RBI to issue new Rs 10 notes

Chandigarh: The Reserve Bank of India will shortly issue Rs 10 denomination bank notes incorporating the new rupee symbol, with inset letter 'R', in the Mahatma Gandhi Series. The new notes will bear the signature of Reserve Bank of India Governor D Subbarao and the year of printing, 2011, will be printed on the back of the bank note. The design of the notes to be issued is similar in all respects to bank notes in Mahatma Gandhi Series 2005 issued earlier, said a RBI release. All the notes in the denomination of Rs 10 issued by the bank in the...

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Ratnakar Bank plans to double branch network

Private sector lender Ratnakar Bank plans to ramp up its branch network to 200 branches in the next 12-15 months, its Managing Director & CEO, Mr Vishwavir Ahuja, has said. Plans are afoot to open 30-35 branches in the next 4-5 months including in places like Chennai and Hyderabad where the bank currently has no presence, Mr Ahuja, who headed Bank of America in India for years, told Business Line here. “We already have 30-35 branch licences which will be used in the next 4-5 months”, he said. Mr Ahuja was in the Capital for the launch of Ratnakar...

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Do not process over 3-mth old cheques: RBI to urban co-ops

The Reserve Bank of India on Friday directed primary urban cooperative banks not to make payments on cheques and other financial instruments that are over three months old, with effect from April next year. “RBI directs that with effect from April 1, 2012, banks should not make payment of cheques/drafts/pay orders/banker’s cheques bearing that date or any subsequent date if they are presented beyond the period of three months from the date of such instrument,” the Reserve Bank (RBI) said in a circular to all primary urban cooperative banks. The...

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Axis Bank to raise Rs 1,500 cr from bonds

Private sector lender Axis Bank today said it would raise Rs 1,500 crore through bonds to fund its business growth. The board has passed a resolution approving allotment of unsecured redeemable non-convertible subordinated debentures on private placement basis as the bank's Lower Tier II capital aggregating to Rs 1,500 crore (including green shoe option of Rs 500 crore), Axis Bank informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Allotment of the debentures will be listed on the BSE and the National Stock Exchange, it said. The bank will pay a coupon rate...

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Rights issue best option: SBI

Pratip Chaudhuri took over the reins at the State Bank of India in April 2011 at a time when persistent high inflation had spooked the growth story. He settled the debate on teaser loans with the Reserve Bank of India, made adequate provisions and started on a clean slate. He reckons the RBI consciously sought demand destruction, so an economic slowdown should not come as a shock. But he is worried about the investment pipeline drying up. In an exclusive interview with Ritu Kant Ojha and P Vaidyanathan Iyer, he said the bank was hopeful it will...

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Indian Bank hikes FCNR deposit rates

Public sector lender Indian Bank has revised its Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Banking) and Non-Resident (External) term deposit rates with immediate effect. In a statement, the Chennai-based bank said it revised the FCNR (B) deposits in dollar terms to 2.32 per cent for deposits of one year and above, but less than two years from the existing 2.19 per cent. For two-years and above but less than three years, the interest rates have been revised to 2.01 per cent from the existing 1.86 per cent. For deposits of three years and above but less than...

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Equip ATMs to accept cash directly, suggests panel

A year down the line government-owned bank ATMs in urban as well as rural areas may start accepting cash (not in an envelope but directly), have solar powered back-up, and 24x7 surveillance. The aforementioned are some of the recommendations of a government-appointed committee on ATMs headed by Dr Ashok Jhunjhunwala, Professor, IIT-Madras. These come at a time when the Government has directed the 21 banks in which it owns majority stake to go in for joint procurement of ATMs.Cash acceptor Besides dispensing notes, which are soiled but can be issued,...

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RBI to adjust rates in tune with price situation: Pranab

The Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, today indicated that the Reserve Bank of India will adjust policy rates in tune with the price situation. “These are all weekly (inflation) figures. Monthly figure is yet to come. The RBI is watching the situation. As and when they will consider necessary, they will adjust the monetary policy. That is their job and they are doing it efficiently and effectively,” Mr Mukherjee told reporters here. “I would not like to make any comment on that (rate revision) right now. Only point I shall have to emphasise...

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Axis Bank launches PG banking course

Axis Bank has launched a one-year post graduate diploma in banking services jointly with Manipal University. It is a full-time residential programme for graduates. Those who complete the course will be absorbed in the Assistant Manager grade by Axis Bank, said a press release issued by the bank. Some of the other banks that offer similar programmes include ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Bank of Baroda and Kotak Mahindra Bank....

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New GM for Karnataka Bank

Mr Mahabaleshwara Bhat M.S., who is heading Mumbai region as Deputy General Manager of Karnataka Bank, has been promoted as General Manager with effect from December 1. As General Manager, he will be in-charge of Credit (Retail Finance Division) at head office in Mangalore. A bank release said here that Mr Bhat joined the bank in 1984 as an officer trainee. He became Assistant General Manager in 2003 and worked at head office. On promotion as Deputy General Manager in 2008, he headed the Delhi region of the bank....

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RBI agreeable to asset sale to HSBC: RBS

MUMBAI: British lender RBS India today claimed that the Reserve Bank of India has agreed to clear its proposal to sell commercial and retail assets here to HSBC India. "We can confirm that the Reserve Bank of India is agreeable to the transfer of our retail and commercial businesses in India to HSBC," an RBS statement here said. Without offering more details, the bank said, "We continue to work closely with HSBC and the regulators to complete the transfer in a manner that is in the best interests of our clients and employees. "India is also a major...

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Irda notifies IPO norms for life insurers

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) today came out with guidelines allowing life insurance companies, which have been in business for over 10 years, to raise funds from the public through IPOs. The Irda, however, will decide the size of the public issue, it said in a notification. As per the guidelines, promoters of the insurance companies will also be allowed to offload their stake in the company. The insurance companies, which will become eligible to come out with the initial public offerings (IPOs), include ICICI Prudential...

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Kerala Financial Corpn launches e-sale Web portal

The Minister for Finance, Law and Housing, Mr K. M. Mani, launched the e-sale Web portal and core financial solution at the Kerala Financial Corporation (KFC) at a function here on Wednesday. Tata Consultancy Services has developed the core financial solution to fully computerise the loan accounts and automation of office procedures at KFC. PAPERLESS OFFICE The core financial solution will make the corporation a paperless organisation in near future, company spokesman said. It will also inter-link all zonal offices and branches and undertake automation...

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State-run banks led by State Bank of India to install 40,000 ATMs

MUMBAI: State-run banks led by State Bank of India plan to install 40,000 automated teller machines, or ATMs, across the country to widen their reach in what will be the biggest such exercise by local lenders. This time, all the government-owned banks will join hands to install what are known as white-label ATMs, which are not owned by any single bank and where the entire operation is outsourced. Last week, SBI sought offers from vendors for setting up 40,000 ATMs, twice the number the bank currently has. SBI owns the maximum number of ATMs in...

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Finmin tells RRBs to use sponsor banks infrastructure to become NEFT-enabled

KOLKATA: The ministry of finance has directed regional rural banks to use sponsor banks IT architecture to become part of the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) system for offering one-to-one electronic payment facility to customers. RRBs have recieved a note from the government earlier this week to this end. RRBs will have to open settlement accounts with sponsor banks for this purpose, an RRB chairman said. Under NEFT, individuals, firms and corporates can electronically transfer funds from any bank branch to any individual, firm or corporate...

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Interest rates have peaked: HDFC

Mortgage leader HDFC's Managing Director Renu Sud Karnad today said interest rates have peaked and there is little possibility of further rate hike. "I think interest rates have almost reached peak," Karnad said after launching women exclusive credit cards of HDFC Bank here. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had last month raised the repo rate by 25 basis points to 8.50% and the reverse repo rate moved up by a similar percentage to 7.50%. Repo is the short-term rate at which the Reserve Bank of India lends to banks, while reverse repo is the rate...

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Axis Bank launches young bankers program

KOLKATA: Axis Bank in association with Manipal Global Education Services ( MaGE) has launched the 'Young Bankers' Program, an initiative to attract young graduates to a career in banking with Axis Bank. This one-year full-time residential programme to be conducted at Manipal University Bangalore campus will impart knowledge and skills in banking, etiquette and grooming, enhanced communication skills and other soft skills. Upon successful completion of the program, the students will be awarded a post-graduate diploma in banking services by Manipal...

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DHFL Express Home Loans on Wheels

DHFL, a leading housing finance company, has launched ‘DHFL Express Home Loans on Wheels,' a unique concept-based campaign that will deliver home loans to the doorsteps of customers, thereby reducing unnecessary hassles in securing financial services. The road show was flagged off at Kasargod by Mr Mudit Bhatnagar, Head Marketing and International Business. ‘DHFL Express Home Loans on Wheels' is one of our endeavour to educate a large section of the society on the procedure of acquiring a home loan by reaching out to them at their doorstep. This...

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IDFC, SNC-Lavalin form JV to develop roads, highways

NEW DELHI The Ashok Piramal Group's IDFC Project Equity Fund and Canada's biggest engineering group SNC-Lavalin Group entered into a joint venture agreement to develop road and highway projects in a publicprivate partnership across the country. They plan to commit $250-300 million in equity in the JV company Piramal Roads Infra over the next 3-5 years and fund road projects to the tune of $1 billion. "With three partners in the JV, we are in a sweet spot in terms of bidding and can invest up toRs 6,000-7,000 crore if we get a suitable project,"...

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LIC’s equity investment target cut by a third

MUMBAI: Life Insurance Corporation ( LIC), the first port of call for the government to save a slumping equity market, has cut its equity investment target by a third this fiscal as an increasingly hazy economic environment leads to a decline in sale of insurance policies. The insurer, which controls three-fourths of the life insurance industry, will this year investRs 40,000 crore, down from the Rs 60,000 crore it planned at the beginning of the fiscal when economic outlook was rosy. The nation's biggest institutional investor has bought shares...

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Banks can now open branches in Tier 2 cities without RBI nod

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank relaxed branch authorisation policy, allowing banks to open administrative office or service branch in cities with population of over 50,000 but less than 1 lakh without its approval. "Now that general permission to banks has been extended for opening of branches in Tier 2 centres, domestic scheduled commercial banks (other than RRBs) will be allowed to open administrative offices and central processing centres (CPCs) or service branches in Tier 2 centre (with population 50,000 to 99,999 as per Census 2001)," the RBI said...

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SBI expects 18-19% credit growth in FY12

State Bank of India (SBI), the country's top lender, expects demand for loans to rise 18-19% in the current fiscal to March, a senior official said on Tuesday, despite a series of interest rate increases by the central bank. The state-run bank has submitted a few options to the Indian government for raising funds, SBI's Managing Director A Krishna Kumar told reporters on the sidelines of a banking event here. SBI needs to raise Rs 8,000 crore before March to maintain Tier-I capital adequacy ratio of 8% and is seeking government help to raise the...

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Moody's downgrading of banks not to have long term effect

New Delhi: Dismissing concerns over downgrading of Indian banking system by Moody's, the government today said the rating will have no long lasting effect as the sector's financial health is sound. "There is no cause of concern ... the Indian banking sector is in sound financial health and Moody's ratings would not have a long lasting effect on the banking sector in India," Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha. Early this month, US-based Moody's Investor Service had changed its outlook for India's...

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Home loans grow despite rising interest rates, property prices

High residential property prices in some parts of the country and rising interest rates have not dampened the appetite for home loans in the first half of the current financial year (April-September 2011), going by data from the National Housing Bank and the Reserve Bank of India. In the first six months of the current financial year, the collective disbursement of home loans by 54 HFCs (housing finance companies) was 10 per cent higher at Rs 49,458 crore against Rs 44,870 crore in the corresponding year-ago period. Similarly, in the first six...

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Soon, banks to sell specialised health insurance products

You may be able to bring home a comprehensive health plan from a specialised health insurance company from your regular bank branch, if the IRDA's bancassurance draft guidelines are implemented. As a customer your choice of health insurance products are now wider. That may not necessarily come cheap. But it is good news for standalone health insurance companies, such as Max Bupa, Apollo Munich and Star Health, which will benefit from the IRDA's new guidelines (on insurers' tie-up with banks for distribution). Under the existing bancassurance guidelines,...

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IRDA asks LIC to hasten claims settlement

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority has asked Life Insurance Corporation of India to complete all the claim investigations within the stipulated time. In an order released on Tuesday after completion of investigation into a complaint by a policyholder, Mr J. Hari Narayan, Chairman, IRDA had also asked the public sector behemoth to put in place effective systems to settle the claims promptly. In a inspection following the complaint, it was noticed that that LIC had taken more than six months to repudiate the group insurance death...

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Investment in 10-year NSC will fetch 8.7% interest

The Government has raised the interest payable on National Saving Certificates to 8.7 per cent. Accordingly, an investment of Rs 10,000 in 10-Year National Savings Certificate on December 1 this year will fetch Rs 23,435 in the year 2021. The Finance Ministry notified the new instrument on Tuesday, which will be available for investment from December 1. According to the notification, investments in such a certificate will earn interest at an annual rate of 8.7 per cent, compounded semi-annually. The certificates will be available in the denomination...

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Corp Bank scheme for Kerala Govt employees

Corporation Bank has announced special benefits for the permanent employees of the State Government. Mr A.M.M.G. Nair, Zonal Manager, Corporation Bank, regional office, Kochi, said Corp Payroll Account is available for routing the salary of permanent employees through which they can withdraw 50 per cent of the amount as overdraft from the second month. Instant ATM-cum-debit card, Internet banking, SMS banking, free remittance facility, cheque book, multi-city cheques and passbook are also available. Payment of tax, insurance payment and NEFT can...

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Kochhar raises stake in ICICI through ESOPs

ICICI Bank Managing Director and Chief Executive Ms Chanda Kochhar has raised her stake in the bank to 0.03 per cent through employee stock options (ESOPs). Ms Kochhar has bought 11,500 shares of ICICI Bank through ESOPs for Rs 34,51,150, taking the total number of shares held by her to 302,925, according to the data available on the Securities and Exchange Board of India website....

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