The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s out-of-the-box move to woo dollar deposits by protecting banks from currency risks has been a big hit. Banks have managed to mobilise $34 billion in foreign currency deposits since the special swap scheme was flagged off in September. This is much higher than the sums...
The very purpose of VITALINFO is to provide a platform for wider dissemination of updated information related to and happening of events in and around RBI.
Saturday, December 7, 2013
RBI seeks intelligence on bank licence applicants
........In almost identical language, the letters from RBI refer to the bank licensing exercise in which Mint Street has laid stress on the "fit and proper" status of the applicants. The letter has asked the agencies to provide details of the status of investigations, if any they have filed against any of the promoters or other members of the concerned groups. So while the CBI will have to give information that Aditya Birla Group chief Kumar Mangalam Birla has been named in an FIR filed by CBI in the allocation of Talabira-II coal block, it is, however, not clear if this will be a reason for the RBI to stall the application from the group............
Parliament panel opposes bank licences to industrial groups
......The standing committee also questioned the rationale behind the view that more banks will help in achieving greater financial inclusion. It pointed out that as of March 2013, only 17% of the total branches of private sector banks was in rural areas. “Given such a background, the Committee are apprehensive that industrial/business houses may not be geared to achieve the national objectives of financial inclusion, priority sector lending etc,” it said. The committee said the RBI should ensure that for every three branches opened in urban areas, there is one in a rural area.............
Urban bank faces de-licensing threat
The Cuttack Urban Cooperative Bank, which serves the banking needs of over three lakh customers and 65,000 shareholders, is facing the threat of getting its banking licence withdrawn by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The threat is apparent for the urban cooperative bank (UCB) is unable to go for core banking solutions (CBS) within the period stipulated as prescribed by the RBI............
Urban co-op banks allowed to act as PAN service agents
The Reserve Bank of India has given permission to financially sound and well managed urban co-operative banks (UCBs) to act as PAN (permanent account number) service agents or PSAs. UCBs can become PSAs by entering into a tie-up with UTI Infrastructure and Technology Services Ltd (UTIITSL), with prior approval from the RBI.........
MCA, RBI to discuss insurance cover for public deposits
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs will hold consultations with the Reserve Bank on the mandatory insurance cover that has been proposed for public deposits garnered by companies. The proposal, being mooted under the new Companies Act, comes against the backdrop of rising incidents of investors getting duped by fraudulent money pooling schemes...........
Private banks increase interest on credit cards
.... “Generally, credit card rates are so high that even a 100-bps increase in the cost of funds does not have any material impact. The interest rates on credit cards depend on risk perception. Given the uncertain economic environment, the risk of default has increased. This prompted some banks to increase their rates,” ...........
'Punching debit card PIN at shops may be risky'
.... "Logically, due to lack of privacy at shops, there is a possibility of misuse of the system. Now, to resolve this alleged lacunae in the customer service, our bank will suggest to our product team that the shops need to provide a secluded place for the ATM card swipe machine which should offer adequate privacy for the customer while punching his/her PIN." The product team will then forward the suggestion to the RBI authorities for corrective measures in the guidelines........
Bad news! Customer may have to pay additional R 6 to feel secure inside an ATM
.....The banks have calculated cost of security enhancement, measures including security guard, camera, and have decided to pass on the burden to customers. The proposal has been laid on the table and is yet to be approved by the central bank...............
OPEN A/C WITH FINGERPRINT
...............The
eKYC procedure will enable a customer to walk in with an Aadhaar number
and open an account by getting his fingerprint scanned. The bank’s
systems will pull all data stored online with the Unique Identification
Authority of India (UIDAI), including name, address, birth date and
photograph. It
will also save a copy of the KYC documents that are stored in UIDAI’s
servers. The bank will then print out an account-opening form with all
the details already filled in from the UIDAI servers...........
Malay Mukherjee set to join IFCI
...Mukherjee who have more than 35 years of experience in banking, joined Indian Bank as a probationary officer in 1976. Apart from working in various branches across several states like Assam, Bihar, west Bengal, Maharashtra and Gujarat, he also have the experience of working in risk management and technology management department. Mukherjee took over as Executive Director of Central Bank of India in November last year and looking after portfolios such as Credit, human resources, , operations, customer services, priority sector, recovery, among others......
SC notice to Centre, RBI over alleged PwC irregularities
....Issuing the notice, also to the RBI among others, an apex court bench of Chief Justice P. Sathasivam and Justice Ranjan Gogoi said the issues raised by the NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) need to be examined..........
RBI introduces cash settled IRF on 10-year Government of India security
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), as announced in the Second Quarter Review of Monetary Policy 2013-14, has decided to introduce cash settled Interest Rate Futures (IRF) on 10-year Government of India security. The IRF deriving value from 91-Day Treasury Bills, 2-year, 5-year and 10-year coupon bearing notional Government of India security, and coupon bearing Government of India security are permitted on the recognised stock exchanges............
MSME Ministry convenes meeting of banks on Monday
...."I have called a meeting of CMDs of various banks, including State Bank of India, United Bank of India and Canara Bank, on Monday to discuss with them the difficulties they are facing in financing to small units," Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises K H Muniyappa said on Friday. He added although the RBI has guidelines on providing credit to the sector, it should ask banks to be a little liberal in giving loans to the industry as it is paramount to the growth of any small business........
AIBEA releases name of top 50 loan defaulters
........Releasing the names of the top loan defaulters today, the association said, “Since the RBI or the Government is not publishing the list of loan defaulters, AIBEA will shortly publish a Booklet containing the names of the top 30 defaulters in each Bank... Since bad loans and write off is a loot of public money, we seek the support of the people in our campaign to safeguard the public money in the Banks.”........
Aiyar Questions Waiver of Rs 1 Lakh crore Bad Loans
....“But these are rich firms and the non-performing assets were removed from the books to enable the companies that were not performing to perform,” said Aiyar, adding that the Finance Minister had a lot to explain in Parliament. Aiyar’s remarks come in the wake of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty stating that banks had written off a whopping Rs 1 lakh crore in the last 13 years. He said the government called this a stimulus to economy. This sort of stimulus is good for the economy, but is providing subsidies to the poor bad for the economy? he wondered.......
No wrongdoing by Acharya, says SBI panel
........Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Takru said in New Delhi that the ministry has received SBI's internal probe report and is looking into it. He also said that he discussed the report with Bhattacharya. "SBI has submitted the internal enquiry report in respect of sanction of a loan by the credit committee headed by Acharya to the department of financial services. The members of the internal enquiry committee have noted that the sanction appears to have been given in the ordinary course of business," the bank said in a statement...........
In a first, MFI customers to be given credit scores
.......While retail customers of banks and NBFCs have been scored for some time now, the concept of a credit bureau is relatively new for the MFI sector. The score is the next step in the evolution of credit information services from a credit bureau since it provides predictive power along with credit attributes in a credit report of a customer, Patel said.......
Sebi issues advisory to general public on complaints
.....Guiding the public, Sebi today said that complaints such as those against unlisted/delisted/wound up/liquidated/sick firms and those cases which are sub-judice, do not fall under its purview. Sebi also said it does not handle complaints that fall under the purview of other regulatory bodies such as RBI, IRDA, PFRDA, CCI as well as those that come function of ministries like the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.......
Details to know about your Form 16A
....The RBI has advised the banks that they should ensure that there is a system in place that has been placed so that the form 16A can be issued in time. The emphasis is on the system so that there is no disruption to the entire process for the individual and that they are able to get the required information on time. The first thing to do for the bank is to ensure that they actually give the Form 16A to the depositor and the other point is that this should be given on time. There are a lot of cases where...........
Kingfisher on ground, banks' money up in the air
....If this year has been marked by acrimony, 2010 was a period of bonhomie between the airline and its lenders. In a controversial decision in November 2010, public sector banks, failing to read the signs of a financially sick airline, restructured Rs 7,650 crore of debt, converting a portion of it into preferential shares. The banks announced a two-year moratorium on the repayment, reduced interest and additional funding. After the restructuring, the airline’s total debt fell to Rs 6,300 crore............
Friday, December 6, 2013
Monetary policy signals fail to transmit - Renu Kohli
.......The question then is upon the RBI’s reading of these trends and whether monetary policy is accordingly synchronized. Are demand conditions misread? When the demand for loans at banks’ prevailing interest rates — the price that equilibrates the demand and supply of credit or loans and deposits — is falling below supply, it is no surprise that the central bank’s signal to raise rates even more is not being picked up by the banks. The cue is for the RBI to go back to the drawing board and reexamine monetary policy settings. Moral suasion cannot do that job.
Economies beyond economics
Mass Flourishing is a deceptive title for a remarkable book. It covers several centuries of thought; has a range that moves from economics into politics, literature and philosophy; places short-term events on a long timeline; helps understand the implications of patchwork policies over the fabric of economies. The book engages with the concept of a "modern economy". How do we achieve happiness and a just and equitable society? ......
RBI Chakrabarty says banks wrong in terming loans to SMEs risky
.....The general perception amongst banks that the credit risk in lending to small and medium enterprises is “very high” is a wrong notion, Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor K.C. Chakrabarty said. He said that while the headline numbers of non-performing assets are higher in this segment, if the extent of loan restructuring and write-offs that are resorted to in the medium and large borrower segments......
Credit scoring - an effective way to ensure availability of timely and adequate credit to Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs)
Keynote address by Dr K C Chakrabarty, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, at the Training Workshop on Credit Scoring Model with support from IFC for MSE Lending, Mumbai, 29 November 2013
With a view to expediting the flow of credit to the MSE firms, RBI, as a proactive measure, issued guidelines in May 2009, advising banks to start using scoring models for making lending decisions in case of all advances up to Rs.2 crore. However, despite, our instructions having been issued nearly five years back, we find that use of credit scoring model in the real sense has not really taken off in India. Our assessment is that perhaps the lack of conceptual clarity on the subject could be one of the reasons for banks’ reluctance in using the credit scoring model for making MSE lending decisions. In fact,.....
Assistance provided by Ms. Lily Vadera is gratefully acknowledged
Mahila Bank in each State capital by end-March: Chidambaram
.......“We ought not to believe that growth for this bank will come only from branch expansion. “The board has to develop its own innovative model for growth,” Chidambaram suggested, adding that it should look to outsource its activities to other organisations, especially those run by women. BMB’s board of directors, he said, should also consider whether customers who are based 10-20 km from the branch can be reached through the use of technology.........
Banks' bad loans grew to Rs 1.94 lakh cr in Mar 2013: AIBEA
......Giving out statistics on the list of bad loans in banks, the Association General Secretary C H Venkataachalam said the bad loans or the non-performing assets in public and private sector banks end of March 2008 was Rs 39,030 crore. "But it has increased to Rs 1,94,000 crore as on March 31, 2013," he told reporters here, adding that the total deposits in banks crossed Rs 75 lakh crore in the country.......
RBI asks UCBs to provide TDS certificate to customers on time
........"With a view to protecting the interests of depositors and for rendering better customer service, urban co-operative banks (UCBs) are advised to provide to their customers from whose deposit accounts income tax has been deducted at source, TDS Certificate in Form 16A," RBI said in a notification...........
SOCARE - so thoughtful...............
Dear Friends,
We must feel very proud that one of the retired officers of RBI, Shri.V.Mani (AGM RBI BLR) established a wonderful organisation called Socare Ind (Society's care for Indigent ) to give comprehensive care to the children of life time convicts in the jails of Karnataka. The organisation set up by him in July,1999 dedicating his house for the cause just with four children in the first year now gives comprehensive care to 171 children . He roped in his wife and many senior citizens to help him running the Organisation. Shri. Mani passed away on 1st November, 2012. Apart from me another RBI officer Shri. M. S. Srihari, a retired General Manager is also actively associated with the organisation. Two years back we opened a branch in Gulbarga plan to build a hostel there to take care of more children. We have recently, completed construction of a new hostel building adjacent to our boys' hostel in Laggare, Peenya, Bangalore.
I take this opportunity to invite you to visit our organisation whenever you happen to visit Bangalore and share your joy with our children.
Kind Regards,
- R.Venkatanathan
Secretary, SOCARE IND.
Rupee gives Rajan legroom to ease cash crunch for growth
.........Credit Suisse predicts the RBI will increase its benchmark rate one more time by 25 basis points to 8 percent after raising by 50 basis points since September. The central bank next reviews policy on December 18. The rupee’s rebound from an unprecedented 68.8450 per dollar on August 28 has allowed Rajan, a former International Monetary Fund chief economist, to reverse some measures taken by his predecessor Duvvuri Subbarao. He lowered the rate at which lenders access emergency funds under the central bank’s marginal standing facility, or MSF, and the bank rate, at which they are penalised for failing to meet reserve requirements. Both were cut by 150 basis points to 8.75 percent each.........
Persisting challenges
....... The RBI’s unconventional measures to shore up the rupee, such as through opening a separate window for oil companies, have also helped. Exports have received a major fillip in the wake of the rupee’s depreciation. But the narrowing of the CAD is also due to continued weakness in non-gold, non-oil imports. Any acceleration in growth will push up the import bill of these items. Finally, government policies might have......
Buy biscuits with bitcoins in India
............Bitcoin is a crypto currency whose creation and transfer is based on an opensource cryptographic protocol independent of any central authority. Th-ough the adigital currency is making waves across the globe, it is still at its infancy in India. The value of the bitcoin varies daily akin to share trading and ...................
China bars banks from handling bitcoins
.....Bitcoins suffered a new setback after China’s central bank said Thursday its banks and payment systems are barred from handling the virtual currency. The central bank said bitcoins did not qualify as a currency but private individuals still are allowed to trade them at their own risk. Bitcoins are created, distributed, and authenticated independently of any bank or government. Their relative anonymity holds out the promise of being able to spend money across the Internet without scrutiny.....
Prediction: Bitcoin is doomed to fail
......Bitcoin exemplifies some of the problems of private money: Its value is uncertain, its legal status is unclear, and it could easily become valueless if users lose faith. Besides, if bitcoin ever really started to take off, governments would either ban it or take over the system. The authorities might be motivated by a genuine concern about the stability of a shadow monetary system or they might act out of self-preservation. Tax evasion would be too easy in a right-money parallel economy.......
French central bank warns of risks
France's central bank, on Thursday, warned against the use of the virtual currency bitcoin, noting that it is not only highly volatile but also unregulated by authorities. Launched in 2009 as the invention of a mysterious computer guru who goes by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, bitcoins can be exchanged online for real money or used to buy goods and services on the Internet........
Educate on bitcoin
This has reference to the story on bitcoins. It is high time RBI educated the general public on all aspects of this new payment system , which is not in the ambit of any regulatory mechanism, lest they fall a prey and than find that it is too late.
- B K katyal, Ex Chief General Manager
New Cos Act to bring clarity on tax-free salary
.......For companies registered under the Companies Act, 1956 (Cos Act), Section 200 prohibits payment of tax-free remuneration to employees/officers. Despite this prohibition in the Cos Act, the scheme for taxation of perquisites acknowledges tax-free salary payment as a permissible arrangement. Section 10(10CC) of the Income-Tax Act, 1961 (IT Act) overrides Section 200 of the Cos Act and provides the employer an option to pay tax on behalf of employees on non-monetary perquisites and exempts such tax actually paid by the employer in employee’s hands, thus subjecting it only to a single level gross-up..........
RBI is losing $1.2 bn a year on deposit swap window
.....RBI by swapping USD with banks is holding USD 30 billion and earning 3.5% swap rate. RBI requires to invest the 30 billion in USD assets and as the central bank does not take credit risk, it invests USD 15 billion each in three and five year US treasuries that are yielding 0.6% and 1.4% respectively. RBI is earning a total of 4.1% and 4.9% on its USD 15 billion each of three and five year swaps that it carried out with the banks............
Read............
Coimbatore Co-op Bank fined
The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 5 lakh on The Coimbatore District Central Co-operative Bank Ltd for non-adherence to Know-Your-Customers norms and Anti Money Laundering guidelines. ...
RBI approach on banks and financial institutions that are too big to fail
.......While cross-jurisdictional activity is considered as a key factor for determining the risks posed by globally systemically important banks, for domestic banks size has been given a higher weightage by RBI. Cross jurisdictional activity has been given a weightage by RBI in sub-indicators and it has replaced level 3 assets by cross jurisdictional factors. RBI prescribes additional capital requirements for too big to fail to banks as follows:............
SBI welcomes RBI move to identify systemically important banks
The SBI today welcomed the Reserve Bank of India’s move to identify domestic systemically important banks (D-SIBs) — large and highly interconnected financial institutions — whose failure can impact the functioning of the financial system and harm the economy. According to P.K. Malhotra, Dy GM (Operations), SBI, the step is likely to make the financial world more secure...........
SBI asks officers to meet loan-seekers only at branch
......According to instructions given to field-level functionaries, an officer should hold meetings with the borrower only in the presence of other officers. One-on-one meetings and meetings at the residence of either the officer or the borrower should be avoided. Further, talks between the bank staff and the borrower, who may come for a loan/enhancement of loan limit/ one-time compromise settlement of a loan that has gone sour, should ideally be video recorded. The emphasis on transparency in officers’ dealings with borrowers comes in the wake of the Central Bureau of Investigation recently registering a case against SBI Deputy Managing Director Shyamal Acharya, Chairman of a New Delhi-based private company and others in an alleged bribery case.......
SBI planning automated system to cut zero balance account cost
........Malhotra said a lot of initiatives are being taken to bring down costs. “We are trying to put in automated technology platform with focus on financial inclusion accounts mobilised by business correspondents ... We are trying to take out the manual intervention to slash cost.” The bank’s CASA ratio is under pressure since the last three quarters of the current fiscal. CASA ratio in September quarter was 43.58 per cent against 44.95 per cent in the same quarter FY 2013........
Unique Identification Authority of India issues 51 crore Aadhaar numbers
.....Enrolment for Aadhaar is entirely voluntary and the Aadhaar number is already used as a Proof of Identify or Proof of Address or both by several programmes and schemes run by Central and State Governments. A number of regulatory authorities such as Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) have declared Aadhaar number as a valid ‘know your customer’ (KYC) and ‘electronically know your customer’ (eKYC) for purposes under their respective domains. This has led to
Hit by the gold bug
.....Data released by Reserve Bank of India last week show gold imports have dropped sharply, after the government imposed strict measures to break the growing gold obsession. It’s likely smugglers have replaced official importers to meet demand, even as there are some complaints about old-style harassment by customs officials at airports. It’s the same old story: economic incentives overpower controls........
Ratnakar Bank launches financial literacy programme in Ahmedabad
.....In addition to provision of banking services through the business correspondent model, the bank has engaged Swadhaar FinAccess, to implement financial literacy programme in the same geographies. As part of the arrangement, Swadhaar FinAccess (SFA) will deliver a classroom based financial literacy course for women from low income communities........
Crop loan interest subvention scheme notified
....The benefits of interest subvention will also be available to small and marginal farmers having Kisan Credit Card for a period of up to six months post-harvest on the same rate as crop loans, against a negotiable warehouse receipt for keeping their produce, the RBI notification said.
Brace for bumpy ride in emerging markets
....But while the Reserve Bank of India can relax - a touch - right now, the big question is just how many other emerging market currencies will now enjoy similar calm? For as investors look back over the events of 2013, it is clear that one of the most bruising developments in the global financial system was a dramatic return of emerging market volatility........
'Regulator should derecognise banks as corporate agents'
Banks should be allowed only as insurance brokers and not as agents of insurers in order to protect customer's interest, said a top official of Reliance Life Insurance Company. "The IRDA (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority) should derecognise banks as corporate agents. Banks are to be allowed only as insurance brokers and not as agents," Anup Rau, chief executive officer told reporters here Thursday. The IRDA and the Reserve Bank of India have come out with guidelines for banks to act as brokers of insurance companies...........
Finance Ministry gives roadmap to regulators on global best practices
........Officials said, the proposal has been sent to the Reserve Bank of India (IRDA), Securities and Exchange board of India (SEBI), Insurance regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) and Pension Fund regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) and Forward Markets Commission (FMC). The ministry has urged these proposals to be vetted by the individual board of the respective regulators and be implemented at the earliest, said official sources.........
Winsome becomes a headache for banks & investors
....Cases such as these that are giving bankers sleepless nights. Statistics by the Reserve Bank of India show government banks added Rs 4,94,836 crore to their bad loans or non-performing assets (NPAs) in banking parlance between 2007 and 2013. During the period, they reduced non-performing assets to the extent of Rs 3,50,332 crore. This was mainly because loans worth Rs 1,41,295 crore were written off, another Rs 90,887 crore were upgraded to repaying loans and Rs 1,18,149 crore was recovered.....
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Mobile Payments Gain Traction Among India’s Poor
........“India is probably the most exciting market for mobile money in the world,” said Michael Joseph, the man credited with the success of M-Pesa in Kenya. Now in London, he heads mobile money programs globally for Vodafone. “When India takes off,” he said, “it will eclipse anything we’ve done in Kenya.” Indian regulators concur. “We have not set a target, but it is going to happen,” said the Reserve Bank’s Deputy Governor, Harun R. Khan, who oversees the nation’s payment systems. “I’m optimistic about its future.”.........
The financial the alchemists
.............In modern economics, central bankers are alchemists, converting paper into precious metals or money. Remember the mantra signed by the Reserve Bank of India Governor on our currency notes: “I promise to pay the bearer the sum of rupees…”? At one point, this literally meant the promise to convert currency notes into silver rupees. Today, if you go to the Reserve Bank to demand such a conversion, you would be thrown out. To be sure, alchemy is not quite dead, if one goes by the popularity of bitcoins..........
Financial inclusion: viable model critical
...... In order to make growth truly inclusive, there is a need to broaden and deepen the reach of banking, giving wider access to the financial services. Financial inclusion provides the poor an opportunity to build their savings, make investments, avail of credit, and insure themselves against income shocks and emergencies. In a dynamic economy, it is imperative that the banking system be flexible and competitive to meet the objectives and demands made by the various constituents of the economy............
Banking on women
.......The proposal has, however, traversed through several doubts concerning its viability as there is a plethora of woman’s cooperative banks and self-help groups (SHGs) with sound knowledge and experience of handling credit issues. Some would argue that government could have achieved a similar goal by altering the definition of priority sector lending to include women or could have compelled the 28 public sector banks to prioritise lending to women entrepreneurs..............
For women's bank, it's save more, borrow more
........"It is important to establish a banking relationship through the opening of bank accounts before thinking about loans. Convincing people about this is a 'tough call'," says an official. The higher interest rates could also push up the bank's finance costs. Yet the bank enjoys certain advantages. Being a new-generation bank, it is free of legacy issues, like high cost-to-income ratios that some fellow public sector banks have to grapple with. According to data from the Reserve Bank of India, the cost-to-income ratio of banks in India is 44.53 per cent (the Basel III norms suggest banks should strive to achieve a ratio of 40 per cent). Moreover, the use of an established software and good hardware support could keep cost per transaction low........
HCBL Co-operative Bank Limited wins Banking Frontier Award 2013
........Frontiers in Co-operative Banking Awards are organized each year by the Banking Frontiers to recognize efforts and achievements of Co-operative Banks in the country. Preceding the award ceremony was a National Conference which was organized in the morning session and was attended by various delegates and bankers from all over the country. The theme of the conference was 'Hello Tomorrow'. The inaugural session of the conference was addressed by Shri Babu Nair, from Banking Frontiers. Chief Guest for the Conference was A.K.Bera, Chief General Manager, UBD, RBI. He discussed the issues and problems faced by UCBs and suggested ways and means to improve the position of UCBs.........
'Bring regional rural banks, NBFCs into the credit rating system'
In order to check asset quality in the banking sector, the urban co-operative banks, the regional rural banks (RRBs) and the smaller non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) should also be brought into the system of credit rating, said J Sadakkadulla, Regional Director of Reserve Bank of India, Chennai. Delivering a keynote address on the importance of credit information to financial institutions at the fourth Annual Credit Information Conference in Chennai organised by the Credit Information Bureau (India) Ltd (CIBIL) and TransUnion Software Services, he said, "Those who are left out, the urban cooperative banks (which as a whole is as good as a commercial bank), RRBs, the smaller NBFCs should also be gradually brought into the system."...........
Building a bullet-proof national balance sheet
........This newspaper has often argued—even in the Reddy years, when he was under attack from New Delhi—that while the Indian central bank should consider inflation control to be its key goal, it should also look at other targets such as financial stability, exchange rates and credit flows............
Rediscover Nagpur's Motha Rajwada & heritage RBI
Glorious 90th Anniversary of RBIEA, Chennai
 |
| The circular issued by RBI Employees' Association in connection with its 90th Anniversary |
I
salute the RBEA, Channai on the occasion of it 90th Anniversary as also
for the glorious journey from 1923 when it was called Madras Currency
Association till date when RBEA Chennai is the proud unit of the AIRBEA.
RBEA, Chennai's contribution to the cause of the RBI employees in
particular and of the working class in general is huge and praiseworthy.
The unit always rose to the occasion when there was need. I
firmly believe that as long as the society is divided into classes on
the basis of economic disparities, trade union shall remain the
fundamental necessity to protect the interest of the working class.
- G N Pandey
Congratulations to Chennai
friends for being part & witness closely such a pioneer trade
union of rbiets. Their role in All India RBEA has been immense . It is
no lesser than the Calcutta . In academics they continue to excel .
Their publications for departmental written examinations &
interviews have helped everybody undertaking such tests.Many of the
staff members who wished to enrich their knowledge about RBI in
particular refer to such books published & distributed by RBEA
Chennai. We have to acknowledge the role of RBEA in showing the path
& motivating Associations of officers & class IV staff.
- Ranjit Kumar Rehan
Let
us congratulate RBI Employees Association, Chennai unit for completing
90 years. It is a pleasant surprise that Association
is older the RBI itself. On this occasions let us salute all our
dedicated leaders who sacrificed their lives for betterment of our
future.
- Madan Gauria
UBFU Letter About Bank Strike
....The Discussion Paper also proposes that the Banks may resort to merger of Banks to become international Banks. Our Banks are meant for our own economic development and hence this is clearly unwarranted. Further merger has its own adverse implications to the detriment of the employees and officers working in the Banks. RBI has also issued recent guidelines by which it is proposed to give the Foreign Banks, near national status and even a scope to take over our domestic Banks. Already, the foreign capital and investments in our Banks have been increasing and now the move is to allow the foreign banks to take over our Banks. In the name of Reforms, the Banks are also outsourcing the regular jobs in the Banks on contract basis thus increasing the risks involved...........
Bank hiring set to surge
..........Banks are looking to ramp up recruitment in the next four years to fill in the vacancies emerging out of a shortage of manpower. Both public and private banks plan to increase their reach in rural and semi urban sectors as part of a financial inclusion programme. Industry observers point out that the RBI’s grant of new licences in January will also result in significant employment opportunities in the coming years..............
Harsh Kumar Bhanwala set to become new Nabard chief
Harsh Kumar Bhanwala, executive director at India Infrastructure Finance Co. Ltd. (IIFCL), has been short-listed for the post of chairman of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard). An appointment committee headed by financial services secretary Rajiv Takru has cleared Bhanwala’s name for the post, according to two people familiar with the development. They requested anonymity. Bhanwala’s name is, however, yet to be officially announced.....
Watchdog Sinha to Get 2 More Years
......It
is clear the government has backed Sinha to steer the regulator for
another term, said the people quoted earlier. If the proposal is
approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, Sinha will be
only the second chairman after DR Mehta to secure a five-year term. GV
Ramakrishna, who headed Sebi when it became a statutory regulator in
1992, was in office for four years but left after differences with the
government over a probe against a firm controlled by a family member of
the then prime minister PV Narasimha Rao..........
Read - ET
Bitcoin sets sights on India
..........Industry watchers point to the growing acceptance of Bitcoin in countries such as China, the US, Canada and Japan. China Telecom, Baidu and others have recently started accepting Bitcoin payments and the Government has put out advertisements to create awareness around this payment mechanism. Recently, businessmen such as Bill Gates and Richard Branson have thrown their weight behind the Bitcoin. However, banking authorities have remained tight lipped and Indian banking authority, the RBI is waiting and watching and do not have an official policy on regulating it.
It’s unfair to say OMO distorted yield curve
....The inter-linkage between the fiscal and monetary policy is well-documented in the Indian context. In the initial years, the RBI used to subscribe to government deficits through issuance of ad-hoc treasury bills that led to automatic monetisation of government debt through increase in reserve money. Later, rapid strides were made to reduce the fiscal dominance of monetary policy by introducing a system of "ways and means advances" and even later by prohibiting the RBI from subscribing to primary ..........
Bank lending to small, tiny units must be stepped up, says K.C. Chakrabarty
Banks need to urgently step up lending to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to bridge the wide gap between credit demand and supply in the sector, which is crucial for the economy, according to K. C. Chakrabarty, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India......
The extra burden on state-owned banks
..As Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor K.C. Chakrabarty pointed out recently, “new private sector banks and foreign banks were able to manage their asset quality better than PSBs (public sector banks) as they were quick in identifying NPAs, while PSBs resorted to retrospective restructuring to report lower NPAs initially...........
Keen to remove restrictions on banking with India, says Iran's Reza Nematzadeh
Iran is keen to remove restrictions on banking with India and is hopeful the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will address the issue as the two countries try to increase trade, particularly oil imports............
Fix responsibility on top brass for bad loans, says union
....... the Association also wants responsibility fixed on banks’ top brass for the loans that have turned bad, allow banks to share information on non-performing assets and wilful defaulters under the Right to Information Act, and declare wilful loan default as a criminal offence. Vishwas Utagi, General Secretary, Maharashtra State Bank Employees Federation, an affiliate of AIBEA, said public money is at stake when banks enter into one-time compromise settlements with loan defaulters, or write off bad loans or allow corporate borrowers to restructure debt..........
Poor functioning of ATMs in Mangan and RBI’s Clean Note Policy highlighted
......Reacting on recent news items appearing in some local dailies regarding non acceptance of scribbled banknotes from the public after 01 January, 2014 by commmercial banks, Mr Yadav clarified that as of now there is no such RBI notification, hence the members of the public need not panic. However, he stated that the RBI directive on Clean Note Policy of 2001 and the recent circular of 14 August 2013 was addressed to the banks wherein they were asked to sensitise their dealing officers and tellers/staff to stop writing/scribbling of any kind on any part of the banknote to ensure the achievement of the objectives of RBI’s Clean Note Policy and also the mechanised processing of banknotes.........
Forget debit cards, use cash: PIN mandate is not as safe as you think
...The next question to ask is can the PIN be stored (knowingly/ unknowingly) on the card reader machine by the retailer? According to this report in the USA, instances have been known where many merchants have incorrectly stored PIN information they should be destroying after customers enter the secret code. While we agree this is a western world report, Indian fraudsters have always been inspired to copy those tricks in the domestic markets. What would stop our fraudsters? And even if your merchant would have stored the PIN inadvertently on his card machine, a hacker can easily access the retailer’s machine to get data about several card holders along with their PINs............
Card PINch
My View on "Now, a cover for card PIN-based frauds at retail o...":
This looks very much as an advertisement but for the non-disclosure of names of insurance companies. This is another window open for your card data to get in. Every insurance product is based on risk pricing. Those cards that would have occasion to go for the cover when the fraud on card occurred, would have to cough up higher premium in the following year. After introducing this measure, the POS started asking the customer for the PIN. Never disclose even if either of you is in hurry. Second, when you enter PIN it is not unlikely that the person next in key would be closely watching your nimble fingers; be watchful of your valet before coming out of the cue and the shop. Security at the POS for the card machine is very poor.
- Yerram Raju
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