RBI imposes Rs 5 lakh penalty on KCCB for violating norms

AHMEDABAD: The RBI today imposed apenalty of Rs 5 lakh on city-based Kalupur Commercial Co-operative Bank (KCCB) for its non-adherence to mandatorybanking rules, an official statement said. A penalty of Rs 5 lakh has been imposed on KCCB for violation related to Know Your Customer(KYC) norms, membership to co-operative credit societies, displaying short name of the bank, extension of credit outside the area of operations, it said. The apex bank had served a show cause notice on the cooperative bank in response to which the bank submitted a written...

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IDBI Bank net jumps 34% to Rs 335-cr

Mumbai: The youngest public sector lender IDBI Bank today reported a 34 percent spike in net income to Rs 335 crore for the quarter to June driven by a rise in interest income and interest margin, despite advances growing at slower pace of 15 percent quarter on quarter. During the corresponding quarter last fiscal, the city-based lender had reported a net profit of Rs 251 crore, the bank said in release. Net interest income (NII) jumped by a higher 36 percent to Rs 1,152 crore from Rs 844 crore q-o-q, while net interest margin (NIM) which is the...

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IOB, Corp Bank & others hike lending rates

New Delhi: Several banks including Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), Punjab & Sind Bank and Corporation Bank have raised lending rate by up to 50 basis points in line with other lenders. While all loans, including home and auto, will become expensive, depositors will get better returns on their savings. The hike in interest rates come within a week of the RBI raising its key policy rates by a hefty 50 basis points to check high inflation. IOB, Syndicate Bank and Punjab & Sind Bank raised lending rate by 50 basis points, while another public sector...

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United Bank of India Q1 net up 23.3%

Mumbai: State-owned United Bank of India on Saturday posted a 23.3 per cent increase in its net profit to Rs 132.4 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2011. The lender had posted a net profit of Rs 107.8 crore for the corresponding quarter last fiscal, United Bank of India said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Total income of the bank increased by 29 per cent during the period to Rs 2,008.1 crore from Rs 1,557.8 crore in the corresponding period last year. The interest income of the bank rose to Rs 1,838.3 crore during the...

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J-K Bank Q1 net profit soars 24.6%

Mumbai: Jammu & Kashmir Bank today posted a 24.6 per cent jump in its net profit to Rs 182.2 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2011. The lender had posted a net profit of Rs 145.9 crore for the corresponding quarter last fiscal, Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) Bank said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Total income of the bank increased by 17 per cent during the period to Rs 1,122.9 crore from Rs 959.3 crore in the corresponding period last year. The interest income of the bank rose to Rs 1,055 crore during the reporting...

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Visa profit up, rolls out new fee program

Charlotte: Visa Inc cheered investors as its quarterly profit rose by 40 percent, and the world's largest payment processor said it would introduce a new fee structure for U.S. merchants. Visa Chief Executive Joseph Saunders, in a conference call with analysts, said the payment processor would introduce a network participation fee in the United States for all of its debit, credit and prepaid card services. As part of the new policy, Visa also will lower the variable rate charged for transactions. Visa's shift away from per-transaction fees is a...

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HSBC likely to cut more than 10,000 jobs

Banking group HSBC Holdings Plc may cut more than 10,000 jobs as part of its plan to slash costs by up to $3.5 billion a year, Sky News reported on Thursday. New HSBC Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver in May announced a far-reaching plan to cut costs and revive flagging profits by exiting dozens of countries and refocusing on its areas of strength. Gulliver did not say how many jobs would go as part of the cuts, but analysts expect the bank to axe thousands from its 300,000 global workforce. Sky, citing people close to the bank, said on Thursday...

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Punjab National Bank acquires 30% stake in MetLife India at an undisclosed amount

NEW DELHI: The country's second-largest bank,Punjab National Bank, has said that it has acquired a 30% stake in the Indian arm of the biggest US life insurer MetLife at an undisclosed amount. ET, in its edition dated May 25, 2011, had reported that PNB was close to buying a significant stake in the private insurer. The bank also announced a marginal rise of 3.4% in its net profit at Rs 1,105 crore in the first quarter of the current financial year. "The net profit has been impacted due to higher provisioning, decline in treasury income during...

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Corporation Bank Q1 net up 5%

New Delhi: Corporation Bank on Thursday reported a 5.29 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 351.45 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2011. The bank had posted a net profit of Rs 333.78 crore for the April-June quarter of FY'10, Corporation Bank said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Total income of the bank rose to Rs 3,266 crore during the first quarter of FY'12 from Rs 2,293 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal. Shares of Corporation Bank were trading at Rs 519.20, down 0.01 per cent from their previous close on the...

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Andhra Bank sees pressure on NIM post RBI rate hike

Hyderabad-based public sector lender Andhra Bank today said there could be some pressure on its Net Interest Margin (NIM) and credit off take in the short- term range, following a hike in key policy rates by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The bank reported a net profit of Rs 386 crore for the quarter ended June 30 in FY12, up 20.63% over the same period last fiscal. The pressure on NIM could be in the range of 15-20 basis points for the present quarter, the bank's Chairman and Managing Director R Ramachandran said. "I presume that there will...

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Banks turn more receptive to MFIs; UBI sanctions Rs 100 crore loan to Bandhan Financial Services

KOLKATA: Kolkata-based United Bank of India has just sanctioned a Rs 100-crore loan to Bandhan Financial Services, the country's fourth-largest microfinance institution (MFI) by assets. Of the Rs 30,000 crore MFIs have borrowed from the banking system till date, this is perhaps the most precious Rs 100 crore ever. This is the largest loan to anMFI after banks virtually stopped lending to such firms after an October 2010 ordinance by the Andhra Pradesh government made lending and recoveries extremely cumbersome. UBI Chairman and Managing Director...

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Banks need to improve NPA mgmt: Chakrabarty

With lending rates rising, fears of banks’ asset quality deteriorating are gaining ground. In such conditions, banks should improve their bad loan management system, said K C Chakrabarty, deputy governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Senior RBI officials were addressing analysts and researchers a day after increasing policy rates by 50 basis points to clamp on inflation. Chakrabarty said non-performing assets (NPAs) may increase, as interest rates rise. “We are only warning banks that their NPA monitoring system should be better. Risks can be mitigated...

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UCO Bank Q1 net rises 12% at Rs 292 cr

Net profit of UCO Bank in the first quarter of FY12 increased 12.42% at Rs 292 crore as compared to Rs 260 crore in the same corresponding period last fiscal. Operating profit, however, showed a decline of 5.27% at Rs 611 crore in the quarter as against Rs 645 crore in the corresponding quarter previous year. CMD UCO Bank Arun Kaul announcing the results here today said that the fall in operating profit was due to high interest expenses compared to interest income. Interest paid increased by almost 49.5% and interest income by 27.28%. Provisioning...

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Banks and broking companies forced to hard-sell demat accounts due to lack of business

MUMBAI: The number of demat accounts with the country's two leading depositories, NSDL and CDSL, has grown substantially, despite unfavourable market conditions in the current year. Driving the growth are banks and broking firms which have been offering a free demat account facility to existing clients and prospective investors as part of their marketing efforts. Higher number of accounts, however, has not led to any improvement in participation of retail investors, as most of them continue to shy away from trading amid concerns over uncertain...

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Home, auto loans to cost more: Bankers

Mumbai: Banks are set to increase lending rates by another half a percentage point, leaving a hole in the pocket of borrowers, after the Reserve Bank sharply raised key policy rates. EMI (Equated Monthly Installment) for home loan of a 20-year tenure would go up to Rs 1,066 from Rs 1,032 per lakh at present as banks are set to revise their lending rates. For a three-year auto loan, the EMI would increase from Rs 3,289 to Rs 3,311 per lakh, according to estimates by experts. Country's largest lender State Bank of India's Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri...

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SKS Microfinance Q1 net loss at Rs 218 cr

Hyderabad: SKS Microfinance, India's only listed microfinance institution on Tuesday reported a net loss of Rs 218.7 crore for the quarter ended June 30 and said it may raise up to Rs 900 crore through private placement of securities. The company's net profit stood at Rs 66.7 crore during the same period last fiscal, the company said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. It had to provide Rs 188.63 crore towards provisions and write offs in the quarter as against Rs 11.96 crore during the same period a year ago. SKS Microfinance, which raised...

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Yes Bank raises base rate by 50 bps

Mumbai: Private sector Yes Bank became the first lender to raise its base rate by 50 basis points today, within an hour of the Reserve Bank's decision to hike key short-term interest rates. The Mumbai-headquartered bank hiked its base rate, or the minimum rate of lending, by 50 basis points to 10.25 per cent with immediate effect, it said in a statement. The bank has also hiked the rate on loans taken under the older BPLR system by 50 basis points. "The increase in base rate will enable the bank to fully absorb the increased costs on account of...

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RBI hikes key rates 50 bps to fight inflation

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised interest rates by a higher-than-expected 50 basis points on Tuesday, stepping up its fight against persistently high inflation despite slowing growth in Asia\'s third-largest economy.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) increased the repo rate, at which it lends to banks, to 8 per cent, exceeding market expectations that it would raise rates by 25 basis points. The rate increase is its 11th since March 2010, making the RBI one of the most aggressive inflation fighters among central banks. Still, wholesale price...

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Mention reasons for dishonouring cheques: RBI to banks

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today directed banks to clearly mention the reason for dihonouring or returning a cheque unpaid. "Certain instances of banks not signing the cheque return memos stating that the memos are computer generated and therefore no signature is necessary, have been brought to our notice," the RBI said in a statement. Such practices are violation of instructions contained in Uniform Regulations and Rules for Bankers' Clearing Houses (URRBCH) which is issued under Payment and Settlement Systems Act 2007 read with Payment and...

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