Punjab National Bank to issue 1.51 million shares to govt

Punjab National Bank would issue 1.51 million shares to the government on a preferential basis, at Rs 1,218.8 apiece, the bank said in a notice to the stock exchanges on Thursday. The government will infuse Rs 184 crore into the bank through this allotment. Following this, the government’s stake in the bank will increase to a little over 58 per cent, as against the 57.8 per cent now. PNB would seek shareholder approval for the allotment at an extraordinary general meeting on Monday. Source: Business Stand...

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High NPAs remain deterrent for bank lending in NE: RBI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said a high level of non-performing assets (NPAs) has been a stumbling block for banks extending loans in the North Eastern states of the country. The central bank said there was a need to improve credit culture and asked banks to increase staff strength. “A deterrent for bank lending is the high level of non-performing assets (NPAs) in the region (North-East). This has been, in part, due to the unaviability of some of the activities financed by banks and a lack of adequate engagement with the borrowers,” Deepak...

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Axis Bank undershoots farm lending, to refocus

India’s third largest private lender, Axis Bank, aims to lend more to farmers in 2011-12, to improve its share of agriculture loans in net advances. The move will help the bank meet its priority sector commitments in farm credit, where it has fallen short of the target till now. The share of farm loans is currently 15 per cent of Axis’ net advances, below the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) mandate of 18 per cent. “On an overall basis, we have met our priority sector targets. In agriculture, it is slightly below the target. We have revamped our agriculture...

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Kotak Mahindra Bank launches interbank mobile payment service

MUMBAI: Kotak Mahindra Bank today launched Interbank Mobile Payment Service (IMPS) for its customers. With this facility, customers will enjoy 24x7 instant funds transfer, thereby enabling the beneficiary to avail of the credit immediately, the lender said in a statement. Kotak Mahindra Bank is among leading Indian banks that offer this service, which is powered by National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI), Mumbai. NPCI is the umbrella organisation for all retail payment systems in India and governs the modalities of the IMPS payments. "IMPS...

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SBI bonds listing: Dalal Street debut yields 3% returns

AHMEDABAD | MUMBAI: SBI's retail bonds traded the highest ever for a fixed income security on debut on bourses, yielding 3% returns for investors, but it may not yet be the beginning of evolution of a vibrant bond market which regulators and the government are hoping for. The nation's largest bank's bond sale may be a one-off event as hardly any issuer could match SBI's clout both in network, marketing costs and branding. The debut trading price was lower than investors expected as many retail traders sold off their bonds ahead of the fiscal...

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State Bank of Indore merger with SBI in public interest: govt

The government today said the merger of State Bank of Indore with the State Bank of India (SBI) is in public interest. The merger is in "overall public interest," Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena said replying to the debate on the State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Amendment Bill, 2010 in Rajya Sabha. "Now, they (State Bank of Indore customers) can deposit and withdraw money from all the branches of State Bank of India," he said. The Upper House later passed the bill seeking to omit all references to the State Bank of Indore,...

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HDFC named best retail bank in India

Mumbai: Country's second largest private lender HDFC bank has won the Asian Banker's 'Best Retail Bank in India' award this year. Beating a host of other competitors in Asia Pacific, Middle-East, Central Asia and Africa on a range of parameters, the bank has won the 'Best Retail Bank in India' award for the fifth year in a row, a release issued here said. More than 150 retail financial institutions from 29 countries across the Asia Pacific, Middle East, Central Asia and African regions participated in the competition. Source: Financial Expr...

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Banks to have extended working hours on March 30, 31: RBI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked banks to have extended working hours on March 30 and 31, 2011, to facilitate receipt of government revenue from members of public even at late hours. It has been decided in consultation with the Controller General of Accounts that all regional offices of RBI and branches of agency banks conducting government business will suitably extend the banking hours to conduct government business by keeping their counters open for the purpose on March 30 and 31, 2011, the central bank said in a statement. This will facilitate...

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Five-year-old Indian becomes millionaire

DUBAI: A five-year-old Indian boy has become a millionaire overnight after winning a lottery at a national bond draw here. Ebrahim Fahimuddin Shaikh became the second millionaire in the year when the February draw of National Bonds Corporation picked his name. Ebrahim's father received the life changing call on Saturday. "At first, I thought it was a prank call so I carried along with the call, shortly after it struck me, I am truly really speaking to National Bonds CEO in person," he said. "I was overwhelmed with joy and happiness for my...

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BoB CMD says no need to increase interest rates

LUCKNOW: The Chairman and Managing Director, Bank of Baroda , MD Mallya said that he did not forsee any need for the bank to increase its interest rates in the backdrop of RBI hiking key policy rates last week. He said that most banks had already factored in the possibility of key interest rates being hiked by the central bank and had accordingly adjusted their rates at which they lend and take deposit from customers. Mr Mallya who was in Lucknow on Tuesday said that credit demand peaks before March and then sees a dip from April onwards. The...

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RBI sets holding company rider for bank licence

NEW DELHI: The Reserve Bank of India will allow a promoter or a promoter group to establish new banks if they set up a holding company, which will own the bank and all other financial services companies regulated by the central bank or other financial sector regulators. The holding company structure is described in the draft guidelines that the central bank has sent to the finance ministry last week. The guidelines are not final but provide a clue to its thinking. The norms governing new banks will be made public once the finance ministry responds....

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Bonds out, IDFC to raise Rs 250-cr long-term capital

KOLKATA: Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) plans to raise 250-crore long-term capital as it has no time left for mobilising more funds through tax-saving retail bonds. The infrastructure financing company has mobilised around 1,500 crore by selling bonds to tax payers in three tranches, 56% less than what it had targeted to raise via retail bonds. Market sources said this has perhaps prompted IDFC to enter the private placement subordinated debt market before the end of the current fiscal. A top IDFC official confirmed the development,...

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Message 'Unhappy' to complain to SBI

Mumbai: Not satisfied with the services you get from the nation's largest lender State Bank and want to get back to the bank on the same? Forget the pen and paper to write it down or even email the same but just message "Unhappy", and your issue will be resolved within 48 hrs. After being on pilot test since last October at select centres and seeing the huge response, bank chairman Om Prakash Bhatt today launched the initiative in Bhopal. With this nationwide customer service initiative called 'SMS Unhappy' to serve its 130-million strong customers,...

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IndusInd to buy Deutsche Bank's India credit card biz

Mumbai: IndusInd Bank is poised to acquire Deutsche Bank India’s credit card business. The bank has narrowed in on Axis Bank and IndusInd Bank from the initial 11 bidders. Deutsche Bank has 1.5 lakh active cards and outstandings of R200-250 crore. “IndusInd is close to striking the deal with Deutsche Bank and could offer a small premium to the amount outstanding on the current credit card base which is in the range of R225-250 crore,’’ said a source in the know of the development. A few banks, including Dhanlaxmi Bank, Karnataka Bank, Standard...

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Plans on to list 10 CPSUs in FY12 to raise Rs 40,000 cr

NEW DELHI: The department of disinvestment plans to list as many as 10 central public sector units that have turned profitable to raise the budgeted 40,000 crore from disinvestment in the next fiscal. "We are looking at around 10 companies," a senior finance ministry official said. "A final decision will be taken after reviewing their overall performance and future prospects." The department would rather list these firms as follow-on offers of already listed companies are not expected to receive a warm welcome from investors when the markets...

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Traditional life insurance or ULIPs?

What are traditional life insurance plans? Why should I buy a traditional plan? How will I benefit from it? And how is it relevant in today’s environment? How are these different from the more popular ULIPs?These are some of the questions you would generally ask before making a purchase decision. Traditional insurance plans, which include term, endowment and whole life policies, offer multiple benefits in terms of risk cover, return, safety and tax benefit. Traditional policies are considered risk-free, as they provide fixed income returns in case...

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India Inc profit margins eroding: RBI

Mumbai: Increasing raw material cost and rising salary bill eroded the profitability of India Inc during April-September period of the current financial year, says an RBI analysis. According to a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) study which analyses the performance of the Indian private corporate sector during the first half of the current fiscal, sales growth was robust on the back of pick up in demand. "However, despite robust revenue growth, companies in aggregate could not generate higher profit margin primarily on account of higher input prices...

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India Inc profit margins eroding: RBI

New Delhi: ICICI Bank and Intuit, a global developer of business and personal finance management solutions, launched Money Manager, an online personal finance management solution. It will help bank customers understand their spending habits and organise their finances by providing them with details of all their ICICI Bank accounts on a single platform, the bank said in a statement. This web-based solution, available through ICICI Bank's website, delivers the flexibility to focus on specific details such as earnings, savings, spends and loans, it...

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Birla Sunlife MF, HDFC MF, Reliance MF and Franklin Templeton offer payouts to retain investors

MUMBAI: Fund houses are attempting to woo flighty investors by offering handsome dividends, with the market trading flat over the past one year. Fund houses such as Birla Sunlife Mutual Fund, HDFC MF , Reliance and Franklin Templeton have announced dividends ranging from 15% to 20%, in an effort to incentivise investors and persuade them to retain money in existing schemes. Much more than the current market, it is the year-ago (2009-2010 ) market rally that is helping mutual funds to dole out higher dividends to investors. The ' dividend cushion'...

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Car loan rates may rise in April

NEW DELHI: Get ready to pay more for your cars from the next fiscal as lenders are likely to raise rates on auto loans after the latest round of interest rate tightening by the RBI. Lenders such as HDFC, Kotak Mahindra Prime and ICICI Bank will take a call on hiking the rates next month. "A final decision will be taken from April on-wards as we want to finish our pipeline of our cases for March, before altering future interest charges ," a senior executive of HDFC Bank said. Private banks charge rates ranging from 10.5-14-5 %. Public sector banks...

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SBI bonds likely to yield 5% returns on Street debut

MUMBAI: Largest lender State Bank of India's (SBI) retail bonds , which were bid over four times the offer and were beyond the reach of millions of investors, may yield a 5% return when it begins trading on Monday. The attractive yields may prompt institutional investors who did not get those bonds in public sale to lap up when they trade, say investment advisors. The Rs 10,000 face value bonds may be traded in Rs 10,400-10 ,500 range, reflecting the grey market trading value. "I expect these bonds to get listed at minimum Rs 10,400-10 ,500. Because...

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How to update your PAN details

The permanent account number (PAN) card, issued by the income tax authorities, is now widely used in financial transactions and is the single most convenient proof for identity. So, it may be useful to keep the PAN card updated to reflect your current details. The tax information network (TIN), operated by the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL), provides this service. This facility only allows you to update details such as photograph, address and signature, not the number itself. The PAN change request form is available online. Online...

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