged banks to switch to such mode of deposits in July.........
MFI to grow 25% outside Andhra, says regulator
.....“In Andhra Pradesh, the logjam still continues. Due to the crisis, the employee base has been reduced by one-third from 60,000 to 37,000. Besides, the branch network of the companies also fell by 35%,” said Prasad. MFIN has approached RBI for restoring a cap of 12% on margins for large MFIs...........
RBI scrutinising systems of HSBC and Standard Chartered bank
The Government today said the Reserve Bank is scrutinising the "systems" of HSBC Bank and Standard Chartered Bank related with anti-money laundering (AML) and KYC norms. "RBI is scrutinising the AML/ Know Your Customer (KYC) systems of two banks (HSBC Bank and Standard Chartered Bank)", Minister of State for Finance S S Palanimanickam said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.........
A Tale of Two Dips: Gold Demand in India and China
......The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently considered clamping down on gold coin sales by banks.
Edel Tully, precious metals strategist at UBS, said that ”coin demand is the smallest element in the demand pack,” and what is important is the message that will be transmitted if the RBI takes the action it has suggested; a move to stop banks from selling gold coins would signal that 2012 gold imports are still too high......
Canara Bank awarded for tech use
Canara Bank has bagged the IDRBT Best Bank Award for its use of technology for financial inclusion. S. Raman, CMD of the bank, received the award in the large banks category from RBI Governor D. Subbarao at an event organised in Hyderabad by the Institute for Development & Research in Banking Technology, a bank release said..........
Read........MLMs now want to ‘invest’ money in India, really?
......Following reports of the FIPB meeting on 24th August, EAS Sarma, former expenditure secretary, Government of India, has written to Arvind Mayaram, secretary for economic affairs warning, “I apprehend that the FIPB route will be sought to be misused to obtain cover for these MLM companies which are nothing but a way to swindle the public to raise illegal funds to enrich unethical and anti-social persons.” “Many of these (MLM) companies are not even registered under the Companies Act. Even those registered evade regulation. Those booked regroup under different names and continue to cheat the people. All these companies and those that promote them should be dealt with an iron hand and be prosecuted effectively,” he said. This follows several letters by him to the prime minister, ministry of corporate affairs, ministry of finance, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and others, on the subject.......
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