Banks face $3.6 trillion in maturing debt: IMF

WASHINGTON: The world's banks face a $3.6 trillion "wall of maturing debt" in the next two years and must compete with debt-laden governments to secure financing, the IMF warned on Wednesday. Many European banks need bigger capital cushions to restore market confidence and assure they can borrow, and some weak players will need to be closed, the International Monetary Fund said in its Global Financial Stability Report. The debt rollover requirements are most acute for Irish and German banks, with as much as half of their outstanding debt coming...

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Another HSBC India unit client pleads guilty to offshore tax evasion

WASHINGTON: A client of HSBC Holdings Plc's India unit pleaded guilty to tax evasion on Wednesday, the latest case to potentially enmesh the UK bank in the expanding U.S. probe of banks that lure tax dodgers. The plea by Josephine Bhasin before a magistrate judge in New York comes days after another HSBC client pleaded guilty, and a week after prosectors demanded potentially thousands more U.S. account names from HSBC. Bhasin's account was worth as much as $8.3 million, the government said. The Justice Department last week said HSBC in India...

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Deutsche Bank to rejig US arm: WSJ

Deutsche Bank will change the legal status of its main US subsidiary to avoid having to endow it with up to $20 billion in fresh capital, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Wednesday. Citing an internal document at the bank, WSJ said that Deutsche Bank executives last year were concerned that US unit Taunus Corp would need that amount to comply with the Dodd-Frank financial reform law that Congress passed last year in the wake of the financial crisis. The restructuring would see Taunus give up its bank-holding company status, the paper cited...

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PNB to review interest rates post RBI policy

The country's second-largest public sector lender Punjab National Bank (PNB) today said there is an upward pressure on interest rates and it would take a call revising them after RBI's annual policy review next month. "Right now there is an upward bias on our interest rates," PNB Chairman and Managing Director KR Kamath said on the sidelines of 117th foundation day of the bank. On the possibility of interest rate hike in the near future, Kamath said, "These are very dynamic rates. There will always be a response to what happens in the economy....

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IDBI Home Fin gets govt nod for merger with parent firm

IDBI Home Finance (IHFL) today said it has got approval from the Corporate Affairs Ministry for merging with its parent IDBI Bank. The ministry has sanctioned the scheme of amalgamation vide its order dated April 8, 2011, IDBI Home Finance said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The merger would help IDBI to consolidate its home loan business and gain more market share. "The company, on April 13, 2011, has filed a copy of the said order with the Registrar of Companies (ROC), NCT of Delhi and Haryana and hence all the conditions. Of the Scheme...

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Corporation Bank eyes 25% credit growth, 22% in deposits in FY12

MUMBAI: Public sector lender, Corporation Bank, is expecting a credit growth of 25 per cent and deposits to expand by 22 per cent in 2011-12, a top bank official said. "According to my estimates, our deposit growth will be around 22 per cent and credit growth 25 per cent (in FY 12)," the Managlore-headquartered bank's Chairman and Managing Director, Ramnath Pradeep, told reporters on the sidelines of an event here today. The bank will be focusing on the retail, micro small and medium enterprises, and agriculture to achieve the growth, Pradeep...

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EU banks threaten global financial stability: IMF

Washington: Unhealthy European banks are the biggest threat to global financial stability, and they need to find fresh capital, the International Monetary Fund said today. "Many institutions -- particularly weaker European banks -- are caught in a maelstrom of interlinked pressures that are intensifying risks for the system as a whole," the IMF said in its Global Financial Stability Report. With the financial crisis, "banks have sought to raise both the quantity and quality of capital, but progress has been uneven, with European banks generally...

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RBI penalises two Gujarat-based banks

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank has imposed penalty of Rs 1 lakh each on two Gujarat-based cooperative sector lenders for violation of various rules, including anti-money laundering guidelines. The two banks are -- the Surat-headquartered Rander People's Co-operative Bank and Vadodara-based Shree MahalaxmiMercantile Co-operative Bank, the apex bank said on Monday. "The RBI has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 1 lakh on the Rander People's Co-operative Bank... for certain violation of RBI instructions by non-adherence to Anti-Money Laundering guidelines...

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Paperless EPFO to apply for carbon credits

New Delhi: The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) may soon turn into a pathbreaker of sorts. The pension fund manager is planning to claim carbon credits after initiatives like electronic transfer of funds and accounts have resulted in hefty savings on paper. The move comes after the EPFO’s Delhi (North) office reported savings of over Rs 17 lakh in an eight month period after switching to the National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) system for refunds and withdrawals. The regional office dealt with 1,13,801 between May 2010 and January...

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Govt to soon notify 'Sugam' IT form for small taxpayers

New Delhi: The Finance Ministry will soon unveil the simpler income tax return form 'Sugam', which is aimed at reducing compliance burden on small businessmen and professionals. "Sugam is currently being examined by the Law Ministry and will be notified soon," a Revenue Department official said. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in his budget speech for 2011-12 had announced the new simplified return form 'Sugam' to reduce the compliance burden of small taxpayers who fall within the scope of presumptive taxation. The official said the new form...

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Mukesh Ambani gets Bank of America shares as director fees

Washington/New Delhi: Bank of America has given shares worth nearly Rs 11 lakh to Mukesh Ambani as part of annual retainer fee to the billionaire industrialist, who joined the US banking giant's board last month. Ambani may get a total of over Rs 1 crore of annual compensation in cash and stocks, going by the bank's director compensation policy. However, the bank has not disclosed its specific director fees for Ambani, chief of energy giant Reliance Industries. Emailed queries sent to Bank of America and Reliance Industries remained unanswered...

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RBI survey sees inflation at 13%

Mumbai: Urban households expect inflationary pressure to sustain through 2011 and feel there may not be any softening of food prices, an RBI survey shows. While year end 2011 household inflation is expected to be 13.1 per cent, up from the perceived 11.8 per cent in December 2010, daily-wage workers and housewives expected higher inflation rates to continue. As per the 'Inflation Expectations Survey of Households : December 2010 (Round 22)' conducted by the apex bank, the rise will be mainly on account of movement in food prices. "Households expect...

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IndusInd to buy Deutsche Bank's credit card biz

Private sector lender IndusInd Bank will acquire the credit card business of Deutsche Bank’s Indian operations for a little more than Rs 224 crore. As part of the deal, IndusInd Bank would also get the services of around 200 professionals from the German bank's credit card division. “The book value of Deutsche Bank's credit card business in India is Rs 224 crore. We are paying a small premium on it,” said an IndusInd official. The deal would mark IndusInd Bank’s foray into the credit card business. The buyout would give the bank access to close...

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FinMin to meet PSU bankers on April 26

Finance Ministry will hold annual performance review of public sector banks here on April 26 to evaluate various aspects including non-performing assets and financial inclusion. The meeting will chaired by Financial Services Secretary SK Sharma instead of the usual practice of Finance Minister conducting bankers meet. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is busy with ongoing assembly election in 5 states. The meeting will take stock of the financial performance of the banks during the financial year ended March 2011. However, the banks are yet...

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HSBC US client pleads guilty to offshore tax dodge

An HSBC client pleaded guilty on Monday to offshore tax evasion, in a widening US government probe of banks that may help tax dodgers. The case includes as co-conspirators five unnamed bankers whom sources close to the matter identified as employees of HSBC Holdings Plc. The indictment said the bankers worked at a large international bank headquartered in England. Defendant Vaibhav Dahake admitted in US district court in New Jersey to conspiring to conceal accounts in India. Dahake is an India native who became a naturalised US citizen in 2006...

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Draft guidelines on new banking licences by month-end

The finance ministry today said the draft guidelines on new banking licence with provisions to allow entry of corporates would be finalised by month-end. The draft guidelines should be finalised by the end of this month, Financial Services Secretary SK Sharma told reporters on the sidelines of Ficci National Conference on Insurance. "This was to be (released by) March 31, but we are taking some more time because there are some issues we are still considering," he said.Asked if the draft guidelines would have any mention of industrial houses, he...

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Credit card transactions up 28% in Feb

Mumbai: Credit card transactions worth Rs 6,212.92 crore were carried out in India through credit cards in February 2011, registering a growth of 27.82 per cent compared to the same month last year.Credit card transactions during February 2010 were at Rs 4,923.11 crore, according to RBI data. The number of credit cards in circulation have, however, declined by almost 10 per cent to 1.81 crore as on February 28, 2011, from 2.01 crore in the same period last year. During the April-February period of the fiscal, the total transactions carried out...

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Banks, Automobile cos to lead Q4 profit growth

MUMBAI: Banks and automobile companies are likely to lead profit growth in the fourth quarter of the just-concluded financial year 2010-11, while telecom and real estate firms may be the primary laggards, according to consensus estimates of eight brokerages. Most brokerages predict double-digit growth in bottom line for large-cap companies on the benchmark share indices, the Sensex and Nifty, amid a continuing tug of war between healthy top line growth, on the back of strong aggregate demand in the broad economy, and rising input cost weighing...

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PSU banks bear brunt for reviving Kingfisher

Eleven public sector banks , which were alloted shares by Kingfisher Airlines as part of debt recast package , have seen erosion of about 165 crore in the value of the 17.5% equity held by them in the debt-ridden carrier. These banks, including State Bank of India , Punjab National Bank , Bank of India and IDBI Bank , were alloted 8.8% Kingfisher shares on March 31, at 64.48 a piece as per the Sebi formula. The market price of the share had declined to 40.95 even before the actual allotment took place. Source: EconomicTi...

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Most retail customers happy with Indian banks

New Delhi: A survey by global consultancy firm Ernst & Young has found that majority of retail customers are satisfied with the country's banking system and that trust has increased after its' astute handling of the 2008 global financial crisis. Unlike many other countries, India was less affected by the meltdown, mainly on account of conservative banking policies followed by the Reserve Bank of India. According to the survey, 'A New era of Customer Expectation' that is yet to be released globally, 75 per cent of the retail banking customers...

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