Banks to work full day this Saturday

In view of three holidays this week, public sector banks have been directed to function full day on Saturday, April 7..............

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RBI imposes restriction on Bhuj co-op bank

One more co-operative bank in the state has found itself in a crisis. The Reserve Bank of India has imposed restrictions on financial transactions of Ahmedabad head-quartered Bhuj Mercantile Co-operative Bank (BMC) on Tuesday. On Saturday, the RBI had dissolved the board of directors of the bank as financial irregularities came to their notice…………..

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Dena Bank conducts 132nd SLBC

Dena Bank organised 132nd State Level Bankers' Committee Meet at Gandhinagar. Dena Bank is the SLBC Convener Bank for Gujarat. Narendra Modi, Chief Minister, Gujarat was the prominent figure present at the meet. Shreya Guha, Director, Dept. of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance; S Sen, Regional Director, RBI; M D Malya, IBA Chairman and CMD, Bank of Baroda; Nupur Mitra, Chairperson SLBC and CMD, Dena Bank; Saurabh Bhai Patel, Minister of State for Finance, Gujarat; A K Joti, Chief Secretary, Government of Gujarat and M M Shrivastava, Addl. Chief Secy, Finance, Government of Gujarat were also present at the meet.

FPJ 

Excise dept asks Maharashtra cops to show cause

......A mini bus belonging to Nasir Junmohd Lakhani, a Mumbai-resident, proceeding to Maharashtra was detained at the Patradevi check post on March 14 by the Goa police for carrying unauthorized liquor. Police said there were 500 bottles of whisky of different brands being transported without the excise department's permission. The police said the detainees were police on escort duty to a Reserve Bank of India cash container bringing cash to banks in Goa. They were returning to Mumbai in the bus hired by the RBI.........

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SFIO recommends body to curb fraudulent chit funds, MLMs

.....In India, money circulation plans are banned under the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978. However, the Act is governed not by the Centre but by the state governments. Some states such as Rajasthan and Tripura are yet to even notify it. Also, penalties can only be meted out by the state police, which hinders in effective implementation of curbs. The ministry of corporate affairs is currently working with the Reserve Bank of India to strengthen the rules governing MLM firms.......

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Regulators need better data to deal with global crisis: RBI

The Reserve Bank has made a case for improving the quality of data to proactively deal with any possible crisis at the global level. "Regulators require better data at both the national and international level to ensure that they can recognise and address the build up of risks in a timely manner," RBI Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty said at an international seminar …….

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FDI may be allowed in more NBFC activities

The Government may consider widening the list of Non- Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) activities that can get foreign direct investment. The Reserve Bank of India has endorsed such a move..........

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RBI objects to rise in power subsidies to farmers in state

GANDHINAGAR: The Reserve Bank of India in its latest report, 'State Finances: A Study of Budgets of 2011-12', has identified Gujarat as one of the states where power sector reforms, despite being initiated early, have failed to create the "desired impact" on the financial position of the state power utilities (SPUs)………..

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Montek: RBI Has More Flexibility to Act

SINGAPORE - The Reserve Bank of India has more flexibility to take action in support of the economy after the government's promises to rein in its fiscal deficit, the deputy chairman of India's Planning Commission said Wednesday. "It is clear that if the fiscal deficit is brought under control, which is what the government says it's going to do, and it looks as if inflation is sort of under control, it gives the RBI flexibility," Montek Singh Ahluwalia told reporters in Singapore…………

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Output falls, heat to keep food inflation simmering

....Food inflation is problematic for the RBI, which can do little about it. Surging food prices were a key driver of headline inflation that only began to ease significantly towards the end of 2011 as food prices fell, in part due to the base effect from surging prices a year earlier.....

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RBI asks Kotak Mah Bank's promoters to cut stake to 10%

…..Every year RBI gives a regulatory exemption to promoters of Kotak Mahindra Bank when it comes to shareholding in the bank, but CNBC-TV18 learns from sources that RBI is putting some pressure on promoters to bring down their stake from their current 45% to 10% by 2016. This is in line with the existing bank license guidelines, which say that no entity can hold more than 10% in a private sector bank……….

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"Conversion into LLP should be tax neutral"

…..Considering the concerns of RBI to regulate LLPs having objectives of carrying on non-banking financial activities, LLPs should be included in the definition of non-banking financial companies under section 45-1 of the RBI Act…….

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Banks clock a third of FY12 credit growth in Feb & Mar

….As on March 23, annual credit growth stood at 16.98 per cent, above the central bank's revised projection of 16 per cent. RBI had scaled down the year-end credit growth projection twice…….

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Banks divided: some want more cash, others low rates

.....While some banks, including the State Bank of India (SBI), asked for a cut in CRR, others sought a reduction in repo rate so that the cost of credit comes down. Yet another group wanted RBI to cut both CRR and repo rate. The issue about how banks indulge in window dressing at the end of a financial year also came up for discussion. “There should be a cap at which banks can be allowed to grow in March,” said a bank official, who attended the meeting........

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Bankers expect RBI to cut CRR

...."We require (during the year) both, interest rates to go down and liquidity to improve further. And clearly if reduction in interest rate has to be passed on to the customers, then in my view, both the cuts are required (CRR and repo rate),"...........

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CENTRAL BANKER TURNS AUTHOR

In the good old days before smoking wasn't banned in RBI offices, one can recall Amalendu Ghosh, browsing through bank inspection files amid wafts of smoke. Ghosh, a no-nonsense central banker who had to keep a close eye on regulations, sharp practices of banks, their nexus with rogue brokers and pitfalls in the lending business, has authored “Managing Risks in Commercial & Retail Banking”. It is a book that captures his years of understanding of risks that banks grapple with, the ways to measure them and the lessons learnt from crises that have repeatedly brought the world market to its knees.

ET

Sebi rolls out voluntary retirement scheme

...... The move from the market regulator comes despite an optional VRS scheme launched by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) failed to yield desired results in 2003-04. According to central banking sources, RBI’s VRS in 2003-04 and 2005-06 had left the organisation badly crippled in terms of staff strength, with a large number of officers quitting while staffers whom the apex bank wanted to go, hardly responded.......

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RBI governor latest victim of scam e-mail

.....Are you among the many who have the privilege of receiving an email from D Subbarao, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)? And if you have, have you been stumped at him offering you a life-changing deal and Rs5.8 crore to booty, so long as you keep the deal a secret.........

.....In the earlier such e-mails, the fraudsters have impeccably cloned RBI's website and had asked for bank details. But this time they have directly targeted its governor, by creating an e-mail id in his name-drsubbarao@hotmail.co.in and dr.subbarao01@rediffmail.com.............

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New regional director for RBI

Thiruvananthapuram, April 3: Mr Salim Gangadharan has taken over as Regional Director of RBI, Kerala and Lakshadweep. Mr Gangadharan joined the Reserve Bank in 1981 in the middle management cadre, an official spokesman said here on Tuesday. He has had long stints with various operational department of the apex bank, particularly in bank supervision, financial markets and foreign exchange. Mr Gangadharan was deputed to Central Bank of Oman for a period of five years. He has also been part of several internal working groups in RBI. A native of Kollam, he has until now been regional director for West Bengal and Sikkim. 

HBL

RBI initiates inquiry into 21 banks' operations from residential plots in Nodia

........ RBI's inquiry follows a spate of applications filed under the Right to Information Act by RTI activist and armed forces veteran Lokesh Batra. After the Supreme Court order, Batra filed applications to seek information on what steps the banks would take to ensure the safety of belongings of customers in lockers. RBI was forced to convene meetings and instructed banks to ensure that customers were routinely informed through emails, SMS and notices at branches regarding the alternate arrangements made for the conduct of smooth banking functions, including locker operations.......

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