Confusing signals from RBI

.......Is RBI really worried about growing inflationary pressures or is it concerned about propping up consumer demand in the festive season? Is it seeking to embrace a nominal anchor or will it be a willing participant in old-style directed credit programmes? Does it want money market conditions to be tight or will it lose nerve each time bond yields drift up? These are questions that puzzle us for two reasons. ...........

Read - Mint

Slow burn - Subir Gokarn

.......The most dire judgement of the report is that, no matter what is done from now on, the cumulative impact of previous emissions will be the predominant driver of the late 21st century outcomes. In other words, there is nothing we can do to stop the burn; at best, we can keep it on simmer. Everything now seems to rest on adaptation and mitigation.

Read Business Standard

SBI Moreh branch

........Speaking at the inaugural function, RBI Guwahati Regional Director PK Jena said that the Chief Minister as well as the Chief Secretary earlier asked SBI to open a branch at Moreh as the UBI branch already functioning there was overflowing with customers. Jena stated that only banking infrastructure can provide foreign exchange facilities...........

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

Bankers wage revision 10th Bipartite Settlement next meeting

......In banking industry 11.10.2013 talk deemed the final talk and bank employees are hopeful of final negotiation. As indication received from govt sources govt is also willing to settle demands of bank employees with total increase of approx 30 percent with merger of 60% DA.........

Read.........

Blame high inflation, not RBI, for killing growth: Chakrabarty

...............“You don’t blame the RBI for killing growth, you blame inflation for killing growth...our pursuing moderate or low inflation objective is to facilitate growth and not to kill growth,” he said, addressing students of a management school here. “The basic complaint against RBI is that it is killing growth by keeping interest rate high. But people forget that interest rate is high because inflation is high and inflation is high because people are not working. For inflation to come down, you have to produce more food grains at less prices,” he said............

Read - Mint

'Bankers and RBI officials are not fools'

......The response came when he was asked about the risk of inflation going up if interest rates are lowered to boost consumption. “People who make these decisions, bankers and RBI officials, must have done their math, isn't it? Give some credit to them, they are not a bunch of fools.”...........

Read - Deccan Herald

THE SECRET DIARY OF RBI GOVERNOR

.......... Life as the RBI Governor is hard. Everyone wants to see me, have a chat, give me advice. Nothing can move without my signature on forms which are presented in triplicate. Already, I detect signs of hostility. .......

Read..........

Raghuram Rajan At IIM Raipur

Raghuram Rajan, Governor of RBI addressed the students at the Indian Institute of Management(IIM) Raipur, on the 4 October, 2013. He spoke about the challenges faced by Indian economy and need of sustainable growth in our country................

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

Crisis and complacency

A little over a month has passed by since the post of the chief economic advisor (CEA) in the finance ministry fell vacant. A few names have been doing the rounds as likely candidates to fill the vacancy caused by Raghuram Rajan's movement from North Block as CEA to Mumbai's Mint Road as the governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). It is not clear who among the likely candidates will get the final nod of approval.........

Read | Business Standard

Forex swaps - A.Seshan

In the daily statement on money market operations issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the swaps are now shown as ‘refinance under the forex swaps’. In fact, till a few days ago, it was called just ‘refinance’. I do not understand the appropriateness of the term ‘refinance’, which means an advance to a bank by way of supplementing resources when it issues a loan in a desired direction. Cannot the RBI just call it ‘forex swaps’ to avoid confusion? Secondly, the amount is indicated in rupees. It changes daily due to the variations in exchange rate. It would be helpful for analysts if the RBI indicates the dollar amount also along with the underlying exchange rate, which seems to be the Reference Rate announced by the bank. 

- A.Seshan, Mumbai (HBL)

Booster dose..........

My View on "Star trio on panel for new banks": 

About the appointment of Dr Rajan as Governor, I had observed in The Global ANALYST that “This time, the process has been more transparent and all have accepted that among the candidates considered, the most meritorious has been selected.” Appointments to this panel should be a confidence booster to those who have been believing in RBI’s work ethics and ability to rise to the occasion. Whatever be the recommendations of this panel on the new bank license applications it will be vetting, nation will benefit from their collective wisdom and views on the future structure of financial institutions including banks in India. 

- M.G.Warrier

Hole in a Rs.10 coin

A Parry’s Corner-based businessman received a jolt when he found an ‘otta kalana’ a Rs. 10 coin in a bunch of coins that he got in exchange for rupee notes at the Reserve Bank of India recently. M. Syed Ibrahim runs a hotel in Parry’s Corner and regularly goes to the RBI for small change. On Monday, he went to the bank to exchange Rs. 500 for Rs. 10 coins. When he returned home with the pouch of coins, he counted them and then he found that he had a coin without the central part of the coin, indicating the denomination was missing........

Read - The Hindu

How do we not flash the cash? Its Delhi!

Can we live without flashing our money in people's faces? Not really, even if the Reserve Bank of India politely asks us not to. Politeness doesn't stand a chance in front of all that's loud and flashy, and whether the RBI likes it or not, flaunting garlands of crisp notes is here to stay at shaadis, political rallies and the like.....................

Read - TOI

ATMs may run dry on shortage of guards this festival season

..........The fall in armed security guards is because of various reasons including the fact that police in many states have raised objections on the issue, saying that private arm licence cannot be used for purpose other than defined by the law, said the association. This has lead to staff crunch with cash logistics firms, which don't get a formal licence to operate armed services for cash logistics..........

Read - ET

The Mobile Banking Tussle

...“You have the three Vs of Big Data — volume, velocity and variety. There is a huge opportunity to leverage Big Data for sustainable business growth and improving customer engagement and customer intimacy,” feels G. Padma­nabhan, Executive Director, RBI. He adds that banks have to learn about innovation from the likes of Amazon, Flipkart, Google, Twitter, Facebook, Nintendo Wii or a Microsoft Xbox. The question, he says, is: can banking in India become the ultimate customer experience?...............

Read.......

With Eye on Succession Planning, Axis Bank Reshuffles its Top Deck

Bank CEO Shikha Sharma rejigs key roles to ensure that top talent gets broader exposure, aims to put in place a second rung

.......“This has not been triggered by any event. Switching roles gives an individual a well rounded exposure. One has to do succession planning, which this bank lacked in the past,” said Sharma, who is also the bank’s managing director. “This is part of the reorganisation planned at the beginning of the year and a move towards leadership development.”..........

Read - ET

Women’s co-op bank builds check dams

.......The Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank Ltd., founded by social activist Chetana Sinha, has set up check dams at Fulkoti, Shirsav and Mhaswad, at a total cost of Rs 1 crore. The state government had provided the funds, but the bank implemented the project. These check dams are now expected to benefit over 20 villages in the area............

Read - TOI

Keep banking, industry separate: Sinha-led panel

....The committee would like Reserve Bank of India to have a mechanism of incentive/ disincentive in place so that this mandate/stipulation could be strictly enforced and it does not remain only on paper, as is the case now. For every three branches in urban areas, there must be a branch in a rural area. Permission to open branches could be given in lots of four at a time which would enable RBI to properly enforce this norm,’’ ...........

Read - The Hindu

7 new bank licences coming, says FM

......Addressing a function at the State Bank of Mysore, Chidambaram said the new banks should not try to become clones of existing banks. “We don’t want the seven of them to look like each other with different mastheads. We want each one of them to cater to the needs of a special group of customers. You will have competition, efficiency and progress only if people attempt different things and do things differently,” he added. Though the finance minister didn’t elaborate, the RBI had earlier talked about differentiated licensing on the lines of the US and Singapore..........

Read | Business Standard

K C Chakrabarty says only provisional list of new banks by January

........"Let me clarify, no new bank will come by January. A provisional list of applicants who are eligible to get a licence will be decided in January. New banks will take at least two years to come,"............

Read - ET

A case for stake dilution in PSBs

.....It is a matter of fact that on the one hand, the dominance of PSU banks has contributed to all-round growth for nearly 45 years and financial stability in the wake of global financial crises, while on the other, budgetary constraints as well as the shareholding cap fixed by the government at 51 per cent, and meeting Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) norms, has cast a heavy financial burden on the central government. ..........

Read - Deccan Herald

Raghuram Rajan's new brain-trust

.......In what is being seen as a move to induct new but vastly experienced people into policy making and the regulation framework, Rajan has tried to balance the need for new thoughts and experience. RBI watchers say these appointments represent a significant step forward in central banking governance and policy actions...........

Read - BS

New banks will mean little to customers

.........In response to complaints of poor customer service or malpractices, K.C.Chakrabarty, Deputy Governor of the RBI, has just one advice: change your bank. As explained in the first paragraph, this is impractical. He also admits that the RBI has no mechanism or framework for customer protection. Nobody in the Bimal Jalan committee is likely to speak powerfully for customers. I wait for the day when Raghuram Rajan, the new RBI governor, will first use the word "financial conduct" in one of his statements. Until then, consumers will have little to look forward to in the new bank licences. 

Read | Business Standard

P Chidambaram inaugurates bank at his birth place; turns emotional

......."After opening 2,131 branches allover the world, the bank, founded by my grandfather, had come to this place. There is already one Indian Overseas Bank branch here but it needed one more bank for development.. Because of my attachment to this place, I am moved today." .........

Read - DNA

Mandarins of money

.........For a contemporary feel, the book brings into public glare a major controversial episode in the RBI’s early history—the disagreement between Sir James Grigg, ICS, the finance member of the viceroy’s executive council, and RBI’s first governor, Sir Osborne Smith. Sir James Taylor, who was RBI’s deputy governor then, was also from the ICS and the two seem to have ganged up against Smith, a professional banker. Interestingly, this episode barely finds mention in the official history of the RBI, which has chosen to euphemistically term it a case of “temperamental incompatibility”..........

Read - FE

Time to be optimistic?

.......The government’s desire to fund the current account by whatever means is one of the reasons for the high level of short-term debt. Policy measures justified on expediency have a flip side, which is becoming obvious. In short, the picture might be less gloomy but the external account is still not out of the woods.

Read - The Hindu

SBI lags in business, profits per employee: RBI report

State Bank of India is number one in many aspects but when it comes to business and profits per employee, the country's largest lender ranks below the national average, says a Reserve Bank report. As per the latest data on Indian banking sector, the business per employee of SBI in 2012-13 was Rs 9.43 crore, while the all banks' aggregate was Rs 12.13 crore. Every employee on an average contributed Rs 6.5 lakh to the bank's profit in the last fiscal, according to 'A Profile of Banks: 2012-13', released by RBI. ............

Read - TOI

Scratch your head about interest rates

.........We have now been told something that is stranger still. North Block and RBI have come together and want to cajole public sector banks to give cheap loans to selected sectors, especially consumer durables, and banks will be provided additional capital infusion of more than the budgeted Rs 14,000 crores to ensure this............

Read - ET

Banks tighten scrutiny on loan recasts

.......“An investigative audit of the books of the company seeking CDR is important,” said one of the bankers. “Banks will soon write to RBI (Reserve Bank of India) on this.” The core group, which meets twice a year, consists of State Bank of India, the nation’s largest lender, ICICI Bank Ltd, Punjab National Bank and Bank of India, among a few others. Changes in the CDR rules can only be made by the banking regulator..........

Read - Mint

Andhra MFIs in a fix as Bill gathers dust

..........."In legal terms, there are two types of microfinance companies - NBFC MFI and NGO MFI. Almost 90 per cent of microfinance business in India is conducted by NBFC MFIs and they are squarely under RBI's regulations. NGO MFIs are currently not under RBI's regulations but the Bill proposes to bring these companies under the central bank's purview. In Andhra Pradesh, the state government's Act has still not been repealed. So, it is material for microfinance companies that have operations in that state. But nationally, RBI is the regulator for the sector," said a senior MFIN official.................

Read | Business Standard

‘ZERO INTEREST SCHEMES’: WHOSE INTEREST?

........RBI’s move is anything but vindictive. Notably, there are many other schemes in the market that are still operating. With these smart moves, RBI has tried to solve a few problems. Evidently, real estate and consumer goods industries are two very large sectors having significant impact on economy of India. These are interest sensitive industries that run primarily on loans. Recent policy decisions by RBI clearly indicate that fighting inflation will be its main objective. Accordingly,..............

Read - The Pioneer

Confusion on legitimacy of 'Sharia-compliant'

It seems that the state may lock horns with the RBI over the status of the Sharia-compliant Cheraman Financial Services Limited (CFSL). Coming down heavily on the state government’s initiative in starting CFSL, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy said that the “RBI has not approved any Islamic/ Sharia institution anywhere in the country”. RBI, in a reply to an RTI application filed by Swamy, stated that the Central Bank has not given licence to any financial entity in Kerala to start an Islamic Bank............

Read.........

Most MSMEs lack access to banks & financial institutions: Assocham study

Only about 34 per cent of companies operating in the micro, small and medium enterprises sector have access to banks and financial institutions, while the rest raise money through informal channels, says a survey. "Lack of adequate finance due to shortage of organised lending from banks and other formal sources together with absence of transparency regarding their financial condition is proving to be a stumbling block in growth of MSMEs in India," the survey by industry body Assocham and Resurgent India said.........

Read | Business Standard

Gold loans no more quick and easy for you & me

......Despite their higher interest rates in comparison with banks, borrowers preferred gold loan NBFCs for the quick and hassle-free liquidity they provided. The central bank has not just added more procedures to the disbursal, it also does not want NBFCs to advertise any claims of ‘instant processing’. It has prohibited them from issuing ‘misleading advertisements’ claiming availability of loans in two to three minutes.........

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

Star trio on panel for new banks

.........“We have set up the committee under Bimal Jalan for bank licences. Let me announce the other members of the committee. They will be Usha Thorat, Chandu Bhave and Nachiket Mor who is on the RBI board right now. We will try our best to complete the process by January 2014,” Rajan said at a news conference after a board meeting. The panel will make its recommendations to the governor and deputy governors, who will place the final proposal before the committee of the RBI central board. The RBI chief here added that the central bank would take a call on whether to allow industry houses to enter the banking sector from which they have been barred till now....................

Read - The Telegraph

Branching out

This refers to “Banks not inclusive enough” (Business Line, October 3). It is a well-known fact that the banking sector is almost entirely functional in the semi-urban and urban areas and is non-existent in the rural areas. Banking service can be inclusive only if the entire population has access to it. The RBI’s policy of granting licences to commercial corporations would be a welcome step, provided the new banks provide rural service and cater to the vulnerable section of society. In terms of rural service, India Post can do effective and inclusive service to the rural population as it has a wide operational network, especially in the rural areas. 

T. R. Anandan (HBL)

A hundred small, considered steps - M.S.Sriram

......Unlike in the past where the personal views of the Governor of RBI were not known, we now have a governor at RBI whose position on the business of financial inclusion is well known much ahead of his assuming office. He not only appended his signature to that piece in The Indian Express soon after the microfinance crisis happened, but has also authored a report that has some radical recommendations with regard to financial inclusion. While a large number of them are worth considering, some of them are to be looked at with caution. They are to be looked at with caution, particularly because RBI has taken some explicit positions contrary to the tone and tenor of the Raghuram Rajan committee report on financial sector reforms..........

Read - Mint

Visually-impaired can’t see coins !

.........Executive member of Daisy Forum of India,  Ram Kamal , says the lack of distinction between the coins is a clear violation of the RBI’s own guidelines. “We have brought the issue to the notice of the authorities and they have promised to make the new series blind- friendly,” he added.

Read - Deccan Chronicle

RBI committee invites suggestions on financial inclusion

.......The committee which is being headed by Nachiket Mor, member of the RBI's central board of directors, has members from the financial sector, from organisations that are engaged in developing new models of financial services delivery, in rural as well as urban contexts and have subject matter expertise. A Udgata, Principal Chief General Manager of the rural planning and credit department at the apex bank, is the member secretary of the committee............

Read.....

Make contracts simple to help customers, RBI official tells banks

.........Banks need to apply principles of transparency to enable easier decision-making by clients, and verify assumptions about what clients understand and don’t understand about their products and the fine print in the contracts they sign. “If you’ve ever applied for a credit card, a student loan, or a housing loan, you know the feeling of signing your name to pages of barely understandable fine print. “What often happens as a result is that many people are caught by hidden fees and penalties, or saddled with loans they can’t afford,” said Joshi in her keynote address at the College of Agricultural Banking, Pune............

Read - HBL

Bonds snap 3 weeks of losses; RBI reiterates OMO assurance

.....However, sentiment turned bullish after the RBI said it would keep liquidity adequate. Reiterating its stance, RBI Deputy Governor H R Khan said on Friday that the apex bank will conduct more bond purchases via open market operations if needed.............

Read......

Rajan to Set Right School of Defaulters

MUMBAI: RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan is leaving no stone unturned in his efforts to end promoter abuse of the benign loan restructuring regime and is soon poised to mandate all banks to stick to uniform loan classification norms........

Read - ET

FOMC, RBI policy outcome is lot more predictable now: Vaibhav Sanghavi

........The policy events of FOMC and RBI in October are a lot more predictable than in September. Now, we are more aware of the path both FOMC and RBI are going to take, though there is always a possibility of a surprise. But relatively, it’s far better. I think it is going to be more of a non-event and we would be aligning our portfolios after clarity on the debt ceiling in the US, with a view of the likely quarterly earnings............

Read | Business Standard

RBI withdraws case against MSU, varsity to appoint chair professor by March 2014

........"We had requested the RBI to reconsider the decision to carry out litigation and promised that we can find out eligible person as the RBI chair professor. The RBI felt that the request was genuine and has granted us time till March 31 2014 to fill up the post and make the Chair operational, failing which we will have to return the corpus fund," ..............

Read - IE

Barking up the wrong tree

The government’s decision to infuse more funds (over and above the Rs 14,000 crore set aside in Budget 2013-14) to beef up the capital of public sector banks is totally ill-conceived. It is also a sad commentary on the singular dearth of fresh ideas. It is a throwback to the pre-reform days when banks were told whom they should lend to and at what rate!..........

Read - ET

CPI Conundrum

.........While Rajan has clarified that RBI has not yet decided on moving to inflation targeting with CPI as the sole index, he has voiced concern over a "sticky and high" CPI inflation, which was making people reluctant to invest in fixed income assets like bonds and bank deposits, and instead shifting to gold and real estate. This was not just lowering household financial savings rate but also widening the current account deficit, weakening the rupee and posing a risk to growth revival. While Rajan has set up a committee to look at the nominal anchor, experts have started pointing to a number of flaws in the new CPI and the dangers of relying on it to frame monetary policy..........

Read - FE

RBI decision has builders worried

The latest review of the monetary policy would have disappointed most people as many were looking at the new RBI Governor, Raghuram Rajan, to make radical economic changes. However, high expectations of him providing all the solutions to the ailing Indian economy are grossly misplaced and unrealistic, said Sanjay Dutt , Executive Managing Director, South Asia, Cushman & Wakefield. “The RBI Governor has stuck to his mandate of managing the monetary risks which continue to be highly prone to inflationary and currency devaluation risks...

Read - The Hindu

Managing liquidity

..... Thankfully, the RBI under the new Governor, Raghuram Rajan, seems quite alive to the problems caused by tight liquidity. To start with, he has reduced interest on the marginal standing facility — the main borrowing window for banks from the RBI today — by 75 basis points. Secondly, the RBI has announced open market purchases of bonds worth Rs 10,000 crore next week which, hopefully, will be a precursor to more such auctions to help ease liquidity pressures....................

Read - HBL

Rajan Defends Report on States, Says It Will Bring Growth

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan today defended his development index for measuring backwardness of states, saying the aim is to "encourage development" and "everything over and above that is a political spin." Last month, the Raghuram Rajan panel report made a case for ending the 'special category' criteria for providing additional assistance to poorer states. It ranked Goa and Kerala as the most advanced states and Odisha and Bihar the least. "The whole point was we want to encourage development. If your development increases, then there will be bonus of more funds. Everything over and above that is a political spin," Rajan said after an RBI board meeting here.........

Read........

No reason to dispute govt’s growth estimate, says Rajan

............The Reserve Bank of India, on Friday, said the economy would grow by 5 to 5.5 per cent in the current fiscal, pinning its hopes on good farm output and improved exports. “We have no reason to dispute the growth rate projected by the government at 5 to 5.5 per cent,” RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan told reporters after a board meeting..........

Read - The Hindu

Current crisis may be under control for time being: RBI Governor

.......Addressing the Indian Institute of Management Raipur (IIM-R) he linked the country's economy with cricket team, saying, "When they are going good, we turn them into Gods and when they are going bad, we throw stones at them. We first overlook the weaknesses and then when the growth declines, we conclude that the downfall was due to the weaknesses. The weaknesses however existed throughout. He said it that it is important to create sustainable growth." ...........

Read - TOI

Thinking backwards

........Raghuram Rajan mentioned that he was not seeking Facebook "likes". He actually received quite a few. The RBI's mid-term policy review on September 20 must have given his admirers much heartburn and possibly earned him some "dislikes". The spotlight has turned on him again, with the release of the Rajan committee report on evolving a composite development index of states. ...........

Read - IE

Internal debt is worrying: Arvind Virmani

................“If there's one default, it will set off a chain reaction and would do a lot of damage to the economy,” Virmani added. He was at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, to give a talk to participants of the first-ever programme on monetary policy being held in India. He spoke to them on capital flows. The programme aims to explain how the Reserve Bank of India, as a regulator and supervisor of the banking system, operates its monetary policy instruments through the banking system........

Read | Business Standard

Rescue the Indian economy

......India may have the advantage of talented techno-economists including the prime minister, the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, the new Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor and of course the finance minister who has been credited with possessing the expertise and experience of navigating the choppy waters of the domestic economy for far too long. But save the new RBI governor, who is yet to acquire the patina of performance in steering the Indian economy, the rest have failed miserably and comprehensively and have landed the economy in the shambles it is today...............

Read - Jakarta Post

Feel-good, cheap consumer loans: Who is govt trying to fool

......It is not the government's job to tell banks where to lend and how much. Bankers can decide that for themselves based on their own assessments of creditworthiness. The RBI, in fact, went the other way less than a fortnight ago when it banned zero-interest consumer loans . What's the logic of banning what banks thought made sense and now enticing them to lend cheap to the same sector with promises of recapitalisation?...........

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

Janalakshmi inks 5-yr pact with Accenture to scale up

Janalakshmi Financial Services, a microfinance institution, has signed a five-year agreement with Accenture to scale-up operations and expand services to the urban poor. “The partnership with Accenture is to get business outsourcing solutions and IT services to facilitate our expansion,” said Ramesh Ramanathan, Chairman, Janalakshmi. “Since we had already built an in-house front-end solution for the micro loans service we offer to the urban under-served, we needed solutions on industrial infrastructure scale to rapidly expand our presence in the country; so, we selected Accenture after receiving bids from others,” said Ramanathan....

Read - HBL

IDBI Bank: From DFI To A State Run Bank

It’s not often that Mint Road tells a bank to wake up and smell the coffee. But then you have a first time for everything. K.C. Chakrabarty, deputy governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made it clear “you may have to unlearn and relearn few new things to succeed in the even more competitive business environment that is likely to unfold shortly. It is imperative for the top management and for the employees to work collectively for the progress of your institution”...........

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

Is your bank charging your credit card for someone else’s dues?

......: If you thought this is an imaginary situation, it is not. This happened for real and is cited in a Reserve Bank of India’s document. Even after several requests to the bank to stop the pesky recovery calls, it seemed the request fell on deaf ears and the customer finally approached the banking ombudsman (BO). The ombudsman investigated the matter and found that the personal details pertaining to the card (in collections) did not tally with those of the complainant.............

Read..........

ICICI Bank opens skill training academy in Jaipur

As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts, ICICI Bank today opened skill training academy to provide vocational training to youth from economically weaker section of the society. The vocational training course will provide sustainable livelihood opportunities to the beneficiaries, ICICI Bank Managing Director and Chief Executive Chanda Kochhar said here. “The launch marks the next step in our strategy to promote inclusive growth in India, will train 5,000 youth at nine training centres across the country in the first year of operation,” she said, adding, the academy aims to train 15,000 youth across the country by 2016...............

Read | HBL

SBH opens four all-woman branches

..............."Of course, men can also transact their business through such branches, for banking is gender-neutral. It is only with the intention of putting woman customers more at ease we are opening such branches. For instance, a first generation woman entrepreneur starting a small or micro enterprise may find it easier to obtain a loan in such a branch. It does not mean rules would be relaxed, or waived, for women but the hassles may be less in a woman-to-woman transaction," ..............

Read - HBL

AP Grameena Bank opens 27 lakh accounts thru biz correspondents

Andhra Pradesh Grameena Vikas bank (APGVB) has, so far, opened 27 lakh basic savings bank deposit accounts through business correspondents (BCs) under the branchless banking model. “All these accounts were opened in the core banking system and commence online transactions on real-time basis,” K. Lakshmana Rao, Chairman, APGVB, said in a release.............

Read - HBL

A month of new regime at RBI

..............Rajan, who will complete a month as the Governor of Reserve Bank of India on Friday has already succeeded in restoring calm in the foreign exchange market. Business Standard takes a look at how things have changed for the better in the last one month.................

Read | Business Standard

A takeover best avoided - Dr.S.S.Tarapore

Forgive them, O Lord, for they know not what they do

......If the Government uses its muscle power to take over DICGC, there must be an explicit agreement, cast in stone, that the RBI would not, at any stage, be required to provide funds to the DICGC or the proposed Resolution Corporation. At present, the DICGC covers commercial and co-operative banks and is a mere payout agency without any regulatory or supervisory powers. The Jagdish Capoor Working Group (2000) had recommended that there be a differential premia, according to risk, and that the DICGC be empowered to undertake regulation and supervision relating to bank deposits.............

Read - HBL