In hoax we feel happy..........

 -------- Original Message --------
Subject: PAYMENT NOTICE OF 7,50,000GBP FROM RESERVE BANK OF INDIA!
From: Reserve Bank of India <info@rbi.org.in>
Date: Wed, February 20, 2013 9:22 am
To: undisclosed-recipients:;


OPEN THE ATTACHED FILE AND REPLY WITH YOUR COMPLETE DETAILS TO THE
TRANSFER DEPARTMENT OF RESERVE BANK OF INDIA

<PAYMENT NOTIFICATION OF YOUR FUNDS..docx>

Pl. see the above mail received by my daughter. Such frauds are increasing day by day. Even RBI is not spared. This must be circulated to all RBI'ts.

- C.P.Sonak, Ex-DGM

I am thinking of sending a hoax mail to all retired people that their PENSION UPDATION case has been cleared at the highest level.The real mail we do not get, at least the hoax makes us feel on par with Ambanis and Mittals.

- Sitendra Kumar, Ex-GM 

Wage Revision Remains in Cold Storage - 2 Day Strike by Bank Staff - UFBU needs to draw its strategy

...... I think at this time, the top most agenda item which every banker wants to discuss is the  10th BPS, which has become due from 1st November, 2012 i.e. almost now it is 4 months overdue.   For certain sections of retired bankers the core issues to be resolved are - 2nd pension option to resignees etc, 100% DA neutralisation to pre-01/11/2002 retirees, and updation of pension.    I think, there will be hardly any bankers who will disagree with me on this issue except some hardcore UFBU leaders.    If this is true, then question arises why UFBU decided to waste its energies on political issues which are not likely to bring any results for the bankers or the country............

Read.......

Indians prefer to put their retirement savings into cash deposits: HSBC

..........."When the economic downturn first hit and many people reduced or stopped saving, everyone expected the storm would eventually pass; but today's shifting economic and social trends require people to think differently about their planning and prepare for the unexpected,"..........

Read........

A Budget for savings?

......The Reserve Bank of India also has to balance the interests of domestic industry (calling for quick and substantial cuts in rates) and those of savers. A move to aggressively cut rates may further push savers out of financial assets. Even today, bankers are reluctant to cut deposit rates, since deposits are only growing at 13 per cent. A substantial reduction in lending rates looks tough, unless deposits start growing again. Unless the pool of financial savings can be significantly enhanced, deep rate cuts by lenders are just not possible.........

Read | Business Standard

A budget in the shadow of record current account deficit

..... Well, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) believes the country’s sustainable current account deficit is 2.5% of GDP. It’s far above that level now, and the massive gap has to be financed through capital inflows, which makes the Indian economy completely dependent on the kindness of foreigners. Any loss of confidence in India’s growth prospects, any lessening of global risk appetite, and fund flows to the country’s markets could start drying up, dragging down the rupee and leading to a stampede for the exits.......

Read - Mint

Pvt Banks Take Country Roads to Keep Competition at Bay

A few private sector lenders have started strengthening their rural presence as they prepare to take on competition from new players who are being granted licence as part of the government’s financial inclusion plan. While HDFC Bank is reaching out to the rural community on its own, Axis Bank and Yes Bank are working through business correspondents, or local representatives, and tie-ups. The push into these regions, though not very lucrative, is also in part due to the saturation in the urban areas........ 

Read - ET

A walk on the wild side

.........Pressures to spend will always exist, says Subir Gokarn, an economist and former bigwig at the RBI. In areas such as education and infrastructure, that is only right. So revenues need to rise. A new report by the IMF compares India with other countries, adjusting for their wealth. It implies that India’s government revenues should be 25% of GDP. At present they are just 18%..........

Read - The Economist

Growth versus Inflation

........The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may take pride in claiming, even if in jest, that it has prevented a “big bang collapse” and that in pursuing higher growth and lower inflation, it has reduced the repo rate and cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 0.25 percentage point each in its latest policy statement of 29 January 2013 (RBI Post-Policy Conference Call for the Media). However, it is not surprising that the domestic financial markets have uniformly reacted adversely to the measures on the ground that the RBI policy correction was too meager and that it has come a long time after the economy had slipped into a morass of depressed business conditions..........

Read..........

RBI officials fear budget choices give less room for rate cuts

.......Yet, officials in the Reserve Bank of India fear that cutting capital spending on projects with strong multiplier effects like building roads and bridges, won't help revive growth, which is seen as a priority if the economy is to avoid a downward spiral. And they also worry that maintaining populist spending on subsidies for food, fuel, fertiliser and cooking gas will push up prices......

Read........

Realtors, brokers to get RBI lifeline

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has softened its stance on allowing real estate firms and brokerages to apply for banking licences. Sources familiar with the developments said the final guidelines, to be announced by the end of the month, would set aside its earlier reservations about these entities............

Read | Business Standard

RBI works comes standstill due to staff strike

JAMMU, Feb 21: The local units of RBI Workers Union and Reserve Bank Employees Association observed two days’ strike on February 20 and 21 on the call of All India Central Trade Unions. They were protesting against the failure of the government to control price rise, worsening economic conditions, outsourcing of work, exploitative and anti-labour policies of the government. The work in Reserve Bank of India came to a standstill due to the strike. The protesting employees held massive demonstration at the gate of the RBI building at Jammu under the aegis of Jammu Chapter of United Forum of Reserve Bank Employees and Workers. Later the leaders of the constituents of the United Forum including BS Kirola, Secretary, Reserve Bank Employees Association, Supen Kumar, Chief Secretary, Reserve Bank Workers’ Union, Raj Kumar, President, Reserve Bank Workers’ Union, among others. The speakers highlighted the importance of the issues being agitated by the trade unions all over the country.

Kashmir Times

Over 4 million cheques worth Rs. 250bn remain unprocessed

.........“About 4 million cheques worth about Rs. 250 billion could not be processed on Wednesday in various clearing houses of National Payment Corporation, RBI and SBI. Clearing operations were totally affected in all the district and town centres also.”............

Read.............

ATMs act as saviour for citizens

Outsourcing of work to fill cash in the automated teller machines (ATM) acted as a respite for ATM users in the two-day period of bandh. Despite banking services getting disrupted, the ATMs did not dry up on February 20 and 21...........

Read - DNA

Rs. 2,000 cr transaction blocked in banks

Terming the two-day nationwide bandh call opposing the anti-labour policies a success, joint secretary of National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW) Prakash Deshpande said that transaction of Rs2,000 crore was blocked in banks...........

Read - DNA

Inflation- fired bandh

....Among the slew of demands, the most appealing to large sections of the people was the one about taming runaway inflation. The poor and the middle- income groups are hit the hardest by the doubledigit price- rise. The failure of the government to rein in fiscal deficit lies at the heart of the inflation problem. In real terms, incomes of salaried classes and of the vast numbers in the unorganized sectors have shrunk in recent years.......

Read - FPJ

Banking, transport sector hit on day two of nationwide strike

.....“A majority of ATMs have dried up while (bank) branches are shut. Additionally, there has not been any cheque clearing as personnel from RBI too joined the strike. It will take at least 2-3 working days to clear the backlog for banks”, said All India Bank Employees Association Vice President Vishwas Utagi.....

Read - The Hindu

Banks, industry must work together: Anand Sharma

Union minister for commerce Anand Sharma on Wednesday said industrialists and banks should engage in meaningful dialogue to facilitate investment and growth and address challenges facing the economy. The minister also asked banks to lend to small entrepreneurs, artisans and weavers at affordable costs. “Economic activity is not an option but a priority and a national imperative,” Sharma said while speaking at the FE Best Banks Awards..........

Read - FE

Indian banks need to raise Rs.2.7 trn by March 2018

Indian banks need to raise Rs.2.7 trillion by March 2018 to meet the capital requirements mandated by Basel III international standards, Crisil Ltd, the local arm of global rating agency Standard and Poor’s, said on Thursday. The Reserve Bank of India has already issued capital regulations that domestic banks have to start complying with in phases from April. Of the Rs.2.7 trillion Indian banks need to raise, a minimum of Rs.1.3 trillion should be raised as equity capital and up to Rs.1.4 trillion as non-equity funds, Crisil said in a statement........

Read - Mint

Mounting NPAs offer little respite to public sector banks in third qt

The October-December quarter brought little cheer for public sector banks that are still struggling to manage their asset quality and keep net interest margins (NIMs) from falling. Bankers say restructured loans remain an overhang, especially in sectors like.........

Read - FE

NBFCs likely to get tax treatment parity with banks

.......Like other lenders, NBFCs too follow the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) prudential norms and defer income regarding their NPAs and make provisions for the same. However, income tax authorities do not recognise these norms and tax NBFCs on such deferment of income on accrual basis resulting in tax on unrealised income. Sources in the department of financial services said the government is "positively inclined" to offer tax parity to NBFCs and the other lenders describing it a "reasonable demand" and hinted that the Budget could announce this change...........

Read - IE

Former LIC chief takes charge as Irda chairman

It’s a comeback any professional would dream of. Less than two years after he was demoted to managing director of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) following charges of financial irregularities, something that eventually prompted him to take voluntary retirement in November 2012, T S Vijayan was appointed chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda), the country’s insurance regulator. An Irda statement said Vijayan had taken charge with immediate effect...........

Read | Business Standard

Dr Reddy’s prescription

..........At this stage, when policymakers across the globe are trying hard to find answers to possibly the most difficult questions of recent times, Y.V. Reddy, former Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the chairman of the 14th Finance Commission, has put forward his assessment and policy prescription in his new book Economic Policies and India’s Reform Agenda: New Thinking, which could be a useful guide for economic management in an otherwise complex world. ..........

Read - Mint

It takes a lot to win an FE Best Banks Award

Competition for the coveted FE Best Banks Awards seems to get keener with each passing year. Contenders need to be not just profitable, cost-efficient and demonstrate their ability to grow, they must have clean balance sheets. Invariably, the winners are those who also happen to be tech-savvy, customer-friendly and innovative. This time around, HDFC Bank has been ranked number one in the new private sector bank category with Kotak Mahindra Bank making it to the second spot. Bank of Baroda has been judged the best PSU bank. ...........

Read - IE

OTM - The trainer, now no more.........

Shri O.T.M.Nambiar passed away on 18th February in Neeleshwaram, Kasargod. He was 92 years old and was not well for some time. He leaves behind his wife and 2 sons. A large number of RBI Officials were trained by Shri. Nambiar as he was a Faculty member for a long time. He worked as Currency Officer in Bombay and retired as Manager in F Grade and was later on deputation with the Indian Bank.

May his soul rest in peace.

-  P.P.Ramachandran, Ex-DGM, DBOD, Mumbai

Extremely sad to learn the demise of OTM. He was in the then Madras office as Manager (Regional Director now). A man of high understanding, had both head and heart for the institution. He was liked by one and all in the centre.

- S.R.Badrinarayanan, Ex-Manager, RPCD, Chennai

I am deeply shocked about the sad demise Sri Nambiar. I had worked under him in Hyderabad office when he was the Manager. I felt he was very soft spoken and deeply religious.

-  C.S.Murthy, Ex CGM-in-Charge, RPCD, RBI, CO Mumbai

SC seeks details of banks’ loan waivers

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is expected to provide by Friday details of loans waived off by banks or allowed one-time settlements above Rs 10 crore by them, following a Supreme Court direction to this effect last month. Such information, collected by RBI on the basis of annual financial inspections, is to be furnished in a sealed cover as the central bank is reluctant to put it in the public domain.........

Read - IE

Bank credit up 16.36%, deposits increase 13.2%

As of February 8, bank credit had increased 16.36 per cent year-on-year. For this financial year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had estimated it to grow 16 per cent. According to RBI data, advances by commercial banks rose Rs 7,17,180 crore year-on-year to Rs 50,99,909 crore. Bankers said by March-end, growth might stand at about 16 per cent or lower, owing to the tepid demand for loans.........

Read | Business Standard

Banks step up efforts to prevent credit card frauds

......American Express is introducing a new solution, ‘ezeClick’, for its customers in India to ensure their card data is not shared with merchants while making online transactions. Currently, an individual has to share information such as card number, expiry date and card verification value during online credit card transactions...........

Read | Business Standard

Virtual cards can keep you safe from credit card frauds

.......Virtual cards are issued by a few banks and individuals can get more than one card at a time. These can be obtained by registering with the bank that has issued you a credit card. You need to do a one-time registration after which you will get a 16-digit number along with a CVV2 number (this is different from the CVV number mentioned at the back of your credit card). This is the number that you would need to key in when doing an online transaction............

Read - Mint

Improve Currency Mgmt Ops: Finmin to Banks

....."We have asked banks to undertake a review of the bin occupancy in each of their currency chests and put in place an effective management information system for cash management," said a finance ministry official, who did not wish to be named. The committee has suggested that bin occupancy in rural areas should be limited to 40% of the VHL. Bankers feel that RBI should issue consolidated guidelines over currency management operations that should cover security issues and provide incentives to efficient banks. "Security is a big issue for us. Besides, the rates of incentives were also fixed long ago and have not been revised," said a senior official with SBI, the country's biggest lender. The committee also recommended that the Reserve Bank of India should initiate discussions with the states for providing a dedicated force for guarding banks' currency chests.......... 

Read - ET

Allowing corporates to run banks risky, says former advisor to Government

.......Dr. Virmani’s comments assume significance in the light of the comments from officials of the Reserve Bank expressing their apprehensions about the move, which follows amendments to the Banking Regulation Act in the last session of Parliament. The actual rules under the legislation, determining which entities will be allowed a banking license have not been issued. Significantly, countries such as the United States and South Korea do not allow industrial houses to establish banks. In other countries, such as Australia, U.K. and Canada also enforce restrictions on the extent of foreign ownership and set limits on voting rights. Even the IMF had warned in January that the benefits from allowing such ownership were outweighed by risks..........

Read - The Hindu

Strike hits banking operations

...........All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) General Secretary C H Vekatachalam claimed clearing operations, electronic fund transfers, forex transactions and money market operations were completely disrupted across the country. Bank unions are pressing for early wage revision of employees, which they said is due from November 2012. They are also opposing banking sector reforms and any plan for merger of banks..............

Read - The Hindu

Unions say strike successful, around 40 lakh cheques worth Rs 25,000 crore remain unprocessed

....."As per reports reaching us from various states, the strike has been observed very successfully in all banks across the country. Employees and officers from all banks including Reserve Bank of India (RBI), State Bank of India (SBI) and other public sector banks, old generation private banks, foreign banks, regional rural banks, and Cooperative banks participated in the strike.” He said, “About 40 lakh cheques worth about Rs25,000 crore could not be processed today in various clearing houses of National Payment Corporation, RBI and SBI. Clearing operations were totally affected in all the district and town centres also.”.....

Read - Moneylife

10 reasons why workers are on a two-day strike

Below is the 10 points charter of demands of the Central Trade unions:

Read...........

RBI tightens norms for import of precious, semi-precious stone

........"It is clarified that Suppliers' and Buyers' Credit (trade credit) including the usance period of Letters of Credit opened for import of precious stones and semi-precious stones should not exceed 90 days from the date of shipment,"...........

Read...........

Merger Woes

This refers to ‘IDBI’s Worst may be Over, But…’ (ET, Feb 20). There is a reference to the merger of United Western Bank (UWB) with IDBI Bank. The fact is UWB was practically gifted away by the RBI to IDBI. There were better offers from other financial entities, but the RBI, for unknown reasons, favoured IDBI. The valuation method employed by the RBI is still not known after over six years of the merger. Ironically, IDBI had 115 branches when it took over UWB, which then had 230 branches! The smaller customers in the area of operation of the UWB feel alienated after the merger as there has been a change in the culture of the bank that now seems to favour richer customers.


- SHAILESH KOKANE (ET)

Bankrupt rhetoric of inclusion

.....When central bankers, following the C. Rangarajan committee set up soon after the 2006 Budget speech, talk, and they do so ceaselessly, of financial inclusion, it seems as if they have in mind a section of the population from another planet, a people forgotten by the mainstream economy in its rush towards self-fulfilment: Exclusion and inclusion are viewed as binary, mutually opposing modes of existence. Banks, we are told, have to replace the usurer both in the rural and urban areas, the landless and the construction migrant worker have to be financially included as a first step towards social inclusion: Informal mechanisms have to be replaced by formal ones.........

Read - HBL

District consumer forum orders HSBC Bank to pay Rs 25,000 for deficiency in service

.....“We hold opposite party (HSBC Bank) deficient in service in not informing CIBIL of settlement of all outstanding dues of complainant...,” the bench presided by CK Chaturvedi said. It directed the bank to issue a no-dues certificate to Delhi-resident Vinay Chola and to reconsider a fresh card for him. The forum also awarded him compensation of Rs25,000 towards litigation charges and harassment caused to him........

Read - Moneylife

Responding to the global currency war

....Even if it is assumed that India will keep borrowing easy by liberalising the capital account to fund the current account and push currency to higher levels, the idea is being increasingly questioned. As per the former Deputy Governor, RBI S. S. Tarapore, with our inflation rates persistently above that in major industrial countries, the present dollar-rupee rate should be close to Rs 70. Recently, another foreign exchange expert commented that the rupee should be at least Rs. 60. While this debate can go on, considering the present global macroeconomic scenario and the fact that India is a major importer of oil, we cannot afford either huge appreciation or depreciation from the present level........

Read - HBL

Effectiveness of interest rates limited when fiscal position stressed

It is a challenging time for the Indian economy amid the near-consensus for embracing a “painful process” of fiscal consolidation. Aggregate demand remains stultified (capital investments are projected to hit a five-year low this fiscal year) helping ease headline inflation to below 7% after a three-year gap and reinforcing the case for growth-oriented policies. Downside risks for the global economy may have receded a bit, but have barely vanished and there is the renewed threat of currency war among countries desperately wanting to get their economies back on course. Former RBI Governor and 14th Finance Commission chairman YV Reddy, recipient of this year’s FE Best Banks Lifetime Achievement Award, discusses the state of the Indian economy ...........

Read - FE

‘Foreign exchange has emerged as a critical resource’

......Savithri V. Ramani, Senior Officer from the Reserve Bank of India, Chennai, detailed various activities of the Foreign Exchange Department of RBI. With Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), which was effected from June 1, 2000, the objective of RBI had shifted from conservation of foreign exchange to facilitating external trade and payment and promoting the orderly development and maintenance of foreign exchange market in India. “RBI has brought in structural changes in exchange control administration and framed certain transparent regulations for dealing with various types of foreign exchange transactions. Foreign exchange has emerged as a critical resource with a direct relationship to economic performance at a time when the share of the external sector in the national output has soared significantly. The integration of the world economy over the past two to three decades has been dramatic and the real gainers from globalisation are the developing countries that have been able to seize the opportunities to participate in the process,” she added........

Read - The Hindu

Portable ATMs gain popularity among banks

......Private sector banks have started introducing mobile ATMs that are migrating from one religious fair to another throughout the year. HDFC Bank, the second largest private lender in the country, has sent its mobile ATM to the Maha Kumbh Mela in Allahabad this year. It is estimated over 100 million people will attend this year's Maha Kumbh Mela, which began last month........

Read - Business Standard

Worn-out currency can be deposited at a bank

......Well, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regulations say that under special circumstances, the central bank may exchange such notes. And it has mandated every bank to have designated branches to provide the facility of exchanging such notes. So you can visit these branches and get such currency notes exchanged or deposited but there are few conditions you need to keep in mind.............

Read - Mint

A growth budget all the way

.......Even RBI is very puzzled as to why India’s inflation rate, historically moderate and lower than most emerging economies, is among the highest in the world since 2010. In a recent public address, RBI’s Executive Director and a reputed monetary economist, Deepak Mohanty, described the current phase of growth collapse and elevated inflation as a big puzzle. He said in 62 years since 1951, India’s WPI inflation rate was 6.7%. “This was not a very high rate considering many developed and developing countries experienced very high inflation in their modern development history. World inflation averaged around 17% in the 1980s and 1990s.”.........

Read - FE

India pushes for expanded banking links with China

....Ambassador to China S. Jaishankar said India had now become the largest market for project exports from China, with over $ 55 billion worth of projects – from infrastructure to power – under execution. “In this background, expanded banking relations between India and China is very important,” he said. “The Reserve Bank of India and the China Banking Regulatory Commission have already reached agreement to expedite processing of licenses... It is only when our banks are more connected that we can be said to have achieved the full spectrum relationship that is natural to neighbours.”..........

Read - The Hindu

Grant Industry Status to Business Correspondents: FINO PayTech Ltd

......According to RBI, "Financial inclusion is the process of ensuring access to appropriate financial products and services needed by vulnerable groups such as weaker sections and low-income groups at an affordable cost in a fair and transparent manner by mainstream institutional players." According to FINO PayTech, BCs as an alternate channel have to be given its own place under the sun. The scale that the BC industry has achieved thus far is of paramount significance and impact both at macro and micro level economics of the rural poor & those at the bottom of the pyramid (BoP).......

Read..........

Microlenders may move Supreme Court

....“Notwithstanding this recognition of RBI’s primacy as the regulator of NBFC-MFIs by the court, the court has allowed the dual regulation situation to exist in the state,” he said. NBFCs are non-banking finance companies. “One can only hope that the state govt will take constructive note of the signal given by the high court and either repeal the state law or make it applicable only to MFIs which are not under the regulatory umbrella of the RBI,” Prasad said. “We are actively considering moving to the Supreme Court to get redressal.”.........

Read - Mint

RBI employees to participate in strike

.....A statement issued by All India Reserve Bank Employees Association and All India Reserve Bank Workers Federation here said that its employees would support the strike and the Central Bank would remain closed.

Read............

Nabard staff to join strike

All India Nabard Employees’ Association (AINBEA) will join the two-day strike called by the central trade unions. This was decided at its ninth annual conference held in Hyderabad............

Read - HBL

My View on "Two-day trade unions strike to hit life, banking"

For a change, I would like to do some back of the envelope, reverse accounting, keeping in mind the estimated loss of 15,000 to 20,000 crore, if the two-day strike really happens. (i) The loss to the employees joining government and public sector services pursuant to introduction of New Pension System (ii) The recurring loss to the workforce in India due to faulty working out of and non-implementation of minimum wages (iii) The loss to the Indian consumer due to irrational and one-sided pricing policies (iv) The loss suffered by Indian citizens availing transport services from airlines, Railways and other public transport systems (Railways, sometimes, do not even care to identify the individuals who die while traveling, story of delayed and denied compensations too is agonizing). Just to remind that GDP is an aggregation of efforts made by millions of people and occasionally, those in charge should remember the roots.
- M G WARRIER  

Change of Guard, Change of Culture

As long as DK Mittal was the Secretary, Financial Services, many chairmen were critical of Mittal because they found him to be hands-on. Now, after Mittal left, his replacement Rajiv Takru is seen to have a different approach. In a recent meeting the new Secretary, Financial Services, Takru made it clear that he will not entertain any banker below the CMD rank, a wide departure from Mittal’s way of functioning. Mittal never hesitated to interact with officers who were involved with the task assigned even if the officer was a DGM rank.

ET

Top jobs at banks, regulators set to fall vacant

.................Come September, and the Reserve Bank of India too would be in for a change with D Subbarao, who like Hari Narayan is an IAS officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre, due to complete his extended two-year term. It is early to gauge who will replace Subbarao but it is unlikely that a bureaucrat will move into the governor’s office on the 18th floor on Mumbai’s Mint Road..........

Read - TOI

FinMin to appoint 9 new CMDs for PSU banks, 10 shortlisted

.......There was a six-member interview board, which took interviews for CMDs' posts. They were Rajiv Takru, secretary - department of financial services; Anand Sinha, Deputy Governor - RBI, Jagdish Capoor, former Deputy Governor - RBI (1997-2001) and a few other experts including two directors from Indian Institute of Management - Calcutta and IIM- Kozhikode. To step into CMD's shoes, an executive director has to have minimum of two years of service life...........

Read..........

SBI STAFF DON’T MIND OVERTIME

The staff at state-run companies don’t have much of a reputation for performing to their full potential even during normal work hours.But SBI has managed to work overtime on Monday due to a holiday on Tuesday and a worker strike on Wednesday and Thursday. The staff had worked extra hours a day in advance to compensate customers for the strike. Insiders credit chairman Pratip Chaudhuri who has promised rewards if this practice is observed. SBI was the only state-owned bank to keep its domestic branches open for two additional hours — earning the goodwill of its customers.

ET

HDFC Bank replacing merchant terminals due to 'skimming' fraud

Country's largest credit card issuer HDFC Bank has started replacing some points of sale machines at merchant establishments following card 'skimming' frauds, a top official has said. "We are replacing machines at some merchants," the bank's head for credit card and merchant acquiring, Parag Rao told reporters here last evening. Rao said cases of 'skimming' have been witnessed in the country of late, wherein the card data is copied illegally in an otherwise legitimate transaction, only to be used fraudulently later................

Fead - FE

RBI Governor: Room for monetary easing limited

" There is pressure on the government to consolidate fiscally. There is pressure on the central bank to bring about an environment of price stability, and for the government to understand that we need fiscal consolidation, price stability for long- term growth," 

Read - FPJ

RBI must scrap the no-cheque idea

........Unfortunately, various departments of RBI seem to operate in distinct silos which neither talk to each other or to their stakeholders. The customer services department, like Dr Chakrabarty, has a callous disregard for urban consumers. But different departments framing policy and regulation that directly affects customers don’t seem to be talking to the customer services department either. Here are two examples.........

...... The very premise that we will move to a ‘less cash’ society by forcing depositors to adopt electronic payments is ridiculous. The failure to get 120 million newly-minted customers in un-banked areas to use their bank accounts even once has not taught RBI any lesson on the futility of coercive action.........

Read - Moneylife

Value of currency note has not kept pace with inflation: RBI study

The empirical study on modelling currency demand said the average value of a currency note (for denominations of Rs 10 and above) increased nearly eight-fold while there was a 18-fold rise in the price level............

Read - HBL

'Bank losses due to NPAs push up interest rate for borrowers'

...."RBI needs to address such anomalies in the interest of justice and fair play," Alva said at an award ceremony for SHGs organised tonight by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) here. In her address, she also highlighted the issue of recovery of loans by microfinance companies using "unethical" methods and said such practices should be abolished. "Microfinance companies exploiting helpless poor women with exorbitant interest on their loans and resorting to unethical and even violent methods for recovery.........

Read - ET

Reserve Bank of India - Pension Regulations and Other Details

.......They will notice that RBI which is a regulator for banks have much more liberal Pension policies than banks.  IBA has been too fussy on even small issues and vehemently oppose any demand by bankers for liberalising the pension regulations so that bankers are on par with Central  Government employees and / or RBI employees..........

Read..............

As banks cut rates, NBFCs offer higher returns

With falling interest rates, this might be your last chance to lock your savings in deposit-taking non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), an option that’s currently been giving higher rates of return than banks’ domestic term deposits. The rates offered by NBFCs on one-year fixed deposits are 75-175 basis points higher than those top banks offer on their domestic fixed deposits.............

Read | Business Standard

A Budget for banks

......While it’s convenient to blame the Reserve Bank of India’s aggressive monetary tightening for the slowdown in credit demand, a recent analysis by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) shows that higher real interest rates only account for about a quarter of the investment slowdown. Besides, the spurt in inflation that prompted the central bank to raise interest rates 13 times between March 2010 and October 2011 was occasioned by the government’s pathological refusal to do anything about the expansion of its own spending, which is estimated to have more than doubled in six years.......

Read | Business Standard

Finance ministry, RBI spar over public sector banks holding company

NEW DELHI: The Reserve Bank of India and the finance ministry have clashed over the proposed financial holding company for public sector banks, a move that could further delay its creation and upset the government's plan to capitalise public sector banks. The finance ministry has shot down the RBI's proposal to cap the leverage available to the holding company on a par with the holding companies formed to float private banks under the proposed rules for new bank licences...........

Read - ET

Aspirants to get a year to set up banks: Sinha

After receiving in-principle approvals from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), banking aspirants would get a year to set up banks, RBI Deputy Governor Anand Sinha said today. He added the central bank would issue the much awaited final guidelines on new bank licences “soon”—“much before” the end of the financial year.......

Read | Business Standard

Banking licence norms before March-end: RBI

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank is likely to come out with the final guidelines for new bank licences much before the end of the fiscal."We are in the process of issuing the licence guidelines. We should issue them soon. The consultation process with the finance ministry is over; everything is settled now, and we will be issuing the guidelines. (It will be) much before the end of this financial year," Deputy Governor Anand Sinha told reporters on the sidelines of an event here on Monday............

Read - TOI

Net non-performing assets of banks go up

....." These figures show the herculean task the banking sector in India is facing even as the industry and regulators are putting in place various measures to control further increase in NPAs Our data shows that during the Oct-Dec 2012 quarter, net NPAs of these banks rose by 8.7% or Rs 7,400 crore. We believe net NPAs of these listed banks will cross the Rs 1 lakh crore mark as on March 31, 2013. However, it is likely that ........

Read - TOI

Banks want to close year with a special LAF

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may again have to open a special repo window under its liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) on the last working day of the financial year, to ease the year-end pressure on banks. Lenders are looking at a liquidity deficit of around Rs2 lakh crore at March-end..............

Read - DNA

Two-day trade unions strike to hit life, banking

......... the closure of banks for two consecutive days could pose innumerable problems for customers. While some of the impact of the strike might be blunted by the availability of automated teller machines and internet banking, a large percentage of people with no access to these facilities would be affected............

Read - ET

Misplaced faith in interest rate cuts

.........The question that arises now is simple: can the lowering of interest rates give a fillip to investments? Then, is the decline in inflationary pressure real? The efficacy of the monetary policy depends on clarity on these two questions. Looking at the policy statement, one can clearly see the recent rate cut is more of a hesitant action instead of being based on economic fundamentals. (Time and again, RBI has tried to substantiate its policy based on forecasts instead of trends, something that may not completely substantiate such cuts.) The rate cut only partially supports the actions taken on the fiscal side and in helping the growth recovery process........

Read - Mint

We aren’t giving up hope on rate cut: SBI chief

.........We understand that the RBI has its own responsibility and so on. But we believe that the best way to go about it is to augment supply and lower interest rates..........

Read - The Hindu

Poverty and Trade union

......Reserve Bank pensioners demand to update the pension for the last two decades has been kept pending for no valid reason and many are finding it difficult to make both ends meet in these days of ever soaring prices all around.Those who preach should be role models and what they speak should be convincing and acceptable..........

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HDFC Bank manager spikes 'magic pen' scam

Using a 'magic pen' and lighter, Rahul Jain planned to earn a comfortable living, pay off his debt and even treat his girl friend. Arrested today, this 26-year-old revealed a unique modus operandi, which came to light when an Assistant Manager at HDFC Bank became suspicious of a cheque. According to police, Jain first saw the magic pen which has erasable ink being sold at Nehru Place market and decided to use it to alter contents of cheques.......

Read - FE

Canara Bank to launch new version of gold loan

Public sector Canara Bank will launch a new version of gold loan that would be as easy as getting a jewel loan from any pawn broker or private finance firms, a top official of the bank has said. “ Terms of gold loan will be highly relaxed and customer friendly than any private firms offering the gold loan to the people," Rajiv Kishore Dubey, CMD of the bank said.........

Read - FPJ

T S Vijayan likely to be next insurance regulator

...........Though the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) had cleared Vijayan's name for the post last month, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has yet to approve. Finance ministry officials said the appointment notification would be issued once this was done.............

Read - BS

Finance ministry and I were like husband and wife: Hari Narayan

J Hari Narayan was at his humorous best in his final public appearance as the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) chairman. The man who has had a fair share of tiffs with the finance ministry and the industry during his five-year term that ends on Wednesday was generous with everybody, including the media, at a function here on Monday.............

Read - BS

Monetary easing: Household savings take a hit - DR. N. A. MUJUMDAR

Dr. D. Subbarao, Governor, Reserve Bank of India, has successfully created the robust image of an independent central banker who stands by his convictions. He has consistently resisted pressure from the corporate sector to reduce lending rates. More importantly, he defied the finance minister's public exhortations to ease monetary policy. The independence of the central bank is very crucial for healthy macroeconomic policy formulation. One wishes that future Governors of RBI would emulate Dr. Subbarao...............

Read - FPJ

Core inflation may not be true indicator: Subbarao

.......The absence of supply-side response, which has resulted in lasting change in the prices of commodities, has given a “larger momentum” to wholesale-price inflation than core inflation, he added. “In the Reserve Bank, we need to be mindful of these factors in interpreting the movements in headline and core inflation,” he said, speaking at the statistics day conference in RBI’s Mint Road headquarters in Mumbai. RBI has been projecting core inflation as the primary indicator to decide its policy course, rather than wholesale price inflation............

Read - Mint

Biting the bullet on letting India Inc into banking

......Final rules, expected soon, have been delayed over disagreement between the government and the central bank on whether the traditionally more financially volatile sectors of property and brokerages should be allowed to apply for licences, which the RBI opposes. Opponents of the new measures worry the reform, driven by the finance ministry, could backfire if risky loans from one branch of a company to another go bad and trigger a broader crisis. “It will be like one person is cooking and the same person is eating it,” said one critic, V K Sharma, chief executive of LIC Housing Finance..............

Read - Deccan Herald