Being mindful of savers’ interests

........Even so, the holding back of strong monetary policy action by the RBI is a serious error of judgement, which the present government will rue in the next few months. Generalised inflation is a monetary phenomenon and has to be tackled by a strong monetary policy, even though it may be a blunt instrument. Not dousing the inflationary fire could risk a major conflagration.

In recent days Governor Rajan has used all his......

Read - FPJ

RBI to review single, group exposure limit norms for banking stability

....The current exposure norms in India are in the higher side when compared to global norms. A Basel committee in March 2013 had proposed that threshold defining large exposure should be set at five per cent of banks eligible capital. The large exposure limit may be fixed at 25 per cent of common equity tier I (as against the currently used total capital). ..........

Read | Business Standard

Cautious report card

......The RBI is spot on when it says that national balance sheets, including that of India’s, need to be strengthened to combat the effects of stimulus withdrawal programmes of advanced economies. The global financial system is now accustomed to high liquidity, and the upcoming squeeze as the U.S. tapers its bond-buying programme could prove disruptive. The problem for India will be magnified given the growth slowdown and ..........

Cautious report card - The Hindu

Bitcoin now morphs into 67 new e-currencies

............A number of bitcoin operators in India have begun suspending their business following RBI’s warning against use of such virtual currencies due to potential money laundering and cyber security risks. Within four years of coming into existence, bitcoin has become the world’s most expensive currency and its per unit value soared past $1,200 level or about Rs 63,000 recently, although the prices have now slipped below Rs 50,000 level...........

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The Reserve Bank of India Has No Plans to Regulate Bitcoin

........Chakrabarty stressed that the RBI does not regulate nor support digital currencies. He was keen to point out that bitcoin regulation has not been enacted anywhere else in the world, and that people who understand the risks are free to do whatever they like with their money. “Whether it is … legal or illegal, we don’t know,” he said bluntly. “If it crosses the limit of legality then people may face a problem. So people should be cautious.” Chakrabarty’s statements are unusually candid, and illustrate a wider problem for financial authorities. Regulators simply cannot deal with digital currencies .........

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Mobile banking not really buzzing

.......“The growth and acceptance of mobile banking as a channel of accessing banking service have been below expectation,” says the report released on Monday. So far, 78 banks, including a few regional rural banks and urban cooperative banks, have been given permission to provide mobile banking services in the country..........

Read - HBL

NPA menace: Banks must take haircut, says KV Kamath

.......The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has raised the red flag over the rise in bad loans once again in its Financial Stability Report. The central bank says that NPAs will rise from 9 percent to 10 percent of banks' total assets in a year . Speaking exclusively to CNBC-TV18 veteran banker and Non-Executive Chairman of  ICICI Bank KV Kamath said banks will have to take a haircut to resolve the issue of infra loans and assets.........

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Jump in large-value frauds

......The RBI said online frauds, lottery SMS alerts, advertisements inducing customers to share the details of bank accounts, cloning of cards etc., pose a real challenge for the banks and customers alike in matters of safety and security. Banks need to evolve........

Read - HBL

Work for the welfare of weaker sections, Rosaiah tells bankers

....Addressing the officials and executives of Karur Vysya Bank Mr. Rosaiah asked the bank staff to dedicate themselves to the uplift of weaker sections and growth of rural populace. Commending the KVB for its achievement on priority sector advances and agricultural credit targets stipulated by the Reserve Bank of India, Mr. Rosaiah lauded the efforts of the bank for its active involvement in the financial inclusion programme of the RBI by covering 117 villages through business correspondents.............

Read - The Hindu

North Block-Mint Road tension resurfaces

........This is required to meet the financial-inclusion objectives, the Department of Financial Services, under the finance ministry, has said in a communiqué to government-run banks. But central bank officials are not amused. They see this as an attempt to enter the turf of RBI, which regulates the country’s banks. According to central banking sources, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has been briefed about all government instructions to banks that are seen as trespassing into areas under RBI’s jurisdiction.......

Read | Business Standard

The challenge of financial inclusion

....The history of the microfinance industry illustrates the limited potential of credit interventions. Studies that assessed the impact of MFIs in recent years found very little impact of microfinance loans on either the growth of microenterprises or on poverty levels. In contrast, the so-called social banking model of yore, involving state-directed credit interventions in developing countries such as India seemed to have had a greater impact ........

Read - Mint

Aiming at inflation - A.Seshan

.......After a long time, the RBI was persuaded to refrain from referring to it from its policy statements. Instead it used a more neutral term, namely, ‘non-food manufactured products inflation’. To my horror, in some recent official pronouncements, ‘core inflation’ has raised its ugly head once again — this time in CPI! Maybe it is because it is easy to pronounce unlike the mouth-full ‘non-food manufactured products inflation’! The whole CPI should be treated as core inflation........

Read - HBL

VITALINFO - brilliantly articulated Banking Newspaper : Amalendu Ghosh

Dear Shri Tarambale, My family and myself sincerely thank you and your family for inviting us to attend the marriage ceremony of Chi Harshal. Please excuse me as I am unable to be present on the auspicious occasion as my wife has to undergo eye operation shortly.  We pray to Lord Ganapati for showering blessings on the young couple for long long happy  married life.  We have not worked together but I feel that I am very close to you through the VITALINFO. This learning document is so meticulously designed, so skilfully assembled, so briefly presented, and so brilliantly articulated that it HAS BECOME MORE THAN A BANKING NEWS PAPER of immense value to the central banking fraternity. Regards  

- Amalendu Ghosh Former CGM-in-Charge, DBO&D, Mumbai

Dear Mangeshji, Thank you the invitation to the wedding in the family. Let me take this oppurtunity to wish you all the best for the function. My apologies in being unable to attend the wedding. Shall meet you you sometime later at Pune. With regards,

- M V Ashok, Chief General Manager, NABARD

Hi Mangesh, I am really delighted to hear the news of marriage of your beloved son.  No doubt it is a great occasion and I wish all your family members to enjoy it to the core. I understand you are  transferred to Mumbai.....are you due to take over as PPS to Governor after Pushkala's retirement? Any ways you belong to the DIFFERENT category and you deserve to be there later or sooner. Now a days I am in Australia with my children. I came here in October 2013 and will be back in January 2014. Our VITALINFO is really a link between all of us. Once again congratulations for the marriage of Harshal and welcome the new member in your family with bundles of joys. Best wishes

- K.S. Wadhwa

Dear Mangesh, Many thanks for your invite to your son Harshal's wedding with Vishakha on 28 December . Much as we would have loved to attend I am afraid we will not be able to because the day overlaps my unavoidable personal commitment at Mumbai. But we congratulate you and the entire family on this joyous and auspicious occasion and pray to God to shower His choicest blessings on the young couple ! We too wish them both happy, healthy, long and blissful married life !! Best wishes,  

- V K Sharma, Former Executive Director

God bless you and the two young ones who are embarking on d journey of life together. Regards 

- Harmesh Khanna

Dear Mangesh, Many thanks for the wedding invite. Much as I would have liked to personally attend, I am unable to do so.  We wish the young couple the best of wedded bliss and happiness. Regards

 – G.Padmanabhan, Executive Director

Dear Mangesh, My wife Prof. Kanchan and Childern were pleased to see your wonderful invitation. Thanks  for the same. Our heartfelt congratulations to Harshal and Vishaka!  We wish the newly married couple all success and prosperity in every step of their virtuous life!  We invite the couple for Honey Moon in J&K State and enjoy the Snow of Kashmir. Write to us  to make arrangements.

Regards,

- Rang Pal Gupta and family, Jammu

India to allow Rs.500, Rs.1000 notes in Nepal

.....Indian bank notes above Rs.100 were banned in Nepal as per India’s request to curb unauthorized trade between the two neighbours. During the Nepal-India Inter Governmental Committee (ICG) meeting that concluded in Kathmandu on Sunday, the two sides decided that any Indian national visiting Nepal can carry Indian Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 notes up toRs.25,000, said joint secretary of nepal’s commerce ministry, Jeev Raj Koirala. Both countries are yet to work out modalities before the decision is put into practice.......

Read - Mint

Polymer currency notes needed in India

........It may be recalled that, in fact, Reserve Bank of India has been toying with the idea of introducing polymer currency notes for some time. A few months ago, RBI introduced polymer notes of Rs10 denomination in select cities in India, which included Mysore and Cochin in the south. The results of the market testing carried out by RBI have still not been made public. However, it must be noted, that, by and large, most of the counterfeit currency notes in circulation are in higher denominations of Rs500 and Rs1,000. It would have made sense if RBI had chosen to bring out polymer currency notes, for market testing in these denominations...........

Read - Moneylife

The skim scam

.....BC: And what about that email supposedly sent by the Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan? Did you read about that?

AD: I did, it was the one promising the recipient a couple of crores and asked for their bank details, wasn't it? But RBI did clarify that the mail was a hoax...............

Read - The Hindu

Soon banks will be graded - good, bad or ugly by a new regulator to foster service culture

........Banking Code and Standard Board of India (or, BCSBI), an arm of Reserve Bank of India( RBI), will issue grades like 'high', 'above average', and 'average to poor'. It could force banks to behave better and prompt annoyed customers unhappy with their bank to migrate to another shop. Also, banks that drag their feet to process applications or ask silly questions for opening accounts could lose customers.............

Read - ET

Bank branch expansion at a decade's high

.......Bankers say the government's financial inclusion programme that aims to provide banking services across 625,000 villages has also led to the increase in numbers of rural and semi-urban branches. “There are still a little over 300,000 villages that do not get banking services. Banks are expected to have presence across these villages in the next two and a half years. Hence, banks will continue to open more branches in these areas for the next few years,” ..................

Read | Business Standard

Card transactions safety: PIN, biometrics are the way forward

......There are two significant changes taken by the RBI to promote debit card usage. One is the reduction in the merchant discount rates in debit cards capped at 0.75 per cent and one per cent, depending on the transaction size. This reduces the merchants’ cost. The second is to make PIN a must for all debit card transactions. People who were traditionally spending in cash will start using debit cards............

Read - HBL

SBI to act as lead bank for four newly-formed Meghalaya districts

 The Reserve Bank has assigned State Bank of India (SBI) to act as the lead bank in four newly-constructed districts in Meghalaya. The four new districts created in the state are North Garo Hills, East Jaintia Hills, South West Khasi Hills and South West Garo Hills. The RBI also assigned SBI the district working codes for the purpose of basic statistical returns (BSR) reporting.......

Read - TOI