From January 3, 2011, the Reserve Bank of India will place on its website, the public engagement schedule of the Governor and the Deputy Governors. The engagement schedule will include public speeches and outreach activities undertaken by the executives. The initiative is one more step towards demystifying the central bank and the offices of the Governor and the Deputy Governors.
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.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Reserve Bank of India appoints M Sarkar Deb as director of State Bank of Mysore
State Bank of Mysore has announced that Reserve Bank of India has appointed M Sarkar Deb, Chief General Manager, Reserve Bank of India, Department of External Investments and Operations, Central Office, Mumbai as a director on the board of State Bank of Mysore in place of Ratna K Makhija with effect from 03 January 2011 until further orders.
Moneylenders should be out of the system: Dr K.C. Charabarty, Deputy Governor, RBI
The Reserve Bank of India's broad goal for financial inclusion is to ensure that there are only two players in the money-lending spectrum – banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) – in the long term, Dr K.C. Chakrabarty, Deputy Governor, RBI, told Business Line, indicating that moneylenders should be out of the system. “Our broad goal is that NBFCs must capture the moneylenders' customers, and banks should capture NBFCs' customers,” he said. Banks must look at financial inclusion as a viable business, and should cover the six lakh villages that are still un-banked. Though banks have not made a spectacular progress, “there is a definite progress; every day something is happening,” he pointed out. The RBI is working out the eco-system, and “there is still a long way to go,” he added. According to him, 72,000 villages will be covered in the first phase of the financial inclusion, and the rest in the next phase. This will be done through brick and mortar branches and business correspondents (BCs) with the help of technology. “Through BCs, banks should provide four services — savings bank, pure deposit product, immediate/emergency credit and entrepreneurship credit. Each household must be given a kisan credit card or a general credit card. For those who do not deserve credit, start a financial educational programme, involve the society and the State governments and make them creditworthy so that everybody links with the bank,” said Dr Chakrabarty. Explaining the role of microfinance institutions (MFIs), he said though they were intermediaries, their role was important as they bring in people going to the moneylenders to the banks, he said. “Our focus is to bring in real competition. MFIs should reduce their interest rate, and commercial banks and RRBs must enter this field. That is the purpose of financial inclusion. On the present crisis in the MFI sector, Dr Chakrabarty said that there are some MFIs with good practices. “We have to identify good MFIs and encourage them, and also those who are not good and penalise them.” The Malegam Committee is already examining the grey areas, and “we will come out with the recommendations,” he said.
HC orders notice to RBI, bank on donations
The Karnataka High Court on Monday ordered emergent notice to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Karnataka Bank in connection with a petition challenging the collection of donations by Karnataka Banks Employees’ Association (KBEA) from bank customers. The petitioners, the share holders of Karnataka Bank had moved the High Court over the collection of donation illegally by KBEA. They claimed that about Rs six crore was illegally collected. The petitioners also submitted that the KBEA also owns a building worth Rs two crore in Mangalore. Mentioning that the KBEA also possess movable assets worth lakhs of rupees, they said the collection of donation is a violation of RBI directive and Apex Court order dated August 6, 1985. The petitioners further submitted that despite the complaint no action has been taken by RBI or Karnataka Bank and sought directions to freeze the funds and prosecute the officers involved. The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice A S Bopanna ordered emergent notice.
Credit, debit card services hit in UP
LUCKNOW: Credit and debit card users had a tough time here on Monday as swiping machines at a number of outlets refused transactions. Apparently, the reason for the day-long snag was the ongoing upgradation work for meeting the deadline to implement the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines on card transactions. According to sources, the services remained affected throughout the state. As per the guidelines, banks should have a system for providing an additional authentication and validation of transactions made online or through interactive voice response (IVR) service. The step was taken in 2009 to enhance security of the online card transaction. The deadline to implement such a system was January 1, 2011 which the banks failed to meet. ''January 31, 2011 has been fixed as the new deadline for this,'' said Amarendra Sahoo, Regional Director, RBI.
The other side of the coin
Given inflationary conditions in India, withdrawing smalldenomination coins will only aggravate inflation in the economy. Consider this. If each one of the 1 billion Indians carries out an average of five transactions involving small change, it is rounded off to the nearest rupee. Assuming a minimum change of 20 paise per person for each transaction, this would amount to a loss of `1per person on five transactions every day. Add to this a loss of `500 crore owing to the rounding-off of amounts issued by bank cheques. So `1,000 crore is in hidden circulation, which will push up inflation by at least 5 percentage points. This can be avoided by reintroducing small-denomination coins irrespective of the cost, which is far lower than the inflation effect. - Abhay Ekbote, Hyderabad
UID to replace PF account number
The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) plans to replace the provident fund (PF) account number with a unique identification (UID) number, a move that would enable speedy transfer of subscribers’ funds in case of a job change and allow them to track their accounts online. At present, if a subscriber changes his job, it takes months to transfer PF money from one account to another, as a transfer of records from one office to the other is required. Under these circumstances, alarge number of subscribers often withdraw the entire money in their account and go for a fresh account with the new employer. The replacement of PF account number with the UID number will be done after interconnecting all regional and suboffices of EPFO by March 2012.
BONGIRWAR NEW MD AND CEO OF IDBI CAPITAL
Abhay L Bongirwar, chief general manager, IDBI Bank, has been appointed as the managing director & CEO of IDBI Capital Market Services. He has taken over the charge from Nagendra Bhatnagar, with effect from December 31. A distinguished banker, Bongirwar has an experience of around three decades with IDBI Bank. He has been associated with project appraisals, investment banking and corporate banking, and has particular experience in infrastructure, retail banking, corporate debt restructuring and HRD/Training.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Discontinuing 25 paise coins is the right decision
RBI has notified discontinuing coins of 25 (and below) from June 30, 2011. It is time that RBI may plan for reducing sizes of other coins of 50-paise and one rupee to reduce minting-cost and to ease burden on pockets. However, two-rupee coins need to be discontinued because usually consumers have either to pay two-rupee coins in place of one-rupee coins, or shopkeepers gives unwanted items like candies etc in place of balance one-rupee coin to be returned. This is because of the fact that currency-chests often forces two-rupee coin-bags because of usual short supply one one-rupee coins. Most people in practice try to get rid of two-rupee coins. Design of bi-colour 10-rupee coins is not proper, and needs to be rectified. It will be better if it may also be attractively designed in a bigger size like single yellow-coloured five-rupee coins. It is time to discontinue printing of currency-notes of rupees five and 10 with more coins of these denominations put in circulation. It will not only save high printing-cost of low denomination notes with much lower life, but also will pave for further saving on currency-printing by reducing sizes of currency-notes of other denominations. It is not understood how and why RBI re-introduced five-rupee notes after they were once discontinued to be printed some decades ago! However, to practically check currency-related crimes like fake currency, black money, cash-loot etc, RBI should follow advanced countries by discontinuing printing of higher denomination currency of rupees 500 and 1000.
RBI fines Bombay Mercantile Rs 5 lakh
The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a penalty of Rs 5 lakh on Bombay Mercantile Co-operative Bank, Mumbai, for violation of instructions and guidelines of the RBI. The bank had violated the group exposure norms prescribed by the RBI by sanctioning 21 loans aggregating Rs 96.20 crore to Shah group of companies between November 17, 2008 and July 18, 2009, as against permitted ceiling of Rs 14.11 crore, the RBI said. The RBI had issued a show cause notice to the bank, in response to which the bank submitted a written reply. “After considering the facts of the case and the bank’s reply in the matter, the RBI came to the conclusion that the violations were substantiated and warranted imposition of the penalty,” the RBI said.
RBI mulls new ways for direct information flow from banks
Amid a surge in the number of bank scams, including the recent `400crore Citibank fraud, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is considering putting in place a system that will allow it to directly monitor all transactions at various banks. Once in place, the new system will enable complete automation for submission of transaction returns filed by banks to RBI, doing away with the need for manual intervention. RBI has begun the consultation process for implementing the new system, which could require banks to upgrade their computer hardware and software solutions, according to asenior official. Although the submission of transaction reports is already an automated process, it involves at least four steps that involve manual interventions. Currently, banks receive information from their various branches, then integrate the data and store it, followed by data conversion and then data submission to RBI. According to the proposed move, the entire data flow will be completely automated and will help banks in terms of enhanced data quality, timeliness, and reduced costs, besides a direct oversight by RBI for any possible fraud. Frauds in the banking sector had hit a record high of `2,017 crore in 2009-10. A fraud case, reportedly involving `400 crore, came to light last week. The police arrested a senior official at aCitibank branch in Gurgaon. The new system will enable complete automation for submission of transaction returns filed by banks to RBI.
Extension for LIC chief? A test case for govt
When TS Vijayan, now the longest serving chairman of LIC, was appointed to the post in May 2006, he was given a five-year term till May 2011. At 53 then, he still had seven years to retire from the government-owned life insurer. Now very soon the government will have to take a call whether to give him another two years at LIC, make some other arrangement or let him retire two years before the prescribed age for superannuation. On Vijayan’s part, he has to overcome the taints from the recent scam that hit LIC as well as LIC Housing Finance, a subsidiary of the insurance major. For the government, Vijayan’s case will also be a test case since chiefs of two other PSU banks—MV Nair at Union Bank and KR Kamath at PNB—are also in a similar situation.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Bank account number is sole criteria for e-fund transfers now
Looking to speed up the transfer of funds electronically, banks will henceforth only take into account customers' account numbers for such transactions, ignoring other details like names. The new mechanism is intended to reduce the possibility of any errors and comes into effect from today (January 1, 2011). This is in line with a Reserve Bank directive under which customers would need to mention their account numbers twice for every electronic fund transfer request made through the Internet, as well as at bank branches. The central bank had directed the banks to put in place the appropriate systems and procedures to comply with the directive from the New Year. As per the RBI guidelines, the banks would need to process all inward electronic transactions solely on the basis of the account number of the customer. The new system would be applicable for all electronic payment gateways, such as RTGS, NEFT, NECS and ECS, besides fund transfers initiated by customers at bank branches or over the Internet. Although electronic payment methods are aimed at achieving expeditious fund transfers through a computerised system, the earlier practice involved manual intervention too, on account of the tedious process of matching various details such as customers' names and branch details.
Postal dept to join hands with banks for pre-paid cash cards
The Department of Post will collaborate with leading banks -- IDBI, HSBC and ICICI Bank--to provide cards (on the line of credit cards) to rural people in order to facilitate non-cash transactions for purchase of products and services. The card will come with pre-determined amount in rupees and could be operated at merchant locations, ATMs and designated post offices subject to approval by the Reserve Bank of India. Disclosing his Department's 100-day agenda, Telecom and IT Minister Kapil Sibal on Saturday said his ministry will offer 'White label Pre-paid Cards' to the rural people. The objective of launching this card is to leverage cash handling expertise and the network of India Post in order to facilitate non-cash based transactions for purchase of products and services at retail outlets across the country and to earn revenue through value added service.
Need to stop all premature PF withdrawals: Finance to EPFO
The Finance Ministry has asked the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to stop all premature withdrawals and adhere to the “one instrument-one policy objective” principle. Though the EPF is meant for oldage income security, subscribers are currently allowed liberal advances and withdrawals for a variety of needs such as illness, education, house-building, marriage and education. “The distortion created by not adhering to the stated principle is that most of the employees, say 75 per cent, of the EPF retire with as little as less than Rs 35,000 in their accounts,” wrote R Gopalan, Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, to his Labour Ministry counterpart, Prabhat Chaturvedi on December 10. In fact, Gopalan has suggested that subscribers must take medical insurance to take care of their medical needs, home loans for house-building and educational loans for meeting educational expenses.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
RBI to stop NBFCs from raising surrogate deposits
The Reserve Bank of India is in the process of formulating guidelines in conjunction with the ministry of corporate affairs, to plug a regulatory gap that permits surrogate raising of deposits by NBFCs (Non Banking Financial Companies). RBI said in its second Financial Stability Report, released on Thursday. NBFCs are exempt from the provisions of Section 67 of the Companies Act, 1956, in terms of which the issuance of shares or debentures to more than 49 investors needs to be through public issuance. This means that NBFCs, particularly those not regulated by the Reserve Bank, could issue debt or quasi-debt instruments to a large number of retail or institutional investors on a private placement basis. This would be tantamount to raising public deposits outside the extant regulatory framework. Specific concerns in this regard have arisen in the past in the context of private placement of Convertible Preference Shares.
Friday, December 31, 2010
PNB to develop Chandigarh village as model village
Punjab National Bank (PNB) has adopted one village in Chandigarh, which will be developed as a model village in terms of banking infrastructure and baking services. PNB, which is a leading bank here, would provide banking services through ICT-enabled Business Correspondent model in its adopted village Kishangarh. A survey of village has been completed jointly by the Reserve Bank of India and PNB to ensure 100 per cent financial inclusion in the village. All those households that are disconnected from banking services would be issued biometric cards, said an official of RBI here. Speaking on this occasion, RBI Executive Director, G Gopalakrishna said that RBI had asked banks to cover unbanked villages by year 2012 as part of financial inclusion programme. "RBI has asked banks to cover villages that have not been covered yet and they have to complete this task by 2012," he said. He stressed the need to use technology like mobile technology, ICT model besides banking correspondents and brick and mortar model in reaching out to ruralites. “Still 50 per cent of the total population is not covered by banks. There are 32,000 bank branches across the country, while there are about 600,000 villages in the country, there is still a long way to go. Only by leveraging technology can we bridge this gap. We should ensure every person has a bank account, so that he can avail of various financial services offered by the government and other agencies,” he added.
The vice chair of India's fledgling Financial Stability & Development Council has helped to stabilise country's banking system
The new vice chair of India's fledgling Financial Stability & Development Council has helped to stabilise his country's banking system and comes 29th in the GFS Power 50. Despite being two thirds owned by the public sector and generally regarded as well capitalised, Indian banks did not escape the financial storm of 2007-2008, much to the alarm of the country's public and state officials. Dr Duvvuri Subbarao took over as governor of the Reserve Bank of India at the heart of the crisis in September 2008 and, following stints as a leading World Bank economist and secretary to the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, was well equipped to minimise the fallout. Subbarao's influence in government in 2010 was underlined when he was offered the vice chairmanship of the Financial Stability & Development Council, a new body set up by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, which will oversee the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda), Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority. The governor had previously expressed concerns that the autonomy of regulators would be undermined by the Council and, after effective lobbying, was offered the role chairing its only sub-committee. The governor has argued in favour of a review of the country's disparate and at times inconsistent banking laws to open up competition between financial institutions. Subbarao has also worked to restrain bank executive pay, with the Reserve Bank issuing draft compensation guidelines in July. Indian banks must now submit an annual declaration confirming that compensation structures are in line with Financial Stability Board standards. Subbarao set up a Financial Stability Unit within the central bank to make regular and systematic assessments of the stability of the Indian financial system and has worked with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India to ensure that its banks comply with international accounting standards. Respected on the world stage and a regular speaker at the Bank of International Settlements, the 61-year-old has heavily criticised the "euphoria of financial alchemy" that preceded that crisis, insisting that the "real sector" should drive the financial sector and not the other way around. But he has also claimed that making banking boring - as advocated by the likes of economist Paul Krugman - is not necessarily a cure to the "ills" of the financial world. Banking, he believes, must still evolve, grow and innovate.
Reserve Bank of India releases Second Financial Stability Report
The Reserve Bank of India presented its assessment of the health of India’s financial sector in the second Financial Stability Report (FSR), released here today. The report reflects the Reserve Bank’s continuing endeavour to communicate its assessment of the incipient risks to financial sector stability. The first FSR was released in March 2010. The second FSR holistically assesses, from a systemic risk perspective, disparate elements of the financial sector eco-structure – the macroeconomic setting, policies, markets, institutions. The movements of various vulnerabilities between March and December 2010 and assessment of the resilience of the financial system have been presented in this Report. It also reflects the considerable efforts made within the Reserve Bank to upgrade the methods and techniques for assessing the health of the financial system in identifying and analysing potential risks to systemic stability.
State Bank of India reshuffles portfolios of senior executives
State Bank of India (SBI), the nation’s largest lender, has reshuffled the portfolios of senior executives even as Pratip Chaudhuri, one of its deputy managing directors (DMD), emerged as the front-runner for the chairman’s position, which will fall vacant after O.P. Bhatt retires in March. The SBI group, which controls a quarter of the total banking assets in the country, has promoted some chief general managers as DMDs and reshuffled the portfolios of some of its existing DMDs, particularly at the risk and human resource divisions. In early December, the finance ministry had interviewed State Bank’s four DMDs—Chaudhuri, Hemant Contractor, Diwakar Gupta and A. Krishnakumar—to identify the successor of current chairman Bhatt. Before that they were interviewed for a post of managing director (MD) too. Chaudhuri, the front-runner for the post of chairman after Bhatt’s retirement, now oversees the bank’s foreign operations. Traditionally, SBI has had two MDs and close to a dozen DMDs. Currently, it has only one MD; a successor to S.K. Bhattacharya, who retired in October, has not yet been named. R. Sridharan, the lone managing director, is in charge of associates and subsidiaries. Unlike other public sector banks, SBI has split the position of chairman and managing director. Both its chairman and two managing directors are generally selected from within the group. The retirement age of top officials in SBI, including the chairman is 60. The bank has named DMD Contractor, who was earlier in charge of corporate banking, chief financial officer in place of S.S. Ranjan. The five new DMDs are Santhosh Nair, Shyamal Acharya, Arundhati Bhattacharya, R. Venkatachalam and Shivkumar. Among the new DMDs, Nair will take charge of corporate banking, a portfolio that was earlier handled by Contractor. Acharya, who was chief general manager of Mumbai circle, is taking over as DMD, mid-corporate group, replacing A.P. Verma, who has been named chief credit and risk officer. Among the remaining new DMDs, Bhattacharya, who was CGM, Banglore circle, has been appointed corporate development officer, replacing N. Raja, who is set to retire on 31 December. Shivkumar, who was a CGM in Hyderabad, has been promoted to DMD but is yet be given a portfolio. Ranjan is also waiting to be assigned a new portfolio. Lack of adequate talent among public sector banks has been a subject of debate among policymakers for quite sometime now. The compensation offered by state-run banks is far less than what the executives of private and foreign banks earn. In September, Reserve Bank of India governor D. Subbarao said that in the absence of a suitable compensation package, state-run banks would lose talent to private sector lenders. “The executive compensation in the public sector, as is well known, is lower than that in the private sector... If public sector banks are required to compete with private sector banks on a level playing field, there is a good case for compensating them too on a competitive basis,” Subbarao said.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
25 paise and below coins not acceptable from June 30
Come June 30, 50 paise will be the minimum coin accepted in the markets as all denominations below it will cease to be legal currency. "From this date, these coins (denomination of 25 paise and below) shall cease to be a legal tender for payment as well as on account," the Finance Ministry said in a statement today. It further said that the minimum denomination coin acceptable for transaction will be 50 paise from that date. Also, the entries in books of accounts, pricing of products, services and taxes should be rounded off to 50 paise or whole rupee from that date. "The procedure for call in shall be notified separately by the Reserve Bank of India," it added.
Allahabad Bank launches mobile banks in Jharkhand
Allahabad Bank Thursday launched mobile bank van services in Jharkhand to target villagers. J.P. Dua, CMD of Allahabad Bank, flagged off a mobile bank van from the bank's Ranchi zonal office. It is the first bank to start such a service in the state. 'It will function like a full bank where people could deposit and withdraw cash. It will function in 12 villages of Dumka district,' a bank official told IANS. Reserve Bank of India Governor D. Subba Rao was in Jharkhand early this month and during his visit he assured the state government about expanding bank facilities.
We have no solution for MFIs who have been hit: RBI
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday made it clear that it has no solution for Micro finance Institutions that have been hit, but said the Malegam Committee may look at "grey areas" in their regulation. RBI Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty said MFIs are in the business of taking money and giving loans and if people do not pay back, RBI has no solution for it. "People have to pay back money to the lender who has given the money.If they don't pay back, we have no solution," he told reporters in response to questions after inaugurating "Grameena Vikas Kendra" (branchless banking unit) of Corporation Bank at Mallohalli in the Bangalore district.
No RBI approval needed for bank branches in North-East: Tripura minister
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has relaxed norms for setting up bank branches in North-East India and no prior approval of the apex regulatory body is required in this regard, a senior Tripura minister said on Thursday. The clarification came during a meeting between RBI Governor D Subbarao and Tripura's Finance Minister Badal Choudhury in Mumbai on Wednesday. Worry was expressed over the gradual fall in the credit-to-deposit ratio in the region.
SEED bags Indian Bank FI mandate
SEED, India’s largest Banking Correspondent has bagged one of Tamil Nadu’s biggest Financial Inclusion projects from Indian Bank. The smart card based project will reach around 5500 villages earmarked under the Indian Bank’s Financial Inclusion project to offer banking services to the rural population. The project will help bring an estimated 11.92 lakh households, equaling to around 23 lakh people under the fold of banking services, thus leading to inclusive growth. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is the technology partner in the project. he project was inaugurated at Venthoni village near Paramakudi in Ramanathpuram district of Tamil Nadu by Dr. K C Chakrabarty, Deputy Governor Reserve Bank of India. Other dignitaries present at the function were Shri T.M. Bhasin, Chairman & Managing Director of Indian Bank, Shri V Rama Gopal, Executive Director of Indian Bank, and Shri Rajeev Rishi, Executive Director of Indian Bank.
Inflation always a concern: Deputy Governor K.C.Chakrabarty
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor K.C.Chakrabarty said on Thursday that inflation was always a concern, and a pause in rate hikes does not mean a halt. India's food inflation accelerated to a ten-week high in mid-December on rising prices of vegetables, while the fuel index also rose, adding to inflationary worries in Asia's third-largest economy.
New managers for economy
You could call it a big change of guard in the government’s “econocracy” – or the economic administration. A new set of experts is set to take charge of the macro-economic management next year, touching the central bank, regulatory agencies and a clutch of state-controlled banks that lord over the economy. Finance secretary Ashok Chawla is set to retire on January 31 and Securities Exchange Board of India chairman CB Bhave, will retire a month later. UTI’s asset management company’s chairman and managing director UK Sinha, is set to succeed Bhave. Later, RBI governor D Subbarao’s three-year tenure ends in September but it is not yet known whether he will get an extension. His predecessor YV Reddy had got a five-year term at one go. Bimal Jalan, on other hand, got a two-year extension as RBI governor after his initial three-year tenure had ended before Reddy took over. Government sources, who did not wish to be identified, indicated that commerce secretary Rahul Khullar is tipped to take over as the next finance secretary ahead of the presentation of budget in February. “This would mark a departure from the normal practice of having a same person as the finance secretary through the budget cycle of drafting to presentation,” said an official. Two new RBI deputy governors are set to take charge next year to fill in for Usha Thorat, who retired recently, and Shymala Gopinath who is due to retire in May. OP Bhatt, chairman of State Bank of India, the country’s largest bank, will retire in March. Deputy managing director Pratip Chaudhuri is tipped to take over in his place. This apart, chairmen and managing directors of at least seven more public sector banks will retire during 2011. HSU Kamath will join Vijaya Bank as chairman on April 1, 2011, replacing Albert Tauro, while Nagesh Pyadh will replace TY Prabhu as the new CMD of Oriental Bank of Commerce. Besides, Dena Bank CMD D L Rawal is due to retire in October and Ramnath Pradeep’s term as CMD of Corporation Bank, ends on September 30.
Bankers' Committee asked to prepare annual meeting calendar
With an aim to better supervise the development efforts of Government agencies and banks, the Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday asked State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) to prepare a yearly calendar of their meetings by January 15 every year. SLBC and Union Territory Level Bankers' Committee (UTLBC) are required to meet at quarterly intervals. In a notification issued on Wednesday, the apex bank said in recent times these meetings have become irregular and many a times the agenda was not circulated in advance.
NHB wants housing finance cos to take stock of their portfolio
The National Housing Bank has asked housing financing companies (HFCs) to take stock of their portfolio and examine the involvement of intermediaries. National Housing Bank chairman and head RV Verma said: “We met the CEOs of housing finance companies some time ago. These meetings are part of the internal process, wherein we take in details of the quality of loan book disbursed by the company and also to make sure that there are no intermediaries.”
U.S. praises Reserve Bank of India in Iran dispute
The United States Wednesday praised the Reserve Bank of India for reducing its dealings with Iran's central bank, saying the Islamic Republic misuses its financial relationships to support its nuclear program.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Advertise with care
Now a days commercials seem better than TV programmes but ad makers should not take too much liberty with their subjects. A bank that wants to show that its ATMs offer a choice of currency denominations uses a wedding procession as a backdrop, with the bridegroom wearing a garland of currency notes. It is irresponsible of a bank commercial to feature a situation that clearly violates the Reserve Bank of India’s Clean Note Policy. - K R Vaikuntam, Thrissur
RBI definition of Financial Inclusion
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in December 2009 changed the definition of financial inclusion by stating that financial inclusion is not restricted merely to opening of bank accounts but must also include the provision of all financial services like credit, remittance and overdraft facilities for the rural poor.
Overhaul for foreign banks
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is set to open the doors for foreign banks to expand in the country, but is likely to link it to the policies of the country from which the bank desiring to expand in India hails. Government sources told Hindustan Times that the central bank is likely to take into consideration the principle of “reciprocity” while allowing foreign banks to set up branches or subsidiaries in India.
Regulators test their autonomy
The standout regulator controversy was the turf war between the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) over the unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips), the popular hybrid mutual-fund-cum-insurance products. It was a battle that was avidly followed as much for its significance as the personalities of J Harinarayan of Irda and C B Bhave of Sebi, both former bureaucrats. In some ways, it also demonstrated the point that in India, the question of regulator “autonomy” is ephemeral at best. The Union finance ministry set a cat among the pigeons by using the Sebi-Irda tussle to pass an ordinance increasing its own regulatory powers over the Reserve Bank of India. A non-plussed and beleaguered RBI regained ground when former RBI governors cried foul and came to the central bank’s support. The soft spoken RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao voiced widely-shared fears about central bank autonomy and North Block backed off a bit, but not fully. The RBI-FinMin saga is yet to fully play out.
Pratip Chaudhuri set to head SBI
State Bank of India Deputy Managing Director Pratip Chaudhuri is likely to replace incumbent Chairman O P Bhatt when he retires in March 2011 after completing his five-year term. The finance ministry has cleared Chaudhuri for the top job at the country’s largest bank. The selection is subject to approval by the appointments committee of the Cabinet and the Prime Minister. Chaudhuri, who is also group executive of international banking at the staterun lender, was actually interviewed for the managing director’s post earlier this month, along with three other deputy managing directors: Hemant Contractor (head of corporate & wholesale banking), K Krishna Kumar (head of IT), and Diwakar Gupta (head of rural & national banking). The four were also candidates to the top job at SBI. A search committee headed by Reserve Bank of India Governor D Subbarao shortlisted the names of Chaudhuri and Contractor for the post. With the selection of Chaudhuri as SBI chairman, Contractor, Gupta and Kumar will be made managing directors. SBI will have four managing directors, following a recent amendment to the SBI Act, which increased the number of posts. At present, SBI has only one Managing Director, R Sridharan, after S K Bhattacharya retired in October. Sridharan is due to retire in June. Sources said the government wanted to select a person with at least two years of residual service for the chairman’s post. Chaudhuri, 56, with his rich experience in banking, fit the eligibility criteria. Just like Bhatt, he also joined SBI as a probationary officer in 1974. He took charge as deputy managing director & group executive (international banking) of SBI in April 2009.
Mobile user verification will be based on UID Number
The Unique Identification (UID) Number project, which is poised to use the vast 700 million plus mobile subscriber database and distribution network to help complete the project, will in turn become the basis of issuing mobile connections in the future. UID Number will be the definitive proof for subscriber verification.
Noted cardiac surgeon R K Panda hurt in road mishap
The internationally renowned cardio-vascular and thoracic surgeon and director of the Mumbai based Asian Heart Institute, Dr Ramakant Panda, was injured in a road mishap in Nagaon district in Assam when his car collided head-on with a speeding truck. Dr Panda sustained injuries on his head. His son Saswat (20) also sustained some injuries, Nagaon deputy commissioner M Angamuthu said. The incident took place at around 1:45 pm at Samaguri, about 200 km east of Guwahati. The renowned surgeon, who had successfully conducted multiple heart surgeries on Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, is a state guest and was travelling along with his wife, son and daughter to the Kaziranga National Park from Guwahati. He was first admitted to the Nagaon Civil Hospital and was later airlifted to Guwahati.
Sebi, RBI to discuss global indices futures
Sebi will be meeting RBI officials shortly to discuss the proposal on introduction of futures trading on overseas indices at the local exchanges.The National Stock Exchange (NSE) had approached Sebi seeking approval for launching futures trading on popular global indices like S&P 500 and Dow Jones Index of US, denominated in rupees.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Vidyadhar Anaskar’s 4th term on RBI task force
Vidya Sahakari Bank Ltd chairman, Vidyadhar Anaskar, has been appointed member of the task force for urban co-operative banks set up by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). This is the fourth consecutive year that Anaskar will serve on it. Anaskar is director of the Pune District Urban Co-operative Banks Association and the Maharashtra State Urban Co-operative Banks Federation. The task force has been formed on the basis of a memorandum of understanding between the Centre and the state government. The panel will take decisions relating to urban co-operative banks in the state. According to a press release, Anaskar has been representing the urban co-operative banks since January 2008 on the task force. He has represented over 170 urban co-operative banks in the state and has also conducted special sessions for over 265 banks for free to guide their employees on technical and legal issues. He works as a visiting lecturer in various reputed institutes, including the College of Banking run by the RBI, the Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration. He is a also tax consultant.
Sebi awaits public view on Jalan panel report
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) executive director JN Gupta on Monday said the regulator has not yet formed a view on the recommendation submitted by the Bimal Jalan committee. Sebi has given time till December 31 for market participants to send their suggestions and comments. "Once the public comments are received, Sebi will follow its normal process of actions," he said. But Gupta, who was also a member of the Jalan Committee, which reviewed the ownership structure and corporate governance of the market infrastructure institutions (MII),said the committee had tried to suggest measures that could keep pace with fast changing market practices and are capable of handling the outcome of a potential risk posed by these institutions. Other panelist who had come against the committee's key recommendations stated that globally stock exchanges remained stable even as big banks and financial institutions collapsed and hence there was no need for imposing stringent restrictions on stock exchange's operations.
...Rangarajan pegs it lower at 5.5%, sees growth at 9%
Inflation is expected to come down to 5.5% by March 2011, Prime Minister’s EconomicAdvisoryCouncilchairman C Rangarajan said on Monday. Besides,the PM panel also sees the country to achieve a GDP growth rate between 8.5-9% in the current fiscal. “I think by March (2011), we can expect (WPI) inflation to come down to 5.5%,” Rangarajan said on the sidelines of the 93rd annual conference of Indian Economic Association. “I think any level of inflation beyond 5% (threshold level of inflation) is uncomfortable,”he asserted.
Monday, December 27, 2010
BSE launches Shariah 50 index
The Bombay Stock Exchange today launched India's first Shariah-compliant index, to promote financial inclusion among Muslims. The `BSE Tasis "The introduction of the BSE Tasis Shariah Index will give Islamic and other socially responsible investors another means to access the Indian market and will help attract pools of capital to India from the Gulf, Europe, and Southeast Asia," said Madhu Kannan, managing director and CEO of BSE. "This index will create increased awareness on financial investments amongst the masses and help enhance financial inclusion. It will also build a base for licensing for the construction of Shariah-compliant financial products, including mutual funds, ETFs, and structured products," Kannan added. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, during his visit to Kuala Lumpur in October, had said he would ask the Reserve Bank of India to learn more about Islamic financial products from Malaysia.
RBI set to moot apex holding co for bank groups - Deputy Governor Shyamala Gopinath
An internal working group of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to propose the model of an apex holding company (AHC) for banking conglomerates. It is veering to the view that this structure, as opposed to that of intermediate holding company, would ensure that nonbanking entities within a banking group are directly owned by the AHC. This would reduce contagion risk and protect the relevant bank's reputation. The group headed by Deputy Governor Shyamala Gopinath is working on a draft paper which examines several global models of structuring of banking groups and lists the pros and cons.The group reckons that in the Indian context the model of apex holding company might be preferable, said a source in the know of the development. Listing out the advantages of the AHC model, the source said, “This company will be an investment company which will have control over group companies.According to this model, the bank and the non-bank subsidiaries in a banking group would be owned by the holding firm. The proposed apex holding company model is different from the intermediate holding company that banks like ICICI Bank and SBI planned to set up in 2007. "The proposed apex banking model would require amendments to existing laws and the committee is examining this aspect also," said another source. Additionally, considering that the RBI is in the process of examining granting banking license to new entrants including industrial houses the committee is examining if this structure should be made mandatory for the new entrants.
Pawar bats for urban co-op banks, seeks RBI support
Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Saturday asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to adopt a more supportive attitude toward urban cooperative banks (UCBs) while admitting that the wrongdoers did not deserve any sympathy. He said UCBs needed financial support in adopting core banking solutions (CBS) to achieve better efficiency of operations and transparency of transactions. Speaking at the national launch of CBS in UCBs here, the minister said though the cooperative sector’s share in the banking industry was just four per cent, it catered to the poor and the middle class for whom private banks were still out of reach. Pawar said it was possible that the money needed for CBS implementation could come from NABARD. “We will discuss this with NABARD and ensure that small banks do not lack support... small banks should consolidate themselves by forming strategic groups,” he said, adding change was needed in UCBs through integration of technology.
REGULATORY FAILURES
Governments in India have for long regulated many economic and other activities within the framework of the Constitution and the laws passed by the Central or state legislatures. Since no law can be so detailed that it covers all the complexities of implementation, rules and regulations are framed to enable governments to give flesh to the skeletons of overall policies. During the four decades or so when India was committed to a “socialistic pattern” of society, ministers and their bureaucrats developed regulations that controlled almost every aspect of economic activity. There was much abuse of these powers; favours were given to some, bribes smoothed the way for many, nepotism was common, financial and other support to political mentors was the price for some. This continues despite liberalization and the withdrawal of government from many areas of control. This is because decisions that could enable large profits were taken in an opaque manner. There was considerable discretion given to ministers and bureaucrats, easily subject to misuse. Independent regulators were created to get over this difficulty. The first regulator who took over many of the government’s powers was the Reserve Bank of India, though it remained ultimately subservient to the finance minister and his office. The RBI determined monetary policy. Though there is no legislation that gives it the mandate, it uses monetary policy (money supply, interest rates) to keep inflation within limits. It also manages the external value of the rupee by buying and selling foreign currencies and increasing and decreasing the flow of rupees. It also regulates the different financial institutions.
Make phonebanking more secure: RBI
Banks will ask for an additional password from their credit card customers from the new year for any transactions conducted over phone, subsequent to a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) direction for making phone banking more secure. According to the RBI guideline, all banks will mandatorily decline any telephonic banking transactions, including the automated IVR (interactive voice response) services where customers do not have a onetime password (OTP) for such services with effect from 1 January. However, the OTP will be valid for a single use and would remain in effect for a period of two hours. Customers would need to generate a separate OTP for each IVR transaction.
RBI joins bribes-for-loans scam probe
The Reserve Bank of India has joined the Central Bureau of Investigation in probing the ‘bribes-for-loans’ scandal involving at least 15 companies, in an attempt to prevent loans given to them from burning a hole in lenders’ books. The central bank has written to all banks seeking details of their lending to firms named by the CBI in an investigation into violations in sanctioning of loans by executives in return for bribes.
“The RBI is trying to assess the extent of exposure, the quality of these assets, and whether banks followed norms while lending to these firms.” Officials at the RBI could not be reached for comment during the weekend.
“The RBI is trying to assess the extent of exposure, the quality of these assets, and whether banks followed norms while lending to these firms.” Officials at the RBI could not be reached for comment during the weekend.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Festival of coins
A lesson in Indian history, a tour around the world, tips on how to spot fake currency — all this and more are on offer at Mudra Utsav being held at Haldiram Banquet Hall in Ballygunge Park. The event is on till December 26. The Numismatic Society of Calcutta is holding the exhibition as part of its silver jubilee celebrations. “Individual dealers usually interact directly with collectors and charge them whatever they fancy. Here there are many dealers under one roof, so one has the option of comparing prices,” says Sandip Jain, the president of the society. Individual collections are also on display. Basant Kumar Rathi’s British India coins date from 1835 when uniform coinage was introduced. “The double mohur was equivalent to 30 pieces of silver rupee. Few people know that till 1969 our mint used to strike these William IV mohurs as personal souvenirs,” he said. Also on display were Saibal Basu’s collection on Mughal India Republic of India Bombay , a star Hyderabad Calcutta
Disclose meetings agenda, RBI told
An order passed by Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra makes it mandatory for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to disclose pre-board meeting agenda notes and minutes. RBI has been told to draft a “disclosure policy” by February 2011 to bring about greater transparency in the bank’s functioning. The Commission said such a move “will also set the trend for other banks to follow”. The decision came on an application filed by one Kishan Lal Mittal, a resident of Mumbai, who had asked from RBI the copies of the minutes of the meetings of governing board, board of directors, committee of directors of the central bank from April 2007 and information regarding the complaint handling procedures followed by it against banking/non-banking companies. RBI’s Public Information Officer said the information was “voluminous” and would take a long time to furnish, which would result in wasting public money. What is more, RBI argued that providing the information “would amount to disclosure of information that could prejudicially affect the economic interests of India
Banking Laws – Need to change
There are several legislations that cover India India
Saturday, December 25, 2010
More than onion hike, pricey protein items are the problem – Dr.Gokarn
The Reserve Bank of In dia is seriously worried about the enduring nature of high prices of protein items, which it fears, carries a risk of spilling over to more generalised inflation. This, together with a rise in the prices of commodities globally, may force its hands to hike key policy rates in its quarterly review in January 2011. "Prices of protein items, specially milk, fish, eggs and meat that are not sensitive to monsoon, have been rising steadily. When this happens, and there is a trend, it carries a risk of spilling over to generalised inflation," said Subir Gokarn, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India.
Third Quarter Review of Monetary Policy 2010-11 on January 25, 2011
Dr. D. Subbarao, Governor, Reserve Bank of India will announce the Third Quarter Review of Monetary Policy 2010-11 on Tuesday, January 25, 2011. This will be done in a meeting with the chief executives of major scheduled commercial banks at 11.00 a.m. on January 25, 2011 at the Central Office, Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai.
RBI fines Rupee Co-op Bank
RBI has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 5 lakh on Rupee Cooperative Bank, Pune, Maharashtra for violation of RBI guidelines. The bank had violated RBI directives by purchasing cheques beyond the ceiling of Rs 0.25 lakh in current accounts.
Bank staff oppose HR policies' recast
All India Bank Employees Association has termed the recommendations of Khandelwal Committee on recast of HR policies for PSBs detrimental to the interest of bank employees. The association will protest march to Parliament on February 23.
Friday, December 24, 2010
FM to have last word in FSDC
First meeting scheduled around month-end. The Finance Mnistry is going ahead with its plan to be the final authority in the proposed Financial Stability Development Council (FSDC) structure despite Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) objections. Though the final guidelines for the proposed council are yet to be formulated, it has been decided that issues which elude consensus within the FSDC sub-committee – headed by the RBI governor – will be automatically referred to the finance minister, who will chair FSDC. Industry sources say this translates into the finance minister’s intervention on most issues as there is hardly any consensus at such meetings. Even the High Level Co-ordination Committee (HLCC) was unable to agree on most issues, they said. The first meeting of FSDC has been scheduled around the end of this month and will be attended by the heads of the four regulators, the finance secretary, the banking secretary, the director general (department of currencies) and the finance minister. Interestingly, RBI deputy governors are not included in the sub-committee, though they are invitees to the present HLCC. With FSDC in place, HLCC will die a natural death. In response to the draft guidelines, RBI had suggested that the governor-chaired sub-committee be given the authority to sort out regulatory disputes and the matter be referred to a higher authority only if the chairman was unable to resolve any issue. In the initial proposal for FSDC, two sub-committees were envisaged. The one on regulatory coordination was proposed to be chaired by the RBI governor, with the finance secretary heading the sub-committee on financial stability. RBI objected on the grounds that the functioning of FSDC was likely to impinge on regulatory autonomy and flexibility. “This may affect the ability of the sectoral regulators to act in a timely manner, taking into consideration the specific compulsions and circumstances of the sector concerned,” the central bank had said. Following RBI’s observations, the government and the regulator reached a compromise formula, under which it was agreed that while the finance minister would head the proposed body, the governor would head the only sub-committee of FSDC. The terms of reference of FSDC include inter-regulatory co-ordination, financial stability, financial literacy and inclusion, and sector development. Interestingly, they also mention that “any other issue” deemed fit by the chairman or the council could be taken up. The government also differs with RBI on financial stability being the exclusive mandate of the latter. Sources said the government was of the view that RBI would not be able to ensure fiscal or social stability as well as the government. The finance ministry also cited the recent global financial crisis where governments played a more critical role to restore normalcy.
Finance ministry doubts EPFO’s 9.5 per cent math
The finance ministry has raised doubts over how the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) managed to extract an extra Rs 1,731 crore from its accounts to reward subscribers with an additional 1 per cent interest rate this year. The Central Board of Trustees had in September declared a 9.5 per cent rate for 2010-11 after discovering a surplus in its interest suspense account. In 2009-10, it had paid 8.5 per cent to its subscribers. Although the interest rate is declared by the labour ministry, it is the finance ministry that notifies it. Without an official notification, subscribers who withdraw money from the PF would not be able to earn the 9.5 per cent rate applicable for this year. The finance ministry fears that once a high rate for EPFO is set, it might be politically difficult to lower it in the coming years. It had recently appointed a panel chaired by the Reserve Bank of India deputy governor Usha Thorat (who has retired since) to review the current system of fixed returns on all small savings schemes. While the panel will most likely suggest a shift to market aligned rates, the sources said it would be a tricky affair given the EPF’s new 9.5 per cent return benchmark.
Prepaid payment instruments come in various options; choose the one that suits your needs
Think of prepaid and the first thing that will come to your mind is the scratch card you would have bought to recharge your cellphone. But prepaid has since acquired a whole new meaning with prepaid payment instruments coming into existence. These include not just the traditional scratch cards, but also smart cards, virtual cards, Internet wallets, mobile wallets and mobile and your Internet account. You can use these to pay bills while on the move, your driver could use it to remit money back home and your child won’t have to rely on your credit card to make purchases online.
What are prepaid payment instruments
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines define them as payment instruments that allow you to purchase goods and services against the value stored in them. A customer can purchase the value and store it on the instrument. The transaction can be done through cash, debit or credit card. Such payment instruments include paper vouchers, magnetic cards and smart cards, Internet and mobile accounts and wallets. There are three types of payment instruments—closed, semi-closed and open instruments. The last two enable mobile transactions. These instruments work best for those who may not have a credit or debit card, but would want ease in bill and ticketing payments. Moreover, they can be a huge advantage and can provide much ease to the section that does not have access to formal channels. Says Vivek Saxena, co-founder and CEO, ZipCash, “Apart from teenagers who shop online but may not have a credit card, this is also meant for working people who are looking for a safe and easy way to make their payments. You could also use this if you don’t want to use your credit card for small transactions.” These are safer bets compared with a credit or debit card since your liability is limited to the value you store in cases of fraud.
RBI holds meeting with Bankers on resuming credit to Microfinance Institutions
The Reserve Bank of India yesterday met select banks and SIDBI to get an assessment regarding the ground level situation in the microfinance sector in Andhra Pradesh and other states and the need for any interim measures. The RBI sensitized the banks to the need to maintain funding lines to MFIs on merits to prevent contagion. The Indian Banks Association will shortly come up with concrete proposals for the measures to be taken in the interim, for consideration of Reserve Bank of India.
Who will float new banks?
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday put up on its website comments of industrial houses, banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), microfinance institutions (MFIs), industry associations and public on its discussion paper on the entry of new banks, released in August. The range of comments varies and there is no consensus on the profile of new entrants.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Second password to be must for mobile banking
If you use a credit or a debit card for any transaction by phone, then you need a second password starting from 1 January, 2011. The Reserve Bank of India has made second password mandatory for all transactions based on interactive voice response (IVR). The cardholder has to send an SMS to a particular number . The bank will SMS back a password to the cardholder. This password will be the second authentication, which would be required to complete the transaction.
RBI may allow recast of loans to MFIs
Microfinance institutions (MFIs) may finally have something to cheer about. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday said it is considering a proposal from banks to allow them to restructure loans to the sector, without classifying the assets as non-performing. According to RBI norms, banks can restructure standard assets, but they have to be treated as sub-standard and require provisioning.
A decision will be taken as soon as the Indian Banks’ Association comes up with a detailed proposal. Restructuring the loans is expected to help avert defaults, which could turn loans into non-performing assets. At a meeting here on Wednesday with top banks, RBI also advised them not to choke funds to MFIs.
A decision will be taken as soon as the Indian Banks’ Association comes up with a detailed proposal. Restructuring the loans is expected to help avert defaults, which could turn loans into non-performing assets. At a meeting here on Wednesday with top banks, RBI also advised them not to choke funds to MFIs.
RBI disallows foreign investment in IndusInd Bank
The Reserve Bank of India today said it will no more allow foreign investors to purchase shares of IndusInd Bank as their investment in the private lender has reached the trigger limit. "The RBI has today notified that the aggregate net purchases of equity shares in Indusind Bank by FIIs/NRIs/PIOs under Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS) in the primary/secondary markets have reached the trigger limit. "Hence, the company has been included in the ban list of RBI (for purchase of equity shares by FIIs/NRIs/PIOs)," the central bank said in statement.
Banks want RBI to watch MFIs
Fearing a default from Andhra Pradesh-based microfinance institutions (MFIs), whose cash flows have been disrupted by new laws, lenders have asked RBI to ensure stability by bringing the sector under its purview. In a meeting called by the Reserve Bank to discuss funding of MFIs, it asked banks whether the institutions were repaying loans on time and if the end-borrower was suffering because of the credit crunch faced by them. RBI had recently collected data from banks on their exposure to the MFI industry. Bankers told RBI that although there has not been any major default, lenders are worried about the impact of the new law introduced by Andhra Pradesh that bars them from weekly debt recovery. The state has introduced its own laws even as the central government dithers over a new legislation. The finance ministry has now said it will introduce the bill after taking into account recommendations of an RBI committee headed by Y.H.Malegam, a director on the its board. Bankers fear that in the absence of any regulation, each state government may decide to take matters in its own hands through legislation.
Stubborn prices strengthen case for a rate hike in Jan
The pace of fall in food prices is not exactly in line with the expectations of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). This signals that there is an increased likelihood of a rate hike in the next monetary policy in January 2011. “Food inflation is not easing as we would like it to be. Upside risks to inflation are still high,” said RBI Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn, speaking on the sidelines of a seminar on debt market organised by credit rating agency CARE. He added that global commodity prices are on the upside, which is a concern. The central bank had taken a pause on rate hike in its mid-policy review on December 16 and left the policy rates unchanged. About the rising onion prices, Mr Gokarn termed it as a temporary spike, which would normalise as “the government is doing everything it can to manage supply-side pressures”.
Sebi, govt may trash Jalan report
Govt Fears That Panel’s Suggestions May Hit Competition, Fund Raising - The Securities and Exchange Board of India and the government are expected to reject some of the contentious recommendations of the Bimal Jalan committee on the grounds that they could restrict competition and also affect companies that depend on the securities market for fund-raising. Amid hectic lobbying by various stakeholders –– including exchanges depositories and clearing houses ––sources involved with regulatory decision-making said that several players have voiced their concerns over the inability to list exchanges, something that the committee, which also had representatives from the finance ministry and Sebi, has recommended.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)