Sebi slaps Rs 60-Lakh fine on senior Jaiprakash Associates executives for 'insider trading'

MUMBAI: Capital market regulator Sebi has pulled up Jaiprakash Associates chairman Manoj Gaur, his wife Urvashi Gaur, brother Sameer Gaur, S D Nailwal, wholetime director of the company, and Harish K Vaid, senior president corporate affairs and company secretary, for alleged insider trading in the company's shares. A total of Rs 60 lakh fine has been imposed on them. The regulator has alleged that these individuals had taken advantage of their position by trading shares of Jaiprakash Associates while they were in possession of unpublished price...

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Bank of India says Kingfisher loan 'sub-standard'

The troubles of cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines worsened today with another lender classifying its loan to the Vijay Mallya-promoted company as "sub-standard", a day after State Bank of India termed the airline as defaulter. City-based, state-run lender Bank of India (BoI) has classified its Rs 575.27 crore loan to the Kingfisher as sub-standard, as the airline has defaulted on repayment. When contacted, BoI Deputy General Manager (Large Corporates) Bupinder Nayyar, who handles the Kingfisher account, refused to comment. However, a bank official,...

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SREI to raise Rs 300 cr via tax-saving bonds in first tranche

SREI Infrastructure Finance has come out with a maiden issue of tax -saving bonds and would be looking to raise up to Rs 300 crore in the first tranche. The company would be looking to raise a total of Rs 500 crore by the end of this financial year. Although the issue opened on December 31, marketing of the issue started only today. “We had to open the issue in December-end due to technical reasons. The response should pick up now as people are back after new year,” a spokesperson of the company said.The yields are linked to the closing ones of...

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Uco Bank plans to open 11 more branches in AP

The Uco Bank is planning to open 11 more branches in Andhra Pradesh, in addition to the existing 66, and two of the new branches will be in Visakhapatnam region, according to Mr Khaleel Bhasha, the Assistant General Manager. He was talking to reporters here on Friday after the inauguration of personal banking branch at Dwarakanagar, on the occasion of the bank's foundation day. He said the bank had made great strides in recent times, with 2,004 branches in the country and four abroad. The deposits as on December 31, 2011, stood at Rs 1,32,636 crore...

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LIC Housing Finance banks on parent for revival

MUMBAI: LIC Housing Finance, the mortgage lender battered by corruption over a year ago, is leaning on its parent's ubiquitous 15 lakh agents and chasing middle-class customers sacrificing profitability, as it attempts to revive growth and erase the blot. The second-biggest mortgage lender has slammed the doors on brokers, formed a risk-management team for the first time since beginning in 1989, and invested in technology to avoid a recurrence of events that shaved off more than a third of its market value within days of the arrest of its executives...

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RBI tells banks to ensure NEFT confirmation

Taking note of non-adherence by some banks to rules on sending confirmation of payments made through the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) system, the RBI has directed lenders to put in place a system for issue of such receipts. In a circular, the Reserve Bank has also asked banks to submit a copy of their plan for putting in place, within 15 days, a system to generate confirmation of NEFT payments. “... All banks should put in place systems to ensure positive confirmation is sent to the originator (sender)... While it is expected that...

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SIDBI inks MoU with Indian Overseas Bank

Small Industries and Development Bank of India (SIDBI) today inked an MoU with Indian Overseas Bank to provide Rs 100-crore growth capital to micro, small and medium enterprises. The MoU was inked between SIDBI Chairman and Managing Director, Mr S. Muhnot, and Indian Overseas Bank CMD, Mr M. Narendra, at a function here. Mr Muhnot told presspersons that as per the understanding, SIDBI would provide a line of credit of Rs 100 crore to the city based bank for a period of seven years. “...it will be given from the risk capital fund managed by SIDBI...

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IIFCL inks MoU with IDBI Bank for infrastructure debt funds

India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd has joined hands with IDBI Bank to launch infrastructure debt fund (IDF) schemes. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed on Thursday by Mr S. K. Goel, Chairman and Managing Director of IIFCL, and Mr R. M. Malla, Chairman and Managing Director of IDBI Bank, in the presence of Union Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee. The MoU is seen as the first step towards the rollout of an IDF, which IIFCL expects will be up and running by February end. Under the MOU, which will be valid for five...

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RBI official for implementation of Basel III norms

The RBI Deputy Governor, Mr Anand Sinha, has called for implementation of the Basel III norms by banks to achieve growth and sustainability. Delivering the key note address at a seminar on ‘Basel III-Implementation Challenges in Banks' organised by Bank of Maharashtra, he observed that putting regulations in place was only one part, but their implementation was equally important. The RBI recently issued draft guidelines for implementation of Basel III norms. They seek to improve banks' ability to withstand periods of economic and financial stress...

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SBI to fill up 3,100 clerical vacancies

State Bank of India is recruiting clerks to fill up about 3,100 vacancies across the country. The bank has called for applications as part of a special recruitment drive for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Class category. It is also having a regular recruitment exercise for posting at the north eastern circle of the bank. Clerks will be paid starting emoluments of Rs 14,177 per month in a metro like Mumbai. The minimum age requirement is 18 years while the maximum is 28 years. The upward ceiling is however relaxed by a few...

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IRDA issues uniform ALM norms for insurers

Insurance regulator IRDA has issued uniform asset-liability management norms for insurers to manage their solvency, and asked insurance companies to undertake stress tests to ascertain their ability to meet financial obligations in the event of a crisis. On examination of the extant norms being followed by insurance companies, IRDA found they were “incomplete and inconsistent. As the mandate by the authority was very broad, each insurer had adopted their own measures in reporting such details”. “The Asset-Liability Management (ALM) is relevant...

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UCO Bank to auction up to Rs 400 cr of NPAs

UCO Bank will hold open auction next week for sale of Rs 300 crore to Rs 400 crore non-performing assets (NPA). "We will auction for sale of Rs 300 crore to Rs 400 crore of NPAs next week," Chairman and Managing Director of UCO Bank Arun Kaul said. "We had one round, we did not get a good response and we did not sell anything," Kaul told reporters on the occasion of the bank's 69th year celebrations. Kaul said he was confident the sale would come through by March. About capital infusion, he said we had sought funds from the government. "We are...

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Govt guarantee for Nabard refinance loans to co-ops

The State Government will stand guarantee to refinance loans from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) to the counterpart apex bank at the State-level. This would translate into incremental Nabard refinance loans to the Kerala State Co-operative Agricultural and Rural Development Bank (KSCARDB), according to the Chief Minister, Mr Oommen Chandy. DEPOSIT TAKING The Chief Minister said this at a function here on Wednesday held on the occasion of the State-level apex agricultural and rural development bank being authorised...

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HDFC Bank, ING Vysya objects Wockhardt paying SBI at par with other FCCB holders

HDFC Bank and ING Vysya, domestic lenders to Wockhardt, have objected to the pharma company offering SBI the same treatment as agreed with other FCCB holders who are being paid following the court order. Wockhardt has agreed to pay SBI Rs 242 crore in instalments. However, in 2009 SBI had settled for preference shares against $40 million FCCB it held. In a recent meeting of the corporate debt restructuring ( CDR) forum, HDFC Bank and ING Vysya made an observation that SBI should not be paid at par with other FCCB holders since they had already...

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General insurers' rejected more claims in 2010-11

The number of claims rejected by the general insurance industry has been increasing in 2010-11, according to the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority's (IRDA) annual report. “The rise is due to the fact that the sector is expanding rapidly and business volumes are increasing. The number of policies issued by non-life insurance companies is increasing year on year. It stood at 7.93 crore in the year 2010-11 (4.67 crore in the year 2006-07, at the time of de-tariffing). Accordingly, the number of claim intimations is also higher and, therefore,...

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StanChart sees 25-30% growth in pvt banking in 2012

Standard Chartered India is eyeing 25-30 per cent growth in its private banking business in 2012. This is part of the bank's strategy to focus on high-value customer segments, said Mr Sanjeeb Chaudhuri, Regional Head of South Asia and Chief Marketing Officer, Consumer Banking. The foreign bank's private banking segment, launched in 2007, manages assets of over $2 billion. The bank is looking at leveraging its corporate and SME (small and medium enterprise) clients to increase the private banking customer base. “It is not just revenues from the...

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IDFC's Rs 4,400 cr infra bond issue soon

New Delhi: Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) today said it will raise Rs 4,400 crore through the issuance of a second tranche of tax-saving long term infrastructure bonds on January 11. The second tranche of the bond issue would be open for subscription till February 25, IDFC said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. In December, IDFC had mopped up Rs 538.08 crore from the a first tranche of tax-saving long-term infrastructure bonds. The company plans to raise Rs 5,000 crore from infra bond issues this fiscal. The five-year...

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RBI nixes banks' subsidiary plans

Bank of India, South Indian Bank, Lakshmi Vilas Bank’s proposals rejected, to add to the earlier ones of ICICI Bank and Axis Bank. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has rejected several banks’ proposals to launch wholly-owned subsidiaries, as the regulator did not find any merit in floating such arms. Public sector lender Bank of India, which wanted to float a subsidiary to train human resources and recruit professionals, did not find favour with the regulator. State-run banks have to follow a uniform remuneration package, which is unattractive compared...

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Interest rates on post office savings scheme to remain fixed till maturity

The Government today said that the interest rates on post office savings scheme, except the PPF, will remain fixed throughout the term of the scheme. It clarified that the interest rate for such small savings will be declared on April 1 every year and will remain valid till the maturity of the scheme. However, in the case of Public Provident Fund (PPF), which is a 15-year scheme, interest rates would not remain fixed for the entire period. The annual interest accruals in the PPF account will depend upon the rate for that particular year, the Finance...

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SIB M-Pay launched

Mr B. Sambamurthy, Director, IDRBT, the technical arm of the Reserve Bank of India, has launched South Indian Bank's mobile banking service — SIB M-Pay — on CBS platform, which enables fund transfer round-the-clock throughout the year. The scheme facilitates the convenience of fund transfer to other banks even on holidays. The customer receives the money instantly to the account from anyone without sharing the account number. All transactions are followed by an instant SMS confirmation . All the facilities offered are without any additional charge. Mr...

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HDFC Life launches online term insurance plan

Private insurer HDFC Life has augmented its online channel with the launch of ‘HDFC Life Click2Protect’ — an online term insurance plan. The plan is aimed at those who seek insurance cover at nominal premiums against their liabilities, HDFC Life said in a release issued here. “HDFC Life Click2Protect is available in more than 750 cities across the country, the highest reach of an online term insurance plan in the industry. The objective of launching HDFC Life Click2Protect is to cater to the needs of informed customers based not only in metros,...

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Solar ATMs fuel rural revolution in India

NEW DELHI: An Indian start-up is catalysing a quiet revolution by designing, developing and installing unique solar-powered ATMs in rural areas. The initial lot of 400 solar ATMs, aptly called Gramateller ('gram' means village), the world's largest order, placed by the State Bank of India ( SBI), has been winning accolades for performance and substantial energy savings. The ATMs were installed in 2010-11 across several states, usually within 20-50 km of the district headquarters, Vijay Babu, CEO of Vortex Engineering, which makes these units, told...

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SBI drops plan for merchant acquiring business JV with Visa, Elavon

NEW DELHI: India's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) today said it has cancelled a proposed merchant acquiring business joint venture with US-based Elavon Incorporation and Visa International. The bank has cancelled the negotiations for establishing a joint venture entity with Visa Inc and Elavon Inc for conducting the merchant acquiring business, SBI informed the BSE. The merchant acquiring business involves facilitation of payments through debit or credit cards at retail outlets. The RBI had already approved the setting up of a wholly...

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Axis Bank ranks number one in bond syndication market for 2011

Axis Bank maintained number one position in domestic bond syndication market for the fourth consecutive year, according to data released by Bloomberg. The private bank ranked first in year 2011 cornering 16% of market share in a year where corporates raised Rs 174700 crore through issuance of bonds. Power Finance, HDFC, Rural Electrification, IDFC and LIC Housing Finance were top debt issuer contributing to 42.4% of total borrowings in the bond market. Axis Bank arranged Rs 29700 crore while ICICI Bank, the number two arranger, had 13% market share...

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Govt sets eyes set on Post Office banks

New Delhi: The government's plan to tap into India's vast postal system to reach out to the unbanked population by utilising offices across the country as banks is expected to take some shape this year as the proposal has been sent to the Finance Ministry for its nod. The idea that 1.55 lakh Post Offices could double up as banks is aimed at aiding the government's goal of financial inclusion, especially in rural areas. Once implemented, coverage of the country's banking network will increase three-fold in one stroke. Around 90 per cent of the Post...

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