IRDA may allow banks to be insurance brokers

...... Allowing banks to become brokers would require an overhaul of regulations for brokers because current norms require that broking activity cannot be done departmentally by a financial services firm and anyone wanting to get into this business will need to float a separate company for the purpose..............

Read - TOI

In joint a/c, liability is on person signing cheque: SC

......"We also hold that under section 138 of the NI Act, in case of issuance of cheque from joint accounts, a joint account holder cannot be prosecuted unless the cheque has been signed by each and every person who is a joint account holder," a bench of justices P Sathasivam and J S Kehar said. "This court reiterates that it is only the drawer of the cheque who can be made an accused in any proceeding under Section 138 of the Act," the bench further said............

Read - Business Today

Forex reserves drop for third week

India's foreign exchange reserves dropped sharply for the third consecutive week ending July 5, 2013. The forex reserves were down by $4.48 billion to $280.17 billion as the central bank continued to sell dollars to contain the volatility in the rupee..................

Read - HBL

NABARD celebrates foundation day

Jammu, July 12 : The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) celebrated its 32nd foundation day on Friday at its regional office in Jammu.

BG Mukhopadhyay, CGM Nabard, J and K Regional office, informed that the NABARD was set up as an apex development financial institution with a mandate for agriculture and rural development in the country on July 12, 1982. Over the years, NABARD has added numerous other functions viz, credit planning, financing and monitoring of rural infrastructure, refinance to banks, institution building, supervision, watershed and tribal development, consultancy and micro-finance (through its subsidiaries). NABARD is also playing an important role in the ‘Financial Inclusion’ agenda of the government, which is considered necessary to pave way for the electronic benefit transfer of subsidies and other incentives to vast majority of population in the country.

T Haq Director, council for social development, said the state was lagging behind in many important socio-economic parameters such as the NSDP per capita, employment rate, agriculture productivity, irrigation and roads. He established the need for inclusive growth under State’s GSDP was 21 per cent as against the all-India average of 14 per cent, thereby indicating the importance of the sectors to economy of the state. Asgar Hussain Samoon, Secretary and Commissioner, Agriculture Production Department, was the guest of honour on the occasion. He appreciated NABARD’s concern for promoting agriculture and allied sectors in the state and profusely thanked the chief guest for his valuable inputs, which would be to facilitate development of future strategies and actionable points for all stake holders. Other invitees included representatives from RBI, SBI, PNB, EDB, JKGB, Cooperative Bank and NGOs.

The Tribune, Chandigarh

Badal asks Nabard to dole cheaper loans

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Friday asked the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) to provide finance to the allied farming sector at interest on a par with agriculture. This would be to give impetus to agriculture diversification program. He also demanded a rate cut on refinance from 4.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent. On the 32nd foundation day of Nabard here, Badal said Nabard had been providing refinance at 2.5 per cent, now increased to 4.5 per cent.............

Read | Business Standard

Retirement Savings: How to grow and protect your nest egg

..... “Retirement planning is very complicated because there are too many unknowns, many of which need to be assumed.” The significant and most important factor that would influence how much you are able to accumulate is where you invest. Out of the various factors that one can control and which one cannot, controlling how much you can save and where you invest can significantly influence your corpus..........

Read - Moneylife

India Gold shortage: Hoax or a pending nightmare?

The campaign measures are laudable if they are being executed in the right spirit. But gold physical prices at lows due to the recent price declines, the sellers of bullion and coins may have been experiencing relative losses in sales, one may get sceptical. This factor may also be forcing them to initiate a campaign advocating crunch on sales..........

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Axis Bank launches its first overseas subsidiary

.......Axis Bank UK Ltd, which got a licence from the UK regulators on 19 April, has set up a branch in King Street in London, through which it will accept deposits and make advances and investments, the bank said in an emailed statement. “The bank would participate in corporate banking, retail banking and leverage business opportunities available in the UK and the rest of European Economic Area (EEA) through its London branch,”...........

Read - Mint

Srei Infra hopes to roll out ATMs on trial basis by Dec

.....Srei had received in-principal approvals from the apex bank for setting up such ATMs in December 2012. As a pre-requisite to getting the final nod, Srei had to receive clearance from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) as the company has foreign investments. The RBI had, in June 2012, permitted non-bank entities with net worth over Rs 100 crore to own and operate ATMs, particularly in Tier III-VI towns............

Read - HBL

Karur Vysya makes remittance easier

..... This offers the remitter the facility to instantly credit funds into the beneficiary’s account in any bank in India. Both the beneficiary and remitter receive free mobile and email alerts instantaneously.........

Read - HBL

Vijaya Bank launches Rupay branded Debit Cards

......Vijaya Bank has launched its Rupay branded Debit Cards which is an Indigenous payment and Settlement system developed by National Payments Corporation of India. Vijaya Bank’s CMD H S Upendra Kamath presided with A P Hota, CEO, NPCI, being the chief guest.

Read - FPJ

Yes Bank sees corporate rivalry behind family feud

.....Yes Bank management is reportedly considering two options right now. They may approach the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) trying to convince the central bank of a possible corporate hand. Alternatively, they would knock the door of competition commission of India (CCI).............

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RBI cautions public against investing in illegal schemes

Villagers perform a dance while welcoming RBI Governor in Khurda village

............"The important thing is that village people must understand what is legal and what is illegal, what is regulated and what is not regulated. Where should they go for advise. All this is something that they must understand," RBI Governor D Subbarao while talking to reporters at an outreach programme in Khurda village................

Read | Business Standard

Welcome to bank licensing Derby - S.S.Tarapore

..........Given the impending change of guard at the RBI, it would not be desirable to constitute the Committee before early September 2013. In any case, the internal scrutiny will go on until October 2013. Furthermore, discussion with other regulators and agencies concerned would take some time. It would be desirable to have the external committee headed by a former Governor with members having experience in central banking, commercial banking, administration, legal and economics. The Committee should have the opportunity to examine each of the applications before them. It will take at least till March 2014 for the External Committee to tender its advice and the RBI top management to complete its assessment. Political economy compulsions would warrant that in the best interests of transparency of operations, final decisions are taken after due deliberation, say, in June-July 2014....................

Read - HBL

Notes for Our Next Guv

...............You may even earn kudos from people who perceive that you stick to your guns (even if they aren't loaded), never fished for another term (even if it wasn't on offer) and cussedly take on politicians — a clan whose credibility has hit a new low. Such are the times we live in. Duvvuri Subbarao fitted into these times, as Wodehouse would have said, like a map on the wall................

Read - ET

Obituary

I am sorry to inform about the sad demise of ex-RBI colleague  Mr. M. Y. Rizvi (64) Retd. Assistant Manager, Foreign Exchange Department, Mumbai on 9th July 2013 after a long illness. May his soul rest in peace. 

- A U Shaikh

Venkit's exit - a personal loss..........

Governor Dr. Bimal Jalan presented a memento to Shri Venkitachalam at a farewell function when he was deputed to IMF, Washington as Administrative Assistant to Dr.Y.V.Reddy, Executive Director, IMF (File Photo)

I was extremely sorry to hear about the sad demise of Shri S.K.Venkitachalam.He was immaculate in his work , totally reliable and dedicated to his work. He was a man of great patience and remained unruffled even when faced with difficult situations. I will greatly miss him. 

- S.S.Tarapore

If I remember right, Mr.Venkit was also PS to Mr.SS Tarapore when he was Deputy Governor. While he was always a good friend of mine, I had an opportunity of working closely with him in the IMF. While he was brought to IMF by Dr YV Reddy, after one year Dr Reddy came back to RBI as Governor. Knowing his nature and sincere work, Dr.Reddy's successor Mr.Misra continued to keep him as his administrative assistant. He retired from RBI while he was still working in IMF. Till his last days he was keeping good health. As per his wishes, he was cremated without any formal rituals. I was told that he conveyed to his family members that they should not weep  that he lived his full life and he had done every thing to his satisfaction and death to him is as normal as to everybody else. To me, it is a personal loss of a lovely friend. May his soul rest in peace. 
- K Kanagasabapathy

Very sad to hear the news of Venkat's sad demise. No words can mitigate the sorrow which the family is undergoing today but we can all pray to God that he gives them strength to bear this great loss. Venkat was a friend and an excellent PS and a good soul , we will all miss him. 
- Sandip Ghose

I just read the obituary on Mr S. K. Venkitachalam the former PPS of the Governor’s secretariat. I am really at a loss, literally, because he has been one of the persons in the Bank I have always remembered with a lot of respect. I got acquainted with him only over the interview interaction at the time of selecting him for the post of PPS. Till then I had only heard of him as a very reliable and efficient officer in the Secretarial cadre. I personally owe him gratitude as I later learnt that he had taken up an issue  with his boss while in ACD to get justice for me who at that time was a very new direct recruit in my first posting in the Bank. He had personally never discussed it with me. I had heard about it from a third person. I was very happy to hear about his posting in Washington as I felt that his efficiency and sound character were being validated and recognised. Though I have not been in touch with him it always gave me a warm feeling to think about him. I will continue to feel that but also sorry that he has passed on from amongst us in this world. But I am sure he has moved on to a better place. My condolences to his family who must be feeling the loss of such a good human being so much more deeply. 
- Kamala Rajan

I was deeply saddened by the death of Shri S.Venkitachalamji. I remember his helpful  advice to me while working with him.I want to offer my deepest condolences. 
- M.N.Sawardekar

Compliance course to be started

.....Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor K.C. Chakrabarty will launch this course in Mumbai in the presence of S.N. Ananthasubramanian, ICSI President and R. Bhaskaran, CEO, IIBF...........

Read - HBL

Banks 10th Bipartite Settlement: UFBU Demands early wage settlement

.........UFBU has noted with serious concern the delay in wage revision negotiations in10^th Bipartite Settlement.  UFBU also concerned about the lack of seriousness on the part of Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) in taking up the issues raised by the Unions in the Common Charter of Demands.........

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Sycophancy and Opaque Promotion Policies Are Biggest Risk for PS Banks

.......It will not be wrong to say that present high level of NPAs is mainly due to sycophant and dishonest promoted officers who have reached the top of the ladder. Although, at this stage, CMDs, MoF officials, RBI officials are in a  denial mode as they are enjoying the cream,  but they will realise soon when financial crisis over takes these banks. (RBI has started realising the flouting of KYC norms of banks  ONLY after Cobrapost expose !).   At the end of every quarter CMDs of different banks announce that things will improve from next quarter on NPA front, but it is going from BAD to WORSE with each passing quarter.  Our PM, FM and bank CMDs keep on blaming the global scenario (SBI Chiarman is in the habit of putting all blames on RBI Governor and non reduction of CRR / non payment of interest on CRR)  for all the ills of NPAs........

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