.........“What we are planning is to fill that gap by sensitising and preparing students for the challenge,” Mr. Radhakrishnan, who retired from the Reserve Bank of India recently, said. He said the academy would focus on service since it was started not with the objective of “making money” but to improve the prospects of landing banking jobs for students in the region. The group said the academy would provide short-term training courses for candidates to clear tests conducted by different agencies such as the Institute for Banking Personnel Selection, Reserve Bank of India, and the SBI groups, besides several insurance firms...............
The very purpose of VITALINFO is to provide a platform for wider dissemination of updated information related to and happening of events in and around RBI.
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Retire at 60
.......The government is toying with the idea of raising the retirement age for central government employees from 60 to 62 years. However, several pulls and pushes are making this decision difficult. The need to retain talent and unemployment are just two. Ironically, most people who matter and are going to be a part of the decision to raise the retirement age are above 65 themselves. If that is the case, then why not consider an alternative solution to problems being posed by retirement age and succession plans? ..........
Adviser's analysis ........... Let's institutionalise VITALINFO Dailyzine..........
Mangesh first in the morning !
Mangesh’s work is a one-man effort. All of us, the beneficiaries of his work, wish him many more years of productive life and service to the RBI community and beyond. But we are all mortals. Since the newsletter has stabilized itself with a large number of readers there is a case for giving some thought to its institutionalisation to secure its future. I am sure there will be some organization, Internet-based or otherwise, that may like to take over the work under the continued ownership and honorary editorship of Mangesh. In that case he will have some supporting staff. The organisation taking over will naturally expect some quid-pro-quo for the arrangement. It can be allowed to use the newsletter for advertisements in an unobtrusive way. The readers can ignore the ads as they do in their Internet visits. Since the RBI is broad-minded enough to allow staff members to participate in many social and cultural activities in an honorary capacity it may not object to the proposal. As an alternative, RBI itself might think of taking over the newsletter under the editorship of Mangesh (on a part-time basis) as a public service of its Department of Communication. The additional cost to the Bank will be small but it will generate tremendous goodwill among a larger readership not only in India but abroad too, especially among the NRIs. There is a precedent to this suggestion. When I was In Freetown as Adviser to the Bank of Sierra Leone on an assignment from the IMF I used to get a faxed newsletter from the Fund's headquarters every day that had extracts from various newspapers around the world.
A. Seshan
June 26,2013
______________________________A. Seshan, Economic Consultant,
{Former Officer-in-Charge, Department of
Economic Analysis and Policy,
Reserve Bank of India, and
(IMF) Adviser to National Bank of Kyrgyzstan and
Bank of Sierra Leone}
9 Shiv Mahal,
206 Sion Road, Sion,
Mumbai 400022 (India)
Tel: 91 - 22 - 24075087
E-mail: anseshan@gmail.com
RBI Imphal Branch still a distant dream
Imphal, June 25 2013: With the State Government failing to provide the required land area to Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the proposal of opening an Imphal Branch of RBI has remained deferred every now and then, and as such, the prospect of having a branch of RBI in Imphal Branch is still a distant dream. An official of RBI, who does not want to be identified, informed Hueiyen Lanpao that at least 5 acres of land is required for setting up a branch office of RBI in Imphal. The area should not only be safe from the security point of view, but not be too far away from the city. The official further informed that RBI is all set to open its branch in Imphal, but the problem is with the Government of Manipur which has failed to provide the required land.................................
CANARA BANK’S RURAL OUTREACH PROGRAMME AND BRANCH INAUGURATION ON JUNE 28
Mysore, June 26 - The inauguration of Canara Bank branch and an ATM along with Rural Outreach programme will be held at Gungralchatra in Yelwal Hobli here on June 28 at 9.05 am in the presence of R.K. Dubey, Chairman and Managing Director of Canara Bank.
Deputy Governor of RBI Dr. K. C. Chakrabarty will inaugurate the branch. Dr. Urjit R. Patel, Deputy Governor of RBI and MLA G.T. Devegowda will be the chief guests............
‘Know your customer’ norms for banks discussed at meeting with industrialists
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is trying to have a relook at the ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) norms so that it does not discourage customers, mainly the common man, from opening bank accounts. Executive Director of the RBI B. Mahapatra held an interactive meeting here on Friday with representatives of industries, non-governmental organisations and also with bank customers to get their feedback on KYC norms...........
Financial inclusion: Still a long way to go
“Perhaps we should have finance ministers representing different districts to improve the banking coverage in the country” was finance minister P. Chidambaram’s tongue-in-cheek remark about the poor state of financial inclusion in India while releasing the Crisil Inclusix on Tuesday..................
Getting Inclusion
...........More important, one reason for poor banking presence has been the fact that, at current income levels, it doesn’t make financial sense for banks to open branches in most areas. The advent of banking correspondents (BCs) and mobile money transfers, the saving grace is, will give big fillip to inclusion. In other words, financial inclusion will take place on its own as long as the institutional space is created to allow private players to offer their services.
RBI Vs Finance Ministry
.....Certain important facets emerge from this instance. First—the fact that probably the Reserve bank of India is the only institution in India that has hitherto not succumbed to the pressure of the ruling class. While there may have been certain aberrations on certain occasion, but in majority of the cases it has remained insulated— something that other organizations like the CBI, SEBI etc despite their being proclaimed as autonomous/statutory bodies have not remained insulated from political influences. In fact, D Subbarao’s predecessor Y V Reddy too refused such a demand coming from the Government to slash interest rates................
Technology, Not Coercion, for Banks
........However,
the RBI reckons that financial inclusion can be achieved only through
expansion of branch networks to rural areas. It says that a new bank
must have at least 25% of its branches in rural areas. This is absurd.
Established banks have not found it worth their while to open rural
branches. Making new banks waste capital is a bad idea. Instead, the RBI
must allow innovative forms of banking, especially mobile banking that
is well-placed to leverage on the electronic infrastructure being put in
place by the unique identity project..............
Read - ET Editorial
Read - ET Editorial
Waiting for the banker
..... To sustain the BC model, RBI has advised banks to open ultra-small branches to support a ten-BC-cluster in a four-kilometre radius. But as the RBI is discovering, opening accounts does not ensure automatic financial inclusion. The low number of transactions per account is adversely impacting the viability of financial inclusion efforts and has to be addressed fast before stakeholders lose interest. The push for direct benefit transfers to Aadhar-linked bank accounts will hasten financial inclusion and increase transaction volumes as subsidies, scholarships and welfare payments are disbursed........
Closing a bank account attracts charges
..............Says A.C. Mahajan, chairman, Banking Codes and Standards Board of India, an autonomous and independent banking watchdog, “We don’t regulate banks charges. But we always tell them that there should be transparency. Banks are supposed to disclose the charges to the customers in the beginning itself. If banks introduce charges without giving notice of at least 30 days to exist, they are excluded from levying the charges.”................
Short on change
............The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Bhubaneswar, distributes coins worth Rs 3 lakh on a daily basis through a dedicated counter and two vending machines. But there is a huge gap between demand and supply. The shortage of small change has also led to a spurt in the business of coins in the city. Brokers will give shopkeepers and others in need of small change coins worth Rs 80 and Rs 85 in exchange for Rs 100 notes. The shortage of coins has especially hit small-time vendors......................
The TelegraphPanel formed to deal with fake currency
GUWAHATI, June 25 – A committee comprising personnel from the BSF, SSB, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and different branches of the Assam Police has been formed to deal with the problem of fake currency rackets. The committee was formed in a meeting held at the Assam Police headquarters under the chairmanship of Director General of Assam Police, JN Choudhury..............
Meet held on fake note rackets
......At the meeting, Choudhury stressed the need for focussing on three points — the quantum of denomination, specific areas where these illegal activities flourish and amount of fake currency recovered. He called upon the officers to work in tandem for detection of fake currency and for identifying gangs involved. He requested the RBI officials to issue fake currency samples to police so that they could easily differentiate those and the original notes. The special superintendent of police (CID), Debraj Upadhyay, gave a PowerPoint presentation on detection of fake currency in Assam’s districts...........
SBI Kathua held DLRC/DCC meeting
......The meeting was organised to review the flow of GLC, performance of banks in key areas relating to deposits, advances under priority sector, lending for the quarter ended March 2013 & review under Government Sponsored Programmes etc. The meeting was chaired by Jitendra Kumar Singh, DDC, Kathua and convened by B M Sharma, LDM, SBI, Kathua. DDC Kathua was accompanied by Ajay Jamwal, ADDC, Kathua, Manoj Kapur, CPO, Kathua, Ram Kauwar, LDO, RBI, Aman Kalsotra, AGM(DD), NABARD, Kathua and others.............
RBI asks banks to secure information systems
In the wake of increasing cyber attacks, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today asked banks to test their information systems (IS) and check their robustness periodically. RBI has also asked the banks to put in place appropriate business continuity plans (BCPs) and test them periodically. These ISs should also be subjected to vulnerability assessment and penetration testing (VAPT).............
Wait longer for safe bank cards
..........Considering that RBI has extended the deadline for new cards, your bank will approach you with the new card before 30 November. Till then you can continue using your existing cards. The move to replace the existing card came in due to a rise in frauds. Remember that a chip-based card is more secure as it is difficult to copy data from it compared with a magnetic-strip card. To ensure that the card reaches you, do update your address with the bank............
Banks ask users of six ‘skimmed’ ATMs to immediately change PIN
The
cardholders who recently transacted at the six city ATM kiosks targeted
in a skimming fraud are being asked to change their PIN as a
precaution. The National Payments Corporation of India—which
provides the backbone system that networks all ATMs—has given banks the
details of the cards that were used in the six ATMs during the period
they were compromised. Cardholders have been asked to change their PIN
immediately to thwart bids to misuse the stolen data. The PIN is
essential for transacting on the web and at ATMs..............
Read - TOI Mumbai Edition page 5
Read - TOI Mumbai Edition page 5
Finance Minister launches 'CRISIL Inclusix'
The Finance Minister of India, P. Chidambaram launched CRISIL Inclusix, an index that measures progress in financial inclusion across the country. The index, along with a report on the state of financial inclusion in India, was launched at a function in New Delhi. CRISIL has developed this index as part of its corporate social responsibility agenda, with support from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Ministry of Finance.............
Banking Business Stuck in the Slow Lane
....Depositors
are not rushing to park their savings with banks because while, on the
one hand, returns are lower, on the other hand, higher inflation has
left them with lower surplus to save. As a result, growth of investments in government bonds,which is linked to the deposits raised, has also slowed.....
Read - ET Mumbai Edition Page 9
Mumbai investors smartest, Delhi follows
.....Mumbai tops the Financial Intelligence Index, followed by Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune, Bengaluru and Chennai in last. Even though Mumbai ranks first, it reaches a score of only 5.8 on a scale of 1-10 in terms of financial intelligence, showing clear room for improvement,"..........
Trimming bulk deposits proves costly
....."They want to lower their pricing as banks are under pressure for margins as NPAs are rising and no interest is served on those accounts. The environment does not allow for finding yields, so banks are looking for margins by lowering their cost of deposits," ...........
Owned or controlled issue: RBI to soon notify FDI Press notes
.....The notification, which has been pending for the last four years, will be used to ensure that foreign direct investments comply with FDI ceilings and other norms. "The Finance Ministry has sent the press note to the RBI for notification under FEMA. It may happen any time," an official in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) said. As per the Press Notes, a company is considered as "controlled" by resident Indian citizens if the power to appoint a majority of the directors on its board is held by Indian companies and citizens.......
Why Sebi’s simpler foreign investment rules will not save rupee
.......The Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) move to simplify norms for foreign investments is a positive step to bring in much-needed clarity in such investments. However, the move, which has its genesis in Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram’s Budget 2013, is hardly expected to make a dramatic impact in terms of bringing in greater foreign portfolio investments and easing the pressure on the rupee................
Mahindra Finance example shows pitfalls of becoming a bank
Mahindra and Mahindra Financial Services Ltd’s decision not to apply for a banking licence shows that becoming a bank might not be the bed of roses as it is made out to be. While the Reserve Bank of India rules have a certain logic to them, they perversely lead to a situation where those non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) who should be getting licences (in terms of operating in a similar business and have a track performance to boast about) might opt out of the race.............
Bank licence norms clear and not discriminatory towards large companies: Birla
A day after applying for a bank licence, Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla on Wednesday said the new bank licence norms announced by the Reserve Bank are not discriminatory towards large corporate houses. “The banking licence guidelines are very clear. They are not discriminatory towards large corporate houses,” Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla told reporters on the sidelines of a conference organised by industry body FICCI...........
Reliance Capital to apply for banking licence
Reliance Capital of the Anil Ambani group announced on Wednesday that it will be submitting an application for a banking licence with the Reserve Bank of India. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank and Nippon Life Insurance, two leading financial institutions from Japan propose to take between 4-5 per cent stake each in the proposed new bank subject to necessary regulatory approvals, the company informed the stock exchanges............
Magma Fincorp to apply for banking license
........The 25-year-old finance company had launched a general Insurance company in 2012 and launched its housing finance business with takeover of mortgage business of GE earlier this year. The group feels that its progression towards becoming a bank is a natural extension with which it shall be able to expand its existing successful model for inclusive financial services multiple times across India. Magma said in a release that while it applies for a banking license, its focus remains firmly on the existing business, and upon receipt of licence, all the customers of Magma will have access to a full range of banking services very quickly including deposits, remittances etc., so a lot of inclusion will occur by way of additional services to the existing customer base even without Magma expanding its asset base...........
Bandhan, Janalakshmi to Seek Banking Licence...
......Unlike
a few large non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), microfinance
companies can continue with their existing business while foraying into
banking. NBFCs such as Shriram Capital are looking for an exemption from
the Reserve Bank of India to continue with their niche business of
financing used trucks to get into banking. Microfinance companies will be better positioned to meet the priority sector norms..........
Indian Billionaires Line Up To Start New Banks
.........No surprise then that some of the country’s leading industrialists are eager to get a piece of the action in what remains a lucrative business in an under banked country; close to half of the population has no access to banking services. (Hence the lust for gold; but that’s a different story.) ...........
India is screwed, no matter what RBI does on rupee
........The question being asked is could the RBI have continued to sell dollars and help stem the fall? As on June 14, 2013, India had foreign exchange reserves of $290.66 billion. This is tenth largest in the world. So it seems that the RBI has enough dollars that it can sell to halt the rupee’s fall against the dollar. But things are not as simple as that........
As RBI checks on forex positions, dealers shrug for now
....Dealers aware of the contacts said the RBI has not been asking anyone to curb their positions, unlike in December 2011 when the central bank mandated lenders to reduce their intraday net open positions by 50-75 percent as part of measures to prop up a slumping rupee. .............
Global factors will continue to impact rupee: Jamal Mecklai
....... Why are we talking about the 60 levels. The crisis,if you call it, was triggered by global events. Today's movement was really local because other currencies did not fall, equities did not fall etc. The real issue is we don't know how much longer the global situation is going to put pressure on the rupee. If employment figures are very good for the US, and there is a lot of nervousness in the global market, anything can happen to the rupee...........
Rupee fall to help economy find better equilibrium: Expert
...."India has got caught in a low growth and high cost environment and that has to be broken out of and one of the ways of doing that is to let the currency depreciate. So, we are actually getting to a situation where the economy will likely find the better equilibrium now," ............
Tottering rupee slips to 60 as RBI refuses to lend a helping hand
MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India's refusal to defend the rupee at 60 - a psychologically important level for many - led to panic in the foreign exchange market on Wednesday afternoon. Banks rushed to buy dollars after having shorted the US currency on the bet the RBI would continue selling dollars. "The RBI was there (selling dollars) at 59.90 and there was some intervention in the morning... But no one thought it would let the rupee slip below 60," said a dealer...........
Why RBI has failed to defend the Indian rupee
...................The rupee is the worst performing currency in Asia and the second worst in emerging markets after South African Rand. Analysts told NDTV that the RBI does not have the fire power to defend the rupee. The RBI is seen lacking fire power because it does not have reserves and there is "short rupee" in the system.....................
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