LIC Housing Finance plans to borrow Rs 25,000 crore in FY13

LIC Housing Finance, a subsidiary of state-run insurance giant LIC, is planning to borrow around Rs 25,000 crore in the current financial year, which is about 13.5 per cent higher than FY12, a top official said today. "We have plans to borrow around Rs 25,000 crore in the current fiscal to support our business growth against Rs 22,000 crore we had raised last fiscal," LIC Housing Chief Executive V K Sharma said on the sidelines of an event organised by Indian Merchants Chamber here. Sharma said most of these funds would be raised through bonds. The...

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Liquidity challenge likely to re-emerge in 2012-13, says Standard Chartered

Projecting a challenging year for the Indian banking sector, global financial services major Standard Chartered today said the liquidity challenge is likely to re-emerge in 2012-13, forcing RBI to take action. "Our projections for FY13 indicate that the liquidity challenge is likely to re-emerge, necessitating RBI action," a research report from Standard Chartered said. After 125 basis points (bps) of cash reserve ratio (CRR) reductions in the second half of 2011-12, it said "we expect the RBI to rely more heavily on OMOs (open market operations)...

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Banks told to allow customers to use NEFT facility

The Reserve Bank of India has advised all banks to allow their customers to use the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) facility for repaying loans. This directive comes as the RBI has received some complaints from customers regarding non-acceptance of NEFT for credit to loan accounts, thereby causing inconvenience to them. On examination of the customers’ complaints, it was observed that only a few banks were following the restrictive practice of not allowing the use of NEFT for credit to loan accounts. These banks, however, were willingly...

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Punjab National Bank plans 24 hours banking services centres

State-run Punjab National Bank will roll out new service centres where customers can access select banking services like updating of passbook 24X7. The bank would set up 'E-Lobby' which will have one ATM, cash deposit kiosk, pass book printing terminal, cheque deposit machine and two Internet banking terminals, PNB Circle Head Kalpana Gupta told reporters here. "The main idea behind having E-Lobby is to provide 24 hours banking services to customers who do not have enough time to visit bank branches during office hours. Now they can visit these...

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IRDA gets tough on reporting of expenses

The regulator has asked insurers to strictly adhere to norms related to reporting of expenses management to ensure uniformity. In a circular sent to all insurance companies, Mr R.K. Nair, Member (Finance & Investments), said a detailed review of statements filed by insurers had shown divergent practices in the interpretation of terms mentioned in the regulation. These divergences are mainly observed in the interpretation of the terms "charges" and "expenses capitalised", he said. Clarifying the intended meaning of the terms, IRDA said charges...

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IDFC allots infra bonds worth Rs 179 cr

Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) today said that it has alloted 3.58 lakh infrastructure bonds worth Rs 179.16 crore with a face value and issue price of Rs 5,000 each. "The committee of allotment of infrastructure bonds, duly authorised by board of directors, has alloted 3,58,331 bonds, having face value and issue price of Rs 5,000, aggregating Rs 1,79,16,55,000," the company statement said. The board of directors approved the allotment of bonds in a meeting, it added. According to the statement, the company has alloted the bonds...

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HDFC's Keki Mistry says repo rate cut likely soon

The largest mortgage player HDFC today said there is a possibility of the Reserve Bank reducing the repo rate, or the rate at which banks borrow from the central bank, in the immediate future, but a cut in CRR in unlikely. "The amount of funds being raised by banks through the liquid adjustment facility has come down and is now hovering around Rs 70,000-90,000 crore, which is not significantly higher than the Reserve Bank's comfort level of Rs 60,000 crore," HDFC chief executive Keki Mistry told reporters here today. "So, any injection of liquidity...

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IRDA fines Birla Sun Life

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority has imposed a penalty of Rs 6 lakh on Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Ltd. The fine was imposed for involvement of unlicensed entities in solicitation of insurance business and violation of norms pertaining to the settlement of claims in the group policies. The regulator has also directed the company to stop payment of commission to agents in all such cases where premium is funded by the company as part of premium waiver benefit....

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IDBI Bank to raise $1 b this fiscal from overseas markets

IDBI Bank plans to mobilise up to $1 billion in 2012-13 from overseas markets via syndicated loans and by issuing bonds. Last year, it had raised about $720 million. The resources so raised will be given as loans to Indian companies with overseas expansion plans. Companies whose foreign currency convertible bonds are coming up for redemption could also tap the bank for funds, said Mr Melwyn Rego, Executive Director, IDBI Bank. In January 2013, the bank will update the shelf document filed with the Singapore Stock Exchange for the medium term note...

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PNB targets Rs 13,000-cr business turnover in Kerala

The public sector Punjab National Bank is targeting a business turnover of Rs 13,000 crore in Kerala during the financial year of 2012-13. Mr K.V. Rajesh, deputy general manager and circle head, told Business Line that during last financial year the bank had garnered a business volume of Rs 10,000 crore in the State. Of this, advances were of the order of Rs 6,000 crore and deposits at Rs 4,000 crore. The bank is also in the process of expanding its branch network in the state by opening 11 more branches in the current fiscal. At present, it has...

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RBI directs banks to pay 8% compensation on delayed interest payment on Relief Bonds

Banks are expected to be more prompt in crediting interest amount of Relief or Saving Bond investors to avoid a heavy compensation they will have to pay for delayed payment. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed banks to compensate investors of Relief or Savings Bonds at 8% per annum for financial loss incurred to them due to delay in payment of interest amount. Earlier RBI had asked banks to compensate for the delay in payment at their own savings bank rate, irrespective of the amount. However, the move to fix a uniform rate of 8% for all...

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SBI officials, others to be charged for cheating bank of Rs 30 cr

A Delhi court has passed an order for framing of charges against a senior official of the State Bank of India (SBI) and 10 others for allegedly using forged documents to cheat the bank's Industrial Finance Branch to the tune of Rs 30.5 crores in the matter of credit facilities. Terming the loss caused to the bank as "mammoth", Special CBI Judge Manoj Jain said that charges of cheating, forgery, using forged documents, criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and abuse of official position under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA)...

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LIC can adhere to 10% stake norm at ‘its own pace'

The Life Insurance Corporation of India need not rush to bring down its current stake in various companies to below 10 per cent. “I advise LIC to bring down the stake to below 10 per cent in a company. But, I don't want to put any timeframe for this. It can do so at its own pace,” Mr J Hari Narayan, Chairman, IRDA, told Business Line here on Wednesday. As per the current norms of the regulator, no insurance company is allowed to have more than 10 per cent stake in a company. The regulator did not want to pressure LIC to adhere to existing norms...

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IOB eyes 16—18% credit growth in FY13

Public sector lender, India Overseas Bank, on Wednesday said it is aiming a credit growth rate of 16—18 per cent and a deposit growth rate of 18—20 per cent in the current financial year. “Currently, we aim 18—20 per cent deposit growth and 16—18 per cent credit growth in FY13,” IOB Chairman and Managing Director, Mr M Narendra, said. He added deposit growth for the bank stood at 18—19 per cent for the last fiscal against 13—14 per cent witnessed by the banking system. “Luckily, for us, even though CASA (current account, savings account) has not...

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Life insurance sector declines marginally in 2011-12: IRDA

The life insurance industry has declined only marginally in 2011-12 compared to the year-ago period, according to IRDA. “The overall business during last financial year may decline only by about one per cent,” Mr J. Hari Narayan, Chairman, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, told Business Line here on Wednesday. The first-year premium, however, has declined by about 14 per cent, he added. “About 75 per cent of the income of companies comes from renewal premiums and group sales. So, some decline in new business cannot impact the overall...

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Karur Vysya in tie-up with M&M to provide vehicle finance

Private sector lender, Karur Vysya Bank(KVB) has signed a preferred financier agreement with automotive major Mahindra and Mahindra for providing auto finance to its customers. "Under the agreement, M&M customers will be able to avail of vehicle finance from any of the 450-plus branches of KVB," a bank release said today. Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Karur Vysya, K Venkataraman, said, "KVB is expanding its operations in commercial and passenger vehicle financing. Customers of KVB will be benefited out of this tie-up since...

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NABARD extends Rs 14,970 crore under RIDF in FY 2011-12

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) extended a record support of Rs 14,970 crore under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund in 2011-12, a growth of 24 per cent over the year-ago period. NABARD had disbursed Rs 12,070 crore under the RIDF scheme in 2010-11, a NABARD release said today. The aggregate assets held by NABARD rose to Rs 1,82,300 crore, an increase of Rs 23,500 crore over the previous year, it said. Refinance assistance provided by NABARD to cooperative banks and regional rural banks (RRBs) during 2011-12...

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Two cheat over 100 in ATM fraud

Two persons have been arrested from allegedly withdrew money through ATM from the accounts of other people. Kaushal Kumar (30) and Vikas Kumar (25) were arrested from State Bank of Patiala ATM in Safdarjung Enclave, South Delhi. Police said there were several complaints regarding fraudulent withdrawal of money from the ATM. On Friday, the two were arrested by a team of policemen who saw the two loitering near the ATM. Police said the two confessed to their crime during the questioning. They said they had duped more than 100 people of their hard...

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Dhanlaxmi Bank to grow gold loan business

Banks are likely to gain from the restrictions imposed on gold loan companies by the Reserve Bank of India. In fact, old generation private sector bank, Dhanlaxmi Bank is looking to increase its gold loan portfolio from 8 per cent of total loans to 20-25 per cent in the current financial year, said Mr P. G. Jayakumar, Chief Executive Officer. The bank's gold loan portfolio is expected to increase from Rs 750 crore as at March-end 2012 to Rs 2,500 crore by March-end 2013. Speaking to newspersons in Mumbai on Monday, Mr Jayakumar said gold lending...

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Oriental Bank of Commerce cuts base rate by 10 bps

Taking the lead, Oriental Bank of Commerce has cut its base rate by 10 basis points to 10.65 per cent with effect from Wednesday. This move is expected to translate into lower interest rate for borrowers, and comes a week ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's annual credit policy announcement on April 17. The base rate is the minimum rate at which banks can lend to its borrowers. “We have taken a bold decision ahead of the RBI policy. There are some events in the last few months that have enabled us to take this decision and pass on the cost benefit...

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RBI allows RRBs, cooperative banks to transfer funds online

To popularise electronic transfer of funds, the Reserve Bank today allowed regional rural banks (RRBs) and cooperative banks to participate in the centralised payment systems. With this, all the banks can now transfer funds electronically through real time gross settlement system (RTGS) and national electronic funds transfer (NEFT). At present, the centralised payment systems -- RTGS and NEFT can be accessed only by members that included public and private sector banks. As an exception, RRBs have been given access to the NEFT system through their...

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Bank of India to rename Indonesian arm

Public sector lender Bank of India today said that it will rename its Indonesian arm, Bank of Swadesi, as Bank of India Indonesia. Bank of India holds 76 per cent stake in the Indonesian bank. The state-run lender said that it has obtained necessary approvals for the same. “Indonesia and India have close cultural and economic ties and with the core competency that Bank of India brings with it in the areas of agricultural and industrial finance capabilities, we are sure that Bank of India Indonesia will contribute in much larger measure to the growth...

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Jane Ong appointed Citi’s Corporate Affairs Head

Citi India has appointed Ms Jane Ong as the Corporate Affairs Head for Citi South Asia. Ms Ong will be responsible for media relations, managing external and internal communications as well as Citi’s citizenship portfolio. She will report to Citi India Chief Executive Officer, Mr Pramit Jhaveri, the bank said in a release. Prior to joining Citi, Ms Ong was with Royal Bank of Scotland. She was also associated with CNBC Asia at Hong Kong and BBC World TV....

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HDFC ERGO launches health claim services

Private sector company HDFC ERGO General Insurance has launched Health Claim Services, its in-house health claim servicing department, that will be a single window for customers for all healthcare related services. “With this internal mechanism, we are planning to establish better control on the overall claim settlement process and improve the turnaround time with seamless, hassle-free and transparent services in health claim settlement,” HDFC ERGO General Insurance Head-Strategic Planning Group, Mr Mukesh Kumar, said in a release issued here. The...

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New General Manager for Bank of Baroda

Mr M.L. Jain took over charge as the General Manager of the eastern zone of Bank of Baroda on Monday. He was previously the Regional Manager (Jaipur region) of the bank's Rajasthan zone. The eastern zone of Bank of Baroda include West Bengal, the seven North-Eastern states of Tripura, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Andaman & Nicobar Islands....

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Tech-orientation required for bankers: Shubhalakshmi Panse

Ms Shubhalakshmi Panse has been the Executive Director of Vijaya Bank for over two years now. She has handled a range of assignments including field postings as she moved up the hierarchy. She was earlier General Manager with Bank of Maharashtra where she began her career in 1976. She counts her stint as head of IT as one of her most interesting assignments. This gave her an understanding of the changes that were happening in banking and helped her mature as a leader. She says, “Unless your thinking is tech-oriented you can't be a good banker....

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Dhanlaxmi Bank hopes to return to profit zone post revamp exercise

Dhanlaxmi Bank expects to be back in the black next year by resorting to cost-cutting, rebalancing loan book, and consolidating operations. As part of the cost-cutting exercise, the old-generation private sector bank has initiated steps to cut excess flab, reduce salaries and give up extra space in major metros and cities to save on lease rentals. The bank had reported a net loss of Rs 36.87 crore in the October-December 2011 period, against a net profit of Rs 7.26 crore in the corresponding year-ago period. Former CEO Mr Amitabh Chaturvedi had...

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