Dena Bank further reduces interest rates on home, auto loans by 25 bps under festive offer

NEW DELHI: State-run Dena Bank today said it has further reduced interest rates on new housing loans and car loans by 25 basis points in the floating rate category, as a part of the festival offer. Last month, the bank had announced a festival offer with 25 per cent discount on new housing loans and car loans. The new rate would be effective from October 10, 2011, Dena Bank said in a statement. Thus, the bank has reduced interest rates on floating housing loans and car loans by 0.50 per cent for the ensuing festival season, it said. The benefit...

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NHB to decide on pre-payment waiver soon

The National Housing Bank (NHB), regulator in the realty finance sector, is expected to take a decision soon on whether or not there will be a complete waiver of all pre-payment charges on floating-rate home loans. “The decision will be in the best interest of the borrowers,” NHB chairman and managing director R V Verma told Business Standard on Friday. He did not rule out a difference in view between RBI and the NHB on the matter, hinting at a “more efficient” pricing structure. Although Verma refused to categorically state if pre-payment charges...

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Americans seethe as banks hit them with new fees

Smoking outside a Bank of America branch in Chicago, restaurant worker Mike Dysangco complained about the "totally ridiculous" new banking fees. "The economy is not the greatest and they come up with these fees? Do you want our business or not?" asked the waiter who has an account with JPMorgan Chase and was one of the bank customers Reuters interviewed in several major cities. The largest US banks have been hit by two waves of legislation in the past three years, on credit cards and most recently on debit cards, that have restrained their ability...

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Credit card scam in US: 13 Indians charged

In the biggest identity theft scam in the US history, 111 people, including at least 13 of Indian origin, have been charged by federal authorities for stealing credit card data of thousands of customers to buy high-end products worth over USD 13 million, including Apple gadgets and fancy bags from Gucci. Among those indicted in \'Operation Swiper\' are bank tellers, store employees and restaurant workers who allegedly skimmed customers\' personal IDs. Many of the defendants are accused of going on nationwide shopping sprees, staying at five-star...

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HDFC Mutual Fund launches Gold Fund

New Delhi: Country's largest fund house HDFC Mutual Fund today launched HDFC Gold Fund, which will enable investors to put money systematically in gold. HDFC Gold Fund (HGF), an open ended Fund-of-Funds scheme, would enable investors to invest systematically in gold, hedge their risks against market volatility and to effectively diversify their portfolio, it said in a statement. The new fund offer (NFO), which opened today, will close on October 21. A Fund-of-Funds (FoF) scheme usually invests in other schemes of the mutual fund. Gold FoFs enables...

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RBI planning to change design of currency notes

Thane: The Reserve Bank is considering to make changes in the design of currency notes, the central bank informed in reply to an RTI query. To an RTI query by the Bharatiya Banking Consumers Forum (BBCF) whether the government/RBI was going to change the design of the currency notes, the RBI replied that it was under active consideration. The Forum said the RBI effects changes in the design of currency notes periodically and it sought a reply to find out the status of change in design this time. It said that the Forum raised this issue against...

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HDFC Life clarifies on Irda show-cause notice

HDFC Standard Life has justified that it had delayed its settlement due to non co-operation of the claimants. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) had issued a show-cause notice, wherein, HDFC Life was penalised for Rs 5 lakh for delaying settlement of claim and has asked the insurer to streamline its processes. HDFC Life in a response said that it had done so due to non-cooperation of the claimants, hospitals or other public authorities to provide the required information. The fine was imposed based on an enquiry conducted...

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Moody's cuts ratings of RBS, Lloyds, 19 other European lenders

London: Moody's on Friday slashed the ratings of a dozen British banks, including RBS and Lloyds TSB, as well as of nine Portuguese lenders, amid uncertain financial conditions in Europe. The ratings of the 12 British financial entities have been cut citing that possibilities of the UK government extending support to them, in case they are in choppy waters, are less. Moody's cut its rating on Royal Bank of Scotland by two notches, and downgraded Lloyds by one notch. However, Moody's Investors Service stressed that downgrade of British entities...

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City Union Bank to open 9 branches

Madurai:City Union Bank Ltd will open nine branches during October-November. While seven of them will be in Tamil Nadu, one will be in Bhubaneshwar and another in Raipur, according to Dr N. Kamakodi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the century-old private sector bank. “The bank has a total business mix of Rs 25,000 crore and hopes to achieve a growth rate of 25 per cent to 30 per cent in both the business and profits. The bank has continuously declared dividend and the return on equity has been over 20 per cent,” he told Business...

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South Indian Bank title sponsors for GKSF

Thiruvananthapuram:South Indian Bank would be the title sponsors for the fifth edition of the Grand Kerala Shopping Festival (GKSF). Announcing this here, an official spokesman said here on Friday that talks are on to finalise co-sponsors for the annual trade and commerce jamboree being organised by the Department of Tourism, Kerala. The title sponsorship of an event that is attracting global attention for setting a new direction to trade and commerce in the State is a matter of pride for South Indian Bank, the spokesman quoted the Chief Executive...

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Single window clearance to promote affordable housing mooted

Affordable housing and the steps needed to grow this market came in for detailed discussions at a roundtable organised in the Capital on Friday. The conference recommended single window clearance and special incentives to builders to promote affordable housing in the country. National Housing Bank and the Centre for Advanced Financial Research and Learning (CAFRAL) jointly organised the roundtable on ‘housing finance'. The need for real estate regulation to bring about greater transparency and credibility in the industry and as a measure to protect...

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Rivals see UBS holding on to clients after trading loss

Rich clients of Swiss bank UBS have not yet moved their millions to other banks after its $2.3 billion trading scandal last month, rival private bankers said. "They've been hit by everything. It's not going to make any difference," Louay Al-Doory, head of global business development at Swiss boutique wealth manager Reyl & Cie, told the Reuters Wealth Management Summit in Geneva. "UBS is still UBS. You may have a scratched Rolls Royce, but it's still a Rolls Royce," said Al-Doory, himself a former UBS banker. UBS Chief Financial Officer Tom...

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Capital infusion the only way forward for SBI

State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender, is gearing up to improve efficiency and asset quality to make good its existing funds. It hopes the government would support it with at least half of the total amount budgeted for capital needs of all public sector banks this financial year. The bank needs Rs 14,000-21,000 crore for the next five years and expects at least Rs 3,000 crore would be infused by the end of this financial year. "This year, anything between Rs 3000-Rs 10,000 crore would comfortable," said SBI chairman Pratip Chaudhuri....

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Bank of England launches fresh stimulus

London: The Bank of England launched a second round of quantitative easing to defend Britain's faltering economy against the euro zone debt crisis, pledging to buy 75 billion pounds of assets with new money in an early, dramatic move to stave off recession. Thursday's decision by the Bank to expand its asset purchase program to a total of 275 billion pounds highlights the precarious state of Britain's economy as global growth slows, government spending cuts and tax hikes bite, and consumers face high inflation and slow wage rises. In a letter to...

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RBI relaxes norms on small money transfers

With a view to facilitating fund transfers to people, particularly migrants, who do not have bank accounts, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today relaxed norms by doubling the transaction cap on small money transfers. Under the new norms, the cash pay-out arrangements for amounts being transferred out of bank accounts to beneficiaries not having a bank account has been enhanced to Rs 10,000 from the current limit of Rs 5,000. The monthly cap on such transfer will be Rs 25,000 per beneficiary, the RBI said in a notification. Besides, customers not...

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Sebi introduces uniform KYC norms

Mumbai: Capital market regulator Sebi today announced introduction of uniform norms (new forms and documents) for the purpose of customer identification by different market intermediaries like stock exchanges and mutual funds, a step intended to bring uniformity to the process. "With a view to bring about uniformity in securities markets, it has also been decided that the same Know Your Customer (KYC) form and supporting documents shall also be used by all captioned Sebi registered intermediaries," the regulator said in a circular. The new norms...

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Is RBI aiding creation of black money in India?

NEW DELHI Due to deficiencies in its monitoring mechanism for exports, India's central bank might be inadvertently abetting the creation of black money outside the country. These Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deficiencies were first pointed out in July by the Karnataka anti-graft agency's report on illegal iron-ore mining in the state, but had gone unreported. A follow up by ET with various parts of the banking sector and the export transaction chain not only confirms the same, but also suggests similar shortcomings could exist in other sectors of...

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SBI to cut government bonds holdings, insure credit to conserve capital

MUMBAI: State Bank of India (SBI) will cut government bond holdings and insure trade credit in an attempt to optimise capital after rating company Moody's downgraded it citing its inability to raise funds and the scope for higher bad loans due to high interest rates. The downgrade and the subsequent crash in banking stocks in the past two days highlight the potential mess in the Indian banking system dominated by state-run lenders which depend on the government for capital. The spend-thrift government that has already raised its borrowing limit...

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Borrowing abroad to turn costlier for SBI

Following its financial rating downgrade by Moody's, raising funds will turn costlier for State Bank of India (SBI), in an already expensive overseas market. The bank's debt rating, however, remains unchanged at Baa2. “The credit ratings incorporate Moody's unchanged assessment that the probability of systemic support for SBI, if needed, is very high, and results in a one-notch lift in its GLC deposit rating of Baa2 from its standalone rating of Baa3,” the rating agency said in a release. We expect the near-term cost of funds to rise, particularly...

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