Top executives of foreign banks are making a beeline for appointments with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan. The agenda, among other things, is to discuss the subsidiarisation of foreign banks in India, say people familiar with the development. Following the central bank announcing the final norms on wholly-owned subsidiaries (WOS) of foreign banks last month, the reciprocity clause in the norms is seen as a barrier to allowing foreign lenders unfettered branch access. This is because...............
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.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Inflation-indexed imperfections
..........In May, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced inflation-indexed bonds - which was quite inexplicable, given the stated purpose such bonds were supposed to serve. Nothing could be further removed from instruments that were simple and easy for ordinary people to buy, hold and sell when necessary. The bonds were no different from regular government securities, which are the stock-in-trade of professional wholesale money market players. True, a portion of the offerings was reserved for individual investors. All that they needed to do to lay their hands on them was to open an account with a primary dealer and get the bonds at the cut-off price!.........
Strategists boost rupee forecast on Raghuram Rajan policy
Strategists raised their end-2013 forecasts for India’s rupee by the most in seven quarters as the current-account deficit shrank and central bank governor Raghuram Rajan acted to rein in inflation. The currency will end December at 62.50 per dollar, according to the median of 46 estimates in........
Need for a weak rupee policy
........The central bank should forget the political argument for a strong rupee and focus instead on building export competitiveness and macroeconomic stability. There is no case for a capital flow-led currency appreciation. But there is a clear need to take an “official weak rupee policy”. This will help the corporate sector avoid misadventures of the boom years when huge monies were raised from foreign currency convertible bonds and external commercial borrowings in anticipation of continuous rupee appreciation. There is no need to take a position on the extent of depreciation that RBI is going to aim for in a particular year. A weak currency policy does not mean a policy of a depreciating currency. If ......
Create awareness among consumers on credit scores: RBI
.........Delivering the keynote address at the fourth annual CIBIL Credit Information Conference here on Tuesday, J. Sadakkadulla, Regional Director (Chennai), RBI, said: “The key deliverable for CICs in the coming days would be to facilitate a smoother credit decision-making process and, thereby, bring down the cost of financial transactions and credit intermediation in the financial system for the benefit of the masses.”.........
Coin Exchange Mela by ICICI Bank in Pitampura, New Delhi
New Delhi: ICICI Bank, India’s largest private sector bank, today organized a Coin Exchange Mela at its Wealth branch in Netaji Subhash Place, Pitampura, New Delhi under the guidance of the Reserve Bank of India. The Coin Mela was organised to offer a free facility of exchanging currency notes with coins to the general public. ...
Bank’s Pension Scheme - P. R. R. NAYAR
Octogenarian Shri PRR Nayar has been writing on updation issue relentlessly with all sincerity even though he is not office bearer of any organisation. His one more letter to the Bank, please read. Salute to him for his devotion to the cause of pensioners of RBI.
- L.R.Parab
VITALINFO - A 'must' ReConnect.......
As you are aware that every morning you receive a copy of VITALINFO in your inbox. It is sent by Sh Mangesh Tarambale, who is a member of our Group. I need not say that it is "must read" for all RBI people. It covers all happenings and events in and around RBI. I can assure you once you read VITALINFO there is no need for you to go through so many Financial Papers. It has a much wider circulation all over the Globe. You can imagine how much hard work he must be putting into it to manage it alone. We must be thankful to Sh. Mangesh Taramble for sacrificing his nights for making our mornings bright. You will be happy to know that today we have provided a link to VITALINFO on our Group's website. You can simply click at "Links" to access it. Wish you all the best. With regards
- Moderator, RBIOA Group
Dear Mangesh, I retired
from RBI four years ago, but your VITALINFO keeps me linked to RBI and
financial world. It is really a commendable work needing very high level
of dedication. May God bestow on you good health and strength to take
VITALINFO to higher heights.
- Shyam Sunder, Retired CGM, DEIO
Wish VITALINFO many happy returns on its birth
day.
- K.Kanagasabapathy
Dear Shri Tarambale,
This is to inform you that I got promotion
as a Private Secretary in the month of August. I have come to know from my
friends that you send “VITALINFO” to all the Private Secretaries
everyday which is very informative and helps them in keeping themselves
updated with the current internal as well as external affairs of the Bank. I therefore, request you to kindly add my
name in your list, so that I can keep myself updated with valuable information
provided by you . With warm regards
- Manisha Thosar, Private Secretary
Dear
Mangesh ji, Hearty congratulations on compoletion of 3 years of VITALINFO. You
are great great and really i appreciate your hard work for the benefit of
retired as well as working RBIites. Gold bless you!!!!!!
– P.G.Gehani, Ex-PS to DG
VITALINFO
and the morning cup of tea are what start our day in RBI. great work!
Congratulations.
– A.RajalakshmiMicrofinance empowering women in un-banked villages
.......However, there has been a cloud over microfinance groups, especially after a spate of suicides by women in Andhra Pradesh who were unable to withstand the coercive recovery methods. This is when the Reserve Bank of India stepped in and decided to grant the status of self-regulatory organisations (SRO) to industry associations of microfinance institutions operating as non-banking financial companies. The move is to make sure that these institutions follow prescribed guidelines.................
Mahila Bank mulls childcare allowance for women staff
......While the salary offered by BMB is on a par with other public sector banks, it is trying to differentiate itself by adopting a more gender sensitive HR policy, said a senior Finance Ministry official. If the childcare allowance passes muster with the eight-member all-women board of BMB, then other public sector banks too, are likely to follow suit...........
Banks to get ranked on service
........BCSBI, a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) initiative, plans to rank banks based on their adherence to banking codes - a list of minimum commitment to customers. In terms of the RBI mandate, at the time of opening a bank account, every customer will receive a set of banking codes from the bank.........
Centre to bring urban co-operative banks under greater scrutiny
......"There is an effort to segregate the ownership of the UCBs as a cooperative society from their functioning as a bank. It can be done by creating a new organisational structure of board of management in addition to the present board of directors so that the banking functions can be directly monitored by RBI," the official said. This would empower RBI to take action against errant management...........
‘Submit report on irregularities in co-op bank in two weeks’
The Bombay High Court Tuesday asked the Maharashtra government to find out whether an offence was registered against the Mumbai District Central Co-operative Bank (MDCCB) in relation to alleged irregularities to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore. The court was acting on a petition filed by 25 co-operative societies who have claimed that despite repeated complaints, no action was initiated by the local police or the Economic Offences Wing (EOW).............
Inflation, a self-fulfilling prophecy
......If a weak(ening) economy would generate disinflationary forces (as the RBI asserts in its November 13 statement), we are not seeing — and have not seen — any evidence of this. As the chart shows, inflation has remained high and stubborn with an upward bias even as the economy has noticeably cooled. Dis-inflation, therefore, is not evident in the recorded data. So, how is the RBI confident now that the weak(ening) economy would deliver lower price level increases?........
Are public sector banks to blame for rising NPAs? Yes
......Numbers suggests that public sector banks’ stressed are nearly 100 per cent of their net worth. And less than a third of these bad loans are provided for. It is not just PSB finances that will be at stake if the banks do not contain slippages in assets.......
Are public sector banks to blame for rising NPAs? No
....Private sector banks have managed to maintain NPAs at a low level. Could PSBs have achieved the same? No. New private sector banks account for only 15 per cent of bank advances in India and only 13 per cent of corporate advances. At that size, it is possible to cherry pick one's clients and sectors. Public sector banks (PSBs) account for 80 per cent of total credit to industry (corporate credit, excluding retail an agriculture). If they were to decide to avoid an industry sector, it will be starved of credit and come to a halt. .......
Turning a corner
OVER the past two years Indian officials have excelled at predicting with magnificent conviction that an economic recovery would happen in the next quarter, always the next quarter. As things steadily got worse, culminating in a currency scare that lasted from June through August, their credibility slumped in tandem with India’s growth rates. But now there is something to cheer about......
Tinker no more
....Reform has little use if arbitrary rules framed by different arms of different regulators and departments of government prevent it from being effective. The way forward has been outlined by the FSLRC, which has proposed moving away from the licence permit raj to regulated financial markets, the kind of liberalisation that was implemented for industry in 1991 but has still to touch Indian finance...........
Financial education is important even for children
..........For the girl child the RBI can better direct the banks to put across to the average Indian women homemakers and their daughters the need to save and not hanker after acquisition of more and more gold......
Now, video chat with your banker through ATMs
Account holders can look forward to videoconferencing with bank executives through ATMs with NCR Corporation India unveiling its new machine which it describes as an interactive teller. In addition to videoconferencing, the machine allows the bank executive to remotely process transactions giving most of the bank branch functionality to the ATM. .........
Bangalore attack: Banks asked to focus on ATM security
..........It was decided that the RBI would prepare a circular and come out with a schedule wherein all banks would be asked to compulsorily install CCTV cameras or intelligent cameras inside and outside their ATM kiosks with 90-day storage facility, a senior police official told PTI. These measures were necessary to avoid closure of ATMs by police for security reasons (as has been done in Bangalore), he said. The meeting was attended by RBI Chief General Manager R Keshavan..........
Read | Business Standard
Bangalore ATM attack aftermath: Life gets harder for guards
The recent ATM attack incident in Bangalore has not only left the entire country shocked, but also led to forced double shifts and extra hours for ATM guards, reports CNBC-TV18's Vineetha Athrey. It has also led to closure of ATMs in certain areas.......
Read.....
Bangalore ATM attack aftermath: Life gets harder for guards
The recent ATM attack incident in Bangalore has not only left the entire country shocked, but also led to forced double shifts and extra hours for ATM guards, reports CNBC-TV18's Vineetha Athrey. It has also led to closure of ATMs in certain areas.......
Read.....
Now, a cover for card PIN-based frauds at retail outlet
The RBI has made keying in PIN at point-of-sale terminals mandatory for debit card use. The move, in place from 1 December, is aimed at increasing the security of cards. But the irony is that POS is a crowded area, where chances of somebody seeing your PIN is high. If you are not careful while punching the PIN into the card machine, your card is vulnerable to frauds. But, did you know now you can actually get a cover against such PIN frauds?........
Read...................
Rural banks told to install CC TVs in a week
.........He also warned that he would write to the RBI if any bank fails to equip their branch with CC TV cameras. The SP also averred that he would take measures to stop the banking transactions till appropriate security measures were in place at the banks............
Deft external management
.....That threat has receded, even as the special swap windows for FCNR(B) deposits and overseas borrowings by banks opened by the RBI have mobilised $34 billion in the last three months. These facilities, mainly targeted to attract Non-Resident Indian money, have done more to turn the tide and stabilise the rupee than what any IMF or World Bank programme would have achieved. But this is only the first step. A lasting solution to....
FM’s defence falls flat: Gold smugglers make a killing as hawala premium doubles
...The World Gold Council, RBI governor Raghuram Rajan and finance minister P chidambaram have admitted a spur in gold smuggling into India after the government imposed curbs on the yellow metal. According to World Gold Council, gold is entering the country unofficially through India’s porous borders helped to meet pent-up demand, together with an influx of recycled gold that was drawn out by higher prices and promotions offered by retailers during the third quarter to end-September............
Read more at: Read..........
A Consistent Performer Who Leads From the Front
.......“She
would take a personal interest in everything and take it to a logical
end,” the person said. Now MD and CEO of LIC Housing Finance, Sharma has
the advantage of having handled various key roles in
the insurance sector. Among the departments she has handled over three
decades are personnel, new business, policy servicing, finance and
accounts, and estates. During her tenure in the pension and group
scheme, the department became the best performer in LIC. ........
SBI chief in panel
SBI Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya has been included as a member in the Standing Council of Experts to assess global competitive- ness of the financial sector with regard to transaction costs as well as tax rates and suggest reforms. The committee was set up in June this year.
DBS Bank appoints Rajesh Prabhu as CFO
.....“In light of the Wholly Owned Subsidiary (WOS) guidelines that have been introduced by the RBI, Prabhu with his detailed understanding of local and international banks in India will be an invaluable addition to the top management at DBS India as the bank looks to expand its Indian footprint,”.............
Abraham Koshy is Federal Bank’s new non-executive chairman
The Reserve Bank of India has appointed Abraham Koshy as non-executive chairman of Federal Bank. Koshy has been an independent director on the private sector lender’s board since May 2007. A post-graduate in business administration from Cochin University, .......
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)