A sensible policy

..............Indeed, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in a statement on social media endorsed the credit policy, saying it indicated a calibrated approach to balance between growth and inflation. The coming budget will indicate how far the fiscal deficit, camouflaged by P Chidambaram in various cooked- up entries, will impact the economic situation. A clear- cut enunciation of the real fiscal situation, warts and all, needs to be made in the budget, not just to reveal the statistical skullduggery of the previous regime, but to underline the difficulties in steering the economy out of the dire straits. This should also help the central bank frame its next installment of monetary policy............

Read - FPJ

Reforms top FSDC meet's agenda

......Previous interactions of the FSDC sub-committee, which is chaired by the RBI governor, also discussed the governance issues relating to public sector banks. Other issues discussed included appointment of a chairman, selection of board members, accountability structure with regard to committee approach of decision making. Splitting of the chairman and managing director’s post in public sector banks was also discussed. Sources said some of the recommendations of the Financial Sector Legislative Reform Commission, which do not need legislative change, will also be discussed in the FSDC meet.........

Read - BS

Bond Market, not Banking Behemoths

The finance ministry is reportedly examining mergers of the country's state-run banks to create stronger financial institutions. True, Indian banks do not have large enough balance sheets to meet the needs of large rapidly globalising companies. Small public sector banks could gain economies of scale by merging, but mergers should be voluntary , board-driven and based on commercial decisions that would deliver greater value to shareholders, and not forced by bureaucratic whims. Also...........

Read - ET

RBI tightens norms for non-scheduled UCBs

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has tightened regulations for non-scheduled co-operative banks, asking them to keep aside 4% of their deposits as cash reserve ratio (CRR) starting from 12 July 2014, up from 3% of deposits currently, to bring them on a par with their larger scheduled urban co-operative banks. Also, the percentage of deposits......

Read - Mint

Solitary banks

..........In the past, government ownership has impeded the functioning of PSBs. In fact, the PSBs' financial health has deteriorated due to unwarranted government interference. The new governance structure mooted by the Nayak Committee, would bring operational freedom to the top management of PSBs. It is another matter whether the top managements of PSBs would be able to steer these banks to a new path, first by addressing the burgeoning issue of non-performing assets and then leading them to a new growth trajectory..........

Read - BS

There Does Not Seem To Be Everything Normal at UFBU

......UFBU has been silent since mid March 2014 ( over  80 days now ) as far as negotiations for 10th BPS are concerned.  AIBOC has now written to IBA for initiating the process of talks. It is a matter of great concern that UFBU is so shell shocked since March 2014 that it has neither taken to task IBA on going back to the agreement to hold talks in the middle of April 2014, nor informed its cadre about the reasons for not taking up the issue at appropriate levels. The banking officers and workmen are bewildered by such an attitude.........

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Bankers' Dream of 5 Day Working Shattered

..........Thus, I feel that for the time being the dream of bankers for 5 days week is shattered and UFBU needs to focus on core issue to bring bankers at par with the salaries of the central government.  If still they do not understand these basics of negotiations, then Aam Bankers may teach them a lesson in days to come by mass exodus from these old and tired unions.  The issue of 5 days working should be discussed only after completion of 10th BPS negotiations............

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Except one, no private banks have issued RuPay cards: A P Hota

......The RuPay gateway has just started and the card base is only 15 million. Plus, for the card to pick up in various channels, all banks will have to start making changes in the system such as in e-commerce, etc. Also, banks will have to start issuing the cards. Of the only 15 million cards now, most have been issued by public sector banks (PSBs). Not a single private sector bank has, except Federal Bank...........

Read - BS

‘ India 13th largest non- cash payment mkt in the world’

India has become the 13th largest non- cash payment market globally, says a Frost & Sullivan report." India is currently the 13th largest non- cash payment market in the world with a high potential to grow significantly as more merchants install POS terminals and accept card payments," Director, Automation & Electronics at Frost & Sullivan, Niju V said. "Despite the high consumption volumes, there is very minimal local manufacturing or assembly activity," he said. While local manufacturing is restricted to just local assembly, we are highly reliable on imports for the entire electronics part in the product, he added............

Read - FPJ

Banks to move away from cash credit product

.......The Urjit Patel committee, which was set up by the RBI to review the monetary policy framework, had recommended that there was a need to move away from the overnight window to a spectrum of windows of different maturity. Following this, the central bank introduced the seven-day and 14-day term repo windows from which banks borrow at the market determined rate. Along with introducing the term repo windows, the central bank continued with the cap on repo borrowings via the overnight window........

Read - BS

Raghuram Rajan-Narendra Modi relations could face big test should El Nino effects food prices

......The central bank kept its policy rate on hold on Tuesday, as widely expected, but eased rules to spur bank lending. "If the impact of El Nino is significant and pre-emptive measures by the government prove inadequate, then the RBI might hike rates to contain inflationary expectations," ........

Read - FE

Modi sets finmin priority: inflation combat

..........“As soon as the meeting began, Modi said looking at Mayaram that inflation is the first and foremost thing that the ministry needed to handle. Modi has asked Mayaram to include inflation in the first hundred days’ agenda and work out a plan to handle,” an official told dna. Finance ministry sources said a workable plan to address the supply-side issues to handle inflation will be submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) soon............

Read - DNA

RBI to take another shot at IIBs in FY15, with tweaks

........For the current fiscal, the RBI will offer two variants from the very beginning: inflation-indexed bonds and inflation-indexed savings certificates. The former will be primarily for institutional investors through the auction process, with a 20% limit for retail investors. The latter will be primarily available.......

Read - FE

Banks may soon be able to issue infrastructure bonds

In a bid to boost infrastructure lending, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to allow banks to issue infrastructure bonds. These bonds will not attract the mandatory cash reserve ratio (CRR) and statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) provisions.............

Read - FE

RBI allows FPIs, NRIs to invest upto 26% in insurance

The Reserve Bank said overseas investors, including FPIs and NRIs, can invest up to 26 % in insurance and allied activities through the automatic route. Earlier in February, the government had allowed 26 % foreign investment in activities related to insurance like broking, third party administrators and surveyors and allowed FIIs and NRIs to invest in insurers within the stipulated cap..........

Read - FPJ

NBFC sources say RBI norms aimed at ending licence trade

........" There have been recent instances where we have seen entities that the RBI may not consider as fit and proper to hold large stake or promote an NBFC, bypassing the regulatory process of seeking a NBFC licence by acquiring or attempting to buy an existing NBFC," a senior industry official said. Sources said that the RBI was likely to be extremely strict with any such instances and may even cancel licences of NBFCs that are acquired in such a manner by those seeking to avoid tougher norms that are in the works. The attempts to acquire NBFCs so as to benefit from their licences have started after the RBI announced a moratorium on issuance of fresh NBFC licences from Apr 1........

Read - FPJ

New merger proposal to Indus Ind and Federal Bank

........"The Rupee Bank administrator met me on Wednesday. He is holding a meeting with Cooperative Minister Harshavardhan Patil in Mumbai today and we expect some decision on the merger soon. Rupee Cooperative Bank is a loss making bank and any acquiring bank will have to do a due diligence of its assets," Oulkar said. He said a merger proposal will be sent to the RBI once either Indus Ind or Federal Bank agrees for the merger. He said the RBI will have to submit a merger report and so would have either of the acquiring banks.........

Read - Sakal Times

RBI permits ANZ to open two new branches in India

...."The approval to open branches in these commercial hubs will strengthen our superior regional strategy, expand our ability to support clients and build on our position as a leading bank in Asia. India is the world's third largest economy on purchasing parity terms and it remains one of the fastest growing economies in the world...Continuing to connect our customers between India and the other32 countries in our network creates a further driver of growth for ANZ," ............

Read - BS

Federak Bank gets RBI nod to open representative office in Dubai

..........“Federal Bank has been granted approval by the Reserve Bank to open a representative office in Dubai, UAE,” the old generation private sector lender said in a statement. The representative office will function as a source of information to NRIs interested in foreign investments in the country, apart from serving the diaspora...........

Read - HBL

CKP co- op bank account holders stage protest

Around 100 account holders of CKP Co- operative Bank protested against the bank at Wagle Estate here on Thursday following the RBI directives to allow bank customers to withdraw only Rs 1000 in six months. It was the second day of the bank customers’ protest.............

Read - FPJ

Housing fin schemes get new thrust

......“The change that RBI’s cautionary note brought was that now banks do not disburse the entire money upfront and instead disburse it in a construction-linked manner, which is a good thing,” ........

Read - FE

YES Bank calls Madhu Kapur's allegations baseless, untenable

.........YES Bank, however, has strongly denied these allegations, saying her statements were incorrect and defamatory. "The bank has always acted in a manner, which is in accordance with law and has upheld the principles of corporate and management governance. The subject matter in consideration at the AGM has been finalised in a transparent and legally compliant manner,".........

Read - BS