Wednesday, February 20, 2013

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 ...........


‘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........

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........

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.............

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.”.........

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.”..........

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).......

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.”.........

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.

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............

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...........

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................

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

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.........

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..........

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.............

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.......

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...........

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.......

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............

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 ........

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..............

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............

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........

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..........

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..........

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.......

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.........


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.............

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.............

Monday, February 18, 2013

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............

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..............

Combat CAD by making exchange rate flexible: Bimal Jalan

Combat CAD by making exchange rate flexible: Bimal Jalan
The issues that we are facing today are systemic and political in nature because ultimately, in a vibrant democracy like ours, the policy making must be with the political system.......

Derivatiff

CENTRAL bankers are supposed to be obscure while in office and demure upon their retirement. But V.K. Sharma, a former Executive Director of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), marked his recent departure by giving an almighty kicking to India’s over-the-counter interest-rate derivatives market. In a speech at the end of 2012 he called it disturbing, preposterous, perverse, the antithesis of responsible financial innovation, weird and warped.............

 Read - The Economist

Licences for cronyism


..........The context in which these debates occur is a financial sector in which the non-banking sector (or “shadow banking”) has grown enormously and regulatory complexity has increased manifold. In banking itself, however, public sector banks continue to play a dominant role, while the regulator (the RBI) continues to have a latent conflict of interest — the regulator periodically presses banks to help the government in meeting its borrowing requirements and exercises considerable caution when banks lend to politically connected firms. The biggest concern over granting large industrial houses bank licences is the risk of conflicts of interest and ...............


FEIL recognises Dr.Sandip feel..........


Shri Sandip Ghose,
Chief General Manager - HR,
Reserve Bank Of India,
Mumbai.

Dear Sir,

Your work in the field of HR has added significant value to RBI. Your name was strongly recommended by the Managing Committee of FEIL for being the recipient of an award by Forum for Emotional Intelligence Learning (FEIL) towards outstanding contribution of leadership development. After due deliberations in the select management committee of FEIL we are pleased to inform you that it shall be our privilege to recognize you and your work on leadership development. Forum for Emotional Intelligence Learning (FEIL), a non-profit pioneered by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), is committed to building quality leadership in India.  Eminent academicians and outstanding professionals created this forum with a singular purpose of helping Indian organizations achieve this objective. In our journey, in the last several years, we have noted that successful organizations and institutions derive their strength and enthusiasm from the visionary leadership of their senior executives. They inspire, coach and mentor their people selflessly.  We feel that recognition of this talented pool is one of the significant methodologies of ensuring replication of these practices.  We believe leadership seeds leadership competencies. Extensive work by FEIL has often led us to the discovery of remarkable people.  Your remarkable work brackets you with the very best in the industry. It is a matter of immense pride for FEIL in conjunction with HPCL, to recognize your excellent work.

Yours Truly,
S K Dutt,
Hon.General Secretary,
Forum For Emotional Intelligence Learning

Women of Vision

Women of Vision—Nine Leaders in Conversation With Alam Srinivas:

 By Alam Srinivas, 
Roli Books, 
110 pages, Rs 140
A book that profiles nine success stories of women from diverse backgrounds, their personal journeys in building the empires that they have, also reads like a short history of India’s economic and social growth. It holds a mirror to our society, how it has changed in the last couple of decades, and what it has taken for women to reach where they have. Women of Vision: Nine Business Leaders in Conversation With Alam Srinivas is a collection of freewheeling chats with women............


National Seminar on Mechanism of Purveying Rural Credit - Challenges & Opportunities


The Paradox of Fiscal Tightening

RBI Governor D Subbarao has been quoted as saying that there is not much scope for either fiscal or monetary expansion. Analytical pieces and editorials in newspapers have echoed the same sentiment with respect to fiscal expansion, but have been more ambivalent about monetary easing. This assumes that an increase in fiscal deficit and a loosening of monetary policy will be expansionary. The analysis that leads to the formulation of this choice in this manner is flawed for India.........

Corporation Bank conducts roadshow

Corporation Bank on Friday organised a roadshow to market its new savings account variants — ‘Corp Super’ and ‘Corp Signature’ — in Mangalore. A press release said here that the bank launched a door-to-door campaign for the newly launched savings account variants..............

MFIs will be relevant for 10-15 years as our banking system is inefficient: Chakrabarty


......“MFI will be relevant for the next 10-15 years because our banking system is inefficient. Our banking system is not customer-focused. They (banks) are employee-focused,” he said. According to Chakrabarty, the Indian banking system is one of the most inefficient in the world, because it is highly paid. “Salary in the banking system, as compared to the gross domestic product, is one of the highest in the world,” he added.

‘Rate cap will go if microfinance firms shed priority sector tag’


Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor K. C. Chakrabarty said on Saturday that microfinance institutions (MFIs) should scale up their operations only after understanding their limitations. “MFIs should develop local expertise and scale up locally. They should not scale up nationally, else they will collapse like SKS Microfinance,” Chakrabarty said at a conference on corporate governance in microfinance, organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce here.............

Inflation eases, but threat persists

.......................Moreover, many leading policy makers in India, notably among them C. Rangarajan, have discussed the implications for the poor and have strongly advocated ‘inflation control’ as an effective anti-poverty policy. The recent slowdown in inflation is encouraging but the time may not be ripe to press the growth accelerator. Surely, the RBI without any pressure from North Block and the industry lobby will do a better job.

Reserve Bank of India sees inflation risks, limited room to ease policy

........"At this moment there is room for monetary easing, but that room is limited ans we have to make a careful judgement on how to use that limited room," Subbarao said on the fringes of a meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers. India's high fiscal and current account deficits, in addition to inflation risks, are deterrents for further monetary easing, which is seen necessary to support sagging GDP growth.........

RBI has a positive approach towards Islamic banking: Minister


The Reserve Bank of India has taken a positive approach to the suggestion of an alternative banking system for Muslims, subject to certain laws being amended first, K. Rahman Khan, Minister for Minority Affairs, said here recently. “I have written to the RBI Governor, invoking Section 25 of the Constitution, saying that it was the duty of the State to facilitate every citizen to practice and follow his/her religion,.........


Banks are duty bound to stop flow of fake notes

....... In other words, the banks are duty bound to ensure that no counterfeit note comes out of an ATM. Yet, you find banks violating this directive and the consumer suffers because invariably banks refuse to take responsibility for their negligence, in clear violation of the RBI directive.  In fact, they refuse to accept that the fake note came out of their ATMs and express their ‘inability’ to replace the fake with a genuine note.........

Bank unions to join general strike

.....The call for a countrywide strike has been given by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), comprising nine national level unions including the AIBEA, the NCBE, the BEFI, the NBEF, the NOBW and the AIBOC. Even though bank managements have decided to stock adequate cash in ATMs, normal banking operations are likely to be affected. A number of banks have already informed customers of the fallout of the proposed strike.....

Post Libor scam: Financial markets to move away from 'polled' to 'traded' rates, may fix Mibor

......The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and commercial banks have arrived at some consensus to gradually move away from 'polled' rates that may be prone to manipulation, to 'traded' rates in calculating the daily benchmarks in the currency and money markets. "At a meeting with the Reserve Bank a week ago, banks were told to give their views. The general preference was that the two most liquid benchmarks,Mibor and RBI reference rates, should be based on dealt rates," said the treasurer of a large bank. "The regulator is favourably inclined towards the change... it will happen over time.".......

'Rate cut likely in March if budget addresses fiscal issues'

The RBI is likely to cut interest rate in its next policy meet on March 19 provided government delivers a "credible budget" addressing fiscal consolidation and continues with the reform push, an HSBC report says. "The RBI is likely to take some comfort from the decline in WPI inflation. In turn, this has increased the odds of another rate cut in March, if Delhi continues to deliver its bit," HSBC said in a research note.............

$1-bn India Venture Opportunities Fund remains non-starter

.....Bankers said the fund had received just about Rs 500 crore. Of this, Rs 340 crore has been invested. This includes Rs 140 crore investment in subordinated debt of companies. The fund faces the challenge of asset-liability mismatch and reservations from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) about using depositors’ money for risk capital (investments in equity), said an executive with a public sector bank.......

How credit card frauds take place

.....So, does this mean you should stop using your card? No. Come July, cards with an embedded chip and a compulsory pin (like that used for ATM transactions) will be made mandatory in India. This would make your credit card transactions more secure. Till then, here are a few things to keep in mind........

Bank charges you may not know about

.........It’s a laundry list which you will be better off reading and knowing about, saving you the surprise of unexpected costs. But in the meanwhile, here’s a heads-up on some of the more unusual bank charges on regular bank accounts.........................

Sebi seeks greater powers

Market regulator Sebi has sought major overhaul of the securities laws, including greater authority to nail manipulators by way of powers to conduct ‘’search and seizure’’ operations and to demand information from any person in relation to its probes. It has also proposed the recovery of monetary penalties through income-tax arrears mechanism, setting up of special courts to deal with criminal prosecution for violation of securities laws and recognition of Sebi’s counsels as public prosecutors..........


CBI launches Rupay card, Aadhar based payment system in MP

ET

Indian Bank hosts Bankers Club of Chennai Meet


Banks will Hire over 56,000 Jobs in 6 Mths

Public sector banks, from State Bank of India to Allahabad Bank, will hire as many as 56,500 people in the next six months in the highest ever recruitment by the industry in more than a decade as business grows and the threat of new banks looms with the Reserve Bank of India planning to issue new licences soon. The recruitments by more than a dozen banks will be 30% higher than last year’s numbers as hopes of business cycle turning for the better grow, bankers said............

Read - ET

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Principles for financial market infrastructure and innovations in retail payment systems – some perspectives


Inaugural address delivered by Mr H R Khan, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, at the International Seminar on Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures and Innovations in Retail Payment Systems organised by the Reserve Bank of India, New Delhi, 14 February 2013

..............Although the urge for replicating the successful payment systems of other countries in one’s own country is very high, it is necessary to customize the processes and products as per the suitability to the country keeping in view  particularly the socio-economic and cultural distinctiveness and the regulatory and institutional aspects Regulators need to assess effectiveness of different payment products in their jurisdictions by the authorized entities to ensure that they suit the needs of the common people, the complexities are understood by them and they have inbuilt provision for consumer protection.........

RBI to train police in NE states in fight against fake inst


GUWAHATI: The Reserve Bank has drawn up a comprehensive programme to train local law enforcement agencies, especially the police force, in the North Eastern states to take on fake institutions and fly-by-night operators. "We are in talk with the Chief Secretaries (of North eastern states). This is one of the action points which our Governor has pointed out... 


"... that in consultation with chief secretaries chalk out a training programme for police personnel who do not know the nitty gritties of the legal implications," RBI Regional Director P K Jena told reporters here today. ......


Fraud-proof Credit Cards may Cost More

With the Reserve Bank of India asking banks to issue chipbased credit cards to new customers to prevent possible fraud, the annual fee for using them is set to rise in the coming days. The central bank, which is drafting new guidelines for issuing cards and wants additional security features thrown in, could even tell banks to give the customer the option to choose from a “valid only in India’’ credit and debit card.............. 

Read - ET

Clarification


I am surprised to see my article entitled " RBI, backdoor financier?" included in today's edition of your news circular. It is a reproduction of an old article published in Business Standard on November 5,2011, as indicated therein. However, the Business Standard masthead carrying the date as February 15, 2013 is likely to confuse the reader into thinking that it is a new write-up by me. The  RBI policy review mentioned in the first para may be misconstrued as referring to  the latest one. I shall be thankful if you issue a correction in tomorrow's edition. I am anxious that the very useful Vitalinfo should not suffer from any infirmities and should remain authentic in carrying the latest news.
Thanking you and with best regards,
Sincerely
Seshan

VITALINFO sincerely regrets for uploading the old article.  As rightly pointed out by you, it happened due to the newspaper masthead carrying the current date. The work of searching, reading, shortlisting the info items, cross-checking the references, looking for photographs, if not included in the original articles/news, processing, uploading is all done daily from 4 a.m. and expeditiously completed before 7.30 a.m. While utmost care is taken, such type of error may occur. Thanks for the clarification and sincere apologies for inconvenience caused to you.     

RBI opens extra counters for I-T deposition

........Income tax can also be deposited at three branches of private banks. The names of private banks will be displayed at RBI with other information about tax deposition. Deputy General Manager, Banking, Rajeev Dwivedi said that the depositors can take advantage of these arrangements.



Interest rate cut by RBI on March 19 likely: BofA-ML


With inflation easing to a three year low and growth taking a hit, the Reserve Bank (RBI) is likely to reduce policy rates by 0.25 per cent on March 19 when it will carry out the mid-quarter review, says a report by Bank of America-Merrill Lynch. Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BofA-ML) today said with possibility of GDP numbers coming down to below 5 per cent for the December quarter, the Central bank may shift its stance to supporting growth from containing inflation.........

Cooperative banks set to go for computerization

RANCHI: Cooperative banks in the state are gearing up for a major overhaul with the decision of the government to go for computerization of all the bank offices and linking them to core banking solutions (CBS). Having completed the computerization of 96 out of 120 bank branches of the eight central cooperative banks, managing director of the Jharkhand state cooperative bank K K Soan, has requested the government to take up the matter of pending dues with Bihar government so that further modernization is not crippled owning to fund crunch............

Lokayukta to probe irregularities in recruitment to Co-op Bank

............Balakrishna pointed out that several candidates who had scored poorly in the written examination held for the recruitment process had received the appointment letters. On the other hand, a candidate who had secured first place in the written examination had failed to make it to the final list. “There are gross irregularities in the entire process. Injustice has been done to hundreds of merit candidates,” .................

SBI official sees ‘magical effect’ after repo rate cut


State Bank of India Deputy General Manager Hannah Rachael Mani on Friday observed that the RBI’s cut in its key policy rates in the last week of January has started showing some ‘magical effect’ on the economic activity in different spheres. Addressing a media conference here, she said the volumes of car and home loans registered a three-fold increase in the.........


SBI board approves capital infusion

...The government’s latest capital infusion, which was proposed on 19 January, will take SBI’s tier-I capital, or core capital, to 10%, SBI chairman Pratip Chaudhuri  told reporters in a conference to discuss the bank’s third-quarter results on Thursday......

Friday, February 15, 2013

Need for uniform security standards to check card fraud: H R Khan

NEW DELHI: Amid reports of growing number of misuse of cards, the Reserve Bank today pitched for uniform security architecture for electronic banking across nations to check credit card frauds. "There is also strong case for uniform security standard across the jurisdictions for minimising frauds in electronic banking," RBI Deputy Governor H R Khan said at a function here. .......

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