NRIs : Policies and procedures : S.S.Tarapore

.......Procedures for Residents Holding Joint Accounts with Non- Residents In an increasingly globalised world economy and the large Indian diaspora, it is quite common for most residents to have a non- resident as a close relative. As pointed out in the K J Udeshi Report on Procedures for Individual Non- Resident Indians, a resident can be a second name on a non- resident account and can freely operate the account, yet a resident account- holder, till recently, could not put the name of a close relative as a second name on a resident account. Following the Udeshi Report, residents are now allowed to put the second holder as a nonresident, subject to the proviso that the second holder cannot operate the account during the life time of the first resident holder.......

Read - FPJ

Complicated path towards Producers Price Index

NO CONSENSUS

RBI Governor favours Producers Price Index   But economists and policy makers have divergent views on PPI   Some feel PPI would require input-output matrix which will make the whole exercise complicated and outdated in case of India   However, Planning Commission member Saumitra Chaudhuri, chairing a committee to look into feasibility of PPI says input-output matrix is not required

Read - BS

NPA rules are just fine

.....As far as the cash reserve ratio (CRR) is concerned, RBI has monetary responsibilities and it has to ensure that the macro-economic fundamentals are not only strong but also stable. The chief of India’s largest commercial bank should appreciate the role of RBI and its responsibility to ensure economic growth and price stability for which financial stability and banking stability is a must. 

- T V Gopalakrishnan, Mumbai (BS)

The high cost of a free lunch

Why has inflation been so persistent despite the slowdown in growth? That’s the question the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been asking for some time, most recently in its annual report for 2011-12.........

Read - Mint

RBI’s Admission

.....The RBI is of the opinion that lower interest rates alone are unlikely to boost investment climate what is required that along with cut in bank rates. The Central Government should cut expenditure on subsidies and that money should be brought into public capital. The government must cut down the fiscal deficit to improve its own economy......... 

Read - Central Chronicle

Penny-pinching RBI in trouble for copying top architect’s designs

.... But a bigger shock came a few months later, when Diwan learnt that the bank had used his design for the 21st floor to refurbish the building's 10th and 5th floor. The contractor who had executed Diwan's designs was hired again behind his back. The old designs, of course, came in handy.  According to the Copyright Act, when an architect prepares a plan at the request of a client, the copyright remains with the architect. The client cannot reproduce those plans or any substantive part of them either in the form of another plan or in the form of a building itself, unless he has the architect's permission, express of implied. "The design used for 10th and 5th floors is mine. There is flagrant copying of my design, which is evident from the drawings of the lay-out of these floors," Diwan told Mumbai Mirror on Friday.....

Read - Bangalore Mirror

Indian carrom team selections

....Players called for selections:
Men: Yogesh Pardeshi (PSPB), K. Srinivas (PSPB), K. Madhop Singh (Manipur), C. Bharathidasan (Tamil Nadu), Fayaz Shaikh (Maharashtra), Prakash Gaikwad (LIC).
Women: M. Parimala Devi (PSPB), S. Ilavazhaki (PSPB), Rashmi Kumari (PSPB), Kavita Somanchi (RBI), P. Nirmala (LIC), Sangeeta Chandorkar (RBI)....

Read - The Hindu

'She-initiatives' boost female employee numbers at Citi

..... It has launched a programme called ‘Women Leading Citi’ targeting senior women at the executive level. The 18-month sponsorship programme is designed to foster the advancement of Citi’s highest performing senior executive women. Unlike several other organisations that offer standard coaching to senior level employees, Citi has targeted coaching only for emerging female talent. The programme titled, ‘coaching for success, leadership training for emerging female talent’ is for female employee in the mid-level. The programme is delivered through a series of workshops and engages senior management as coaches...... 

Read - BS

Take the right route to trading in forex

....The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, on more than one occasion, cautioned against overseas foreign exchange trading through Internet trading portals. It first issued an advisory in February last year, and then followed up with two notifications — in April 2011 and November 2011 (see links below). The RBI has observed that “overseas foreign exchange trading has been introduced on a number of Internet/electronic trading portals luring the residents with offers of guaranteed high returns based on such forex trading”.......

Read - HBL

Waiting for the 'Draghi Put'

.... Economic projections continue to be revised downwards and earnings growth estimates remain in the single-digit range. Of course, RBI could also help things along with a mid-September rate cut. Going by official pronouncements and the latest consumer price index data, it doesn’t seem likely...... 

Read - BS

A booster dose is essential

....Apart from reduction in EMI and interest burden for consumer durables, a separate package for boosting the housing sector was also expounded by the Finance Minister. Cheap housing credit through a separate window (other than RBI banking channel) was also mooted via the Indian Banks Association (IBA)......

Read - The Hindu

RBI widens StanChart, HSBC probe to other foreign banks

The Reserve Bank has widened its probe into the affairs of British banking giants HSBC and Standard Chartered to a host of other foreign banks for alleged breach of controls against money laundering and terror financing. Besides, capital market regulator Sebi may also join the investigations, as there are concerns of funds from these banks being routed to the stock market through foreign investors and other entities, sources said........

Read - BS

RBI blacklists trust

....It has been brought to the notice of the RBI that Aphro Trust has in its website www.aphrofin.com claimed to lend as per RBI regulations. However, the trust was not regulated by the RBI and has no bonafides with the RBI.......

Read - The Hindu

FinMin may review director appointments in govt banks

Appointment of directors on the boards of public sector banks is set to be further delayed as the finance ministry is likely to review all the proposals before sending those to the appointments committee of the Cabinet (ACC). Directors’ post in most of the public sector banks – which are filled by the government — are vacant for a long time, with some lying vacant for nearly a year now. Some of the banks do not even have a chartered accountant (CA) among its directors, and, as a result, the audit committee has been headed by non-CA directors............

Read - BS

Fifth wheel of match making

....The proposal to give the Competition Commission of India (CCI) a veto power on bank mergers is ill-advised, for a very simple reason — they will be unnecessarily delayed. Bank mergers in India are never voluntary in the true sense of the term. And they have happened not because the virtues of consolidation have suddenly dawned on bank managements, or the boards suddenly decided to give shareholders a better deal. They have been shotgun weddings arranged at short notice with the banking regulator, Reserve Bank of India, playing matchmaker.......

Read - HBL

Mumbai is counterfeit capital of country

....RBI spokesperson Alpana Kilawala said counterfeit notes land up at the RBI from sources such as banks and individuals who come to exchange money. "But central banks all over the world try to stay ahead of forgers; introducing plastic notes is an effort in that direction." ........ 

Read - TOI

23% rise in fake notes in private banks

.....The private banks in the country, in a report submitted to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has stated that it had detected 4,62,865 counterfeit notes in 2011-12 as against 3,76,460 found in 2010-11. The counterfeit notes detected by these banks during 2009-10 stood at 3,34,948.......

Read - BS

State a hotbed of fake currency?

Ahmedabad : ...On Thursday last, crime branch had nabbed a marble and granite trader from Himmatnagar, Ramesh Patel and seized Rs 29,000 worth counterfeit notes from him. The paper used to make these notes is the same grade as is used by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its printing presses in India..... 

Read - TOI

DEALING WITH A TABOO IN BANKING

....Till 2007, RBI could raise CRR to 20% and the floor was 3%. Now there is neither a floor nor a ceiling for CRR. RBI also stopped paying interest on CRR in 2007 when the rate was 3.5%. CRR is a monetary tool. RBI raises CRR to drain excess liquidity from the system when it wants to follow a tight money policy to rein in high inflation. Conversely, it cuts CRR to release money in banks’ coffers. This brings down the cost of money and makes more money available with banks to lend......

Read - Mint

Suggested directives for public sector banks

There is criticism that the Banking Division of the Finance Ministry is micro-managing banks. But what the critics must understand is that this is being done to make the bank chiefs more dynamic. However, it appears that the Banking Division is itself now running out of ideas. This article suggests a few model directives which will help make not only the chairman and managing director (CMD) but also the board more dynamic and vibrant........

Read - HBL

Govt asks banks to ensure one a/c per urban poor family

......“These beneficiaries are not only inhabitants of rural villages but also comprises of urban poor and slum dwellers residing in the Urban/Metro centres,” the finance ministry circular to all State Level Bankers Committee said.

Read - BS

FM's constituency bankers' favourite

....the total number of bank branches in Sivagana district, from where Chidambaram hails, is 184, including 87 rural and 97 semi-urban. In 2011-12, the banks had set a target to disburse Rs 1,125.05 crore, and they disbursed Rs 1,284 crore, an increase around 14 per cent...... 

Read - BS

iCreate’s Biz$core ADF Solution Selected by Bank of America NA, India for RBI ADF Reporting

...Bank of America sought a solution to help address RBI’s ADF compliance directive by enabling automation of the various regulatory returns that the bank submits to RBI. The solution had to integrate seamlessly with the bank’s data repository and enable a straight through processing of the returns from the data repository. The solution had to be designed for quick implementation.......

Read.......

SBI mulls working on Sundays to improve efficiency

.....Being open on Sundays is said to help the branches attract the new-age working class customers where both the spouses in a household work and struggle to do banking transactions during the week.  SBI, which has almost 14,000 branches across the country, counts on its large chunk of savings account deposits (at over 38 per cent) for higher margins. However, if such a move were to be made, it would be interesting how the bank unions, which had crippled banking operations across country last week protesting reform measures, take to such a proposal....... 

Read - TOI

Rajan to take charge as CEA on Aug 29

...."Raghuram Rajan will take charge as chief economic advisor in the Finance Ministry on August 29," .......  

Read - BS

Leaders beckon Indian youth to join politics

.....Dr. Jalan said cynicism towards politics and Government functioning had attracted India’s best talents to other fields. “Take a long view towards 2025 or 2040. I would ask the youth to launch a young political movement. Give five years of your life to public service,” Dr. Jalan said......

Read - The Hindu

Visit your old bank locker before it’s too late

.....Referring to a case where arms and explosives were found in a locker, the Reserve Bank of India, in its guidelines to the banks on the operation of safe deposit lockers, advises them to strictly monitor the operations of the lockers and ask customers who have not opened their lockers for over three years (One year in case of ‘high risk’ customers), an explanation for it in writing and allow the continued use of the locker only if there is a satisfactory response........

Read - Hindustan Times