Central Bank to cut home loan rates

State-owned Central Bank of India said it will cut interest rates on housing and other loans by up to 0.5 per cent from September 1."We have decided to reduce the rate of interest on the car loans. We have decided (to cut)... housing loan rate by 25 to 50 basis on houses between Rs 30-35 lakh. These will be effective from September 1," Central Bank of India Chairman and Managing Director M V Tanksale told reporters on the sidelines of a PHDCCI function here.The decision to lower rate comes within a week of Finance Minister P Chidambaram asking...

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Union Bank plans to increase branches to 3,500,ATMS to 5,000

State-owned Union Bank of India today said it plans to expand its domestic and international presence by increasing number of branches and ATMs by this fiscal-end."We plan to increase our branches from around 3,200 to 3,500 and the ATMs by 5,000 from the present 4,000-odd, both by March, 2013," Union Bank Chairman and Managing Director D Sarkar told reporters here.Sarkar was here to inaugurate the bank's 161st 'Union Xperience' branch, which involves a better ambience and more automation, and touted as a 'flagship project'.On the latest Xperience...

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RBI gross income jumps 43%, gives Rs 16k crore to government during 2011-12

The Reserve Bank of India transferred a surplus of Rs 16,010 crore to the government during 2011-12, 6.7% more than the previous year's Rs 15,009 crore, the central bank said in its annual report released on Thursday.The Reserve Bank recorded a sharp rise in its income from domestic resources as it was aggressively buying bonds through its open market operations. But lower interest rates in the advanced markets resulted in a dip in income from foreign currency assets for the third consecutive year.The Reserve Bank's earnings from the deployment...

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Public sector banks resume operations after 2-day strike ends

Normal banking operations, including the clearance of millions of piled up cheques, resumed today in public sector banks after the 2-day strike called by unions ended.They were protesting against banking sector reforms and outsourcing of non-core services to private players."Most of the customer-related services like clearing of cheques and demand drafts and lockers were badly impacted. Crores of cheques were held up. Government treasury operations were also affected. Now banks have resumed all the services," All India Bank Employees Association...

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IDBI Bank raises Rs 1,108 cr in Singapore bond market

IDBI Bank said that it has raised 250 million Singapore dollars (about Rs 1,108 crore) through a bond issue on Tuesday.The public sector bank raised the money at an interest rate of 3.65 per cent on bonds with three-year maturity, it said. The issue was oversubscribed 12 times, allowing the bank to price the issue at the tight end of final price guidance (3.65 per cent). Originally, the bond was priced at 4 per cent. This means, at the end of three years when the bond matures, IDBI Bank will have to pay 3.65 per cent interest on its borrowings...

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SEBI bars companies from buying shares through staff trusts

Capital Market regulator SEBI has barred Employee Welfare Schemes and trusts of listed entities from purchasing their own shares from the secondary market, fearing stock manipulation. Besides, SEBI will also ask listed companies to disclose all their existing employee benefit schemes involving stock purchase and align them in accordance with its ESOS and ESPS Guidelines within a given timeframe. SEBI’s ESOS (Employee Stock Option Scheme) and ESPS (Employee Stock Purchase Scheme) Guidelines allow listed companies to reward their employees through...

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Rs 4,000-cr capital infusion on cards: SBI chief

State Bank of India expects Rs 4,000 crore capital infusion from the Union Government this fiscal. The bank will be discussing the matter with the Government this week, said Pratip Chaudhuri, Chairman, SBI. The bank had earlier this year received close to Rs 8,000 crore from the Government. “They (the Government) have called us for a meeting which should happen this week, and possibly another Rs 4,000 crore looks to be on the horizon,” he said. As on June 30, 2012, the bank’s capital adequacy ratio stood at 13.17 per cent.Non-performing assetsAccording...

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Banking services come to a halt as two-day strike begins

Banking services across the country were hit as about 10 lakh employees from public sector, old-generation private sector and regional rural banks stayed away from work on Day 1 of the two-day strike called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU).The strike, which was called by the umbrella body of nine trade unions to oppose, among others, the Government’s proposal to increase shareholder voting rights, unfriendly human resource policies, received an “overwhelming response,” according to Vishwas Utagi, Secretary, All-India Bank Employees...

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Canara Bank awarded for tech use

Canara Bank has bagged the IDRBT Best Bank Award for its use of technology for financial inclusion.S. Raman, CMD of the bank, received the award in the large banks category from RBI Governor D. Subbarao at an event organised in Hyderabad by the Institute for Development & Research in Banking Technology, a bank release said.The bank opened 167 new branches that generated over 5.50 lakh accounts and a business of Rs 611 crore during the year, it said.As many as 2.81 lakh smart cards were issued.A pilot project for Aadhar enrolments was taken...

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Pakistanis can buy shares, debentures of Indian cos: RBI

The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday said a citizen of Pakistan or an entity incorporated in that country may, with the prior approval of the Government of India’s Foreign Investment Promotion Board, purchase shares and convertible debentures of an Indian company under the Foreign Direct Investment Scheme.  FDI is, however, not permitted in sectors/activities pertaining to defence, space and atomic energy and sectors/activities prohibited for foreign investment....

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IDBI Bank rolls out floating rate term deposit

IDBI Bank has launched a floating interest rate retail term deposit (FRTD).The rate of interest on the FRTD will move in tandem with a reference rate, which is the average yield at the 364-Days Treasury Bills auctions undertaken by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) during the preceding three months.“The interest rate in case of FRTD is anchored to a transparent, market-based rupee benchmark rate,” said the bank. The interest rate on FRTD would be reset every calendar quarter.The minimum amount of deposit under FRTD will be Rs 10,000 and thereafter...

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Canara Bank Onam Trade Fair

Health Minister V.S. Sivakumar inaugurated the annual Onam Trade Fair being organised by Canara Bank here on Wednesday.The event not only offers a sail window for various products manufactured by women entrepreneurs and self-help groups but also dispenses credit to finance their activities.The trade fair will go on until Monday next, a spokesman for the bank said. In his inaugural address, Sivakumar lauded the corporate social responsibility activities being undertaken by Canara Bank and offered all possible support for them.G. Sreeram, General...

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State Bank of India, Bank of India allowed to operate in Pakistan

India and Pakistan have agreed to allow two banks each from both the countries to set up branches across the border, Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, Yaseen Anwar said today. “We have held discussions with the Reserve Bank of India and both sides have agreed to issue a full banking licence to two banks of each country,” Anwar told PTI on the sidelines of a conference organised by Institute of South Asian Studies. The two Indian banks that will be allowed to operate in Pakistan are State Bank of India (SBI) and Bank of India (BoI). On...

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Over Rs 750 cr lying in inactive post office saving accounts: Govt

The government today said around Rs 752 crore is lying as unclaimed deposits in more than 2.49 crore inactive savings accounts in post offices.“Rs 752,44,57,414.03 is the amount lying in all inactive (silent) accounts as on March 31, 2011 in 2,49,59,446 accounts,” Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.West Bengal led the tally of unclaimed deposits with over Rs 107 crore lying in 20.16 lakh accounts, followed by Tamil Nadu (Rs 105.87 crore in 62.72 lakh accounts) and Uttar Pradesh (Rs 68.61 crore in 21.74 lakh accounts).“The...

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Strike to hit bank services today, tomorrow

Banking services across the country are likely to get affected for two days starting Wednesday following the strike call by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) . The strike comes on the back of an extended weekend — Parsi New Year (Saturday) and Id ul-Fitr (Monday). UFBU, an umbrella organisation of nine trade unions in the banking sector, represents nearly 10 lakh employees of public sector banks, private sector banks, foreign banks, regional rural banks and co-operative banks. “We expect about 75,000 bank branches to remain closed....

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United Bank ties up with recovery agent ASREC to lower NPAs

According to Bhaskar Sen, Chairman and Managing Director, United Bank of India, as on June 30, 2012, had gross NPAs (non-performing assets) of close to Rs 2,200 crore. By engaging ASREC as recovery agent, the bank is hopeful of bringing down its gross NPAs by around 10 per cent. “We have been taking adequate measures to curtail our NPAs by organising recovery camps and through Lok Adalat. The tie-up with ASREC will supplement our in-house recovery mechanism. We have already assigned them a good number of NPA accounts,” Bhaskar Sen said....

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My Mobile Payments plans to tie up with IRCTC, airlines

Now you can book movie, bus, rail and air tickets using your mobile wallet (M-wallet). My Mobile Payments Ltd (MMPL), which retails M-wallet services, plans to tie up with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC), various airlines as well as multiplex operators to offer booking services to its customers. M-wallet service, provided under the ‘Money-on-Mobile’ brand, is like a prepaid debit card on mobile. It allows customers to load their mobile phones with cash at retail touch points and use this virtual money to top-up...

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Canara Bank launching life cover scheme for savings bank account-holders

Starting August 21, Canara Bank’s savings bank accountholders can get a new life insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh at low and affordable yearly premium.The bank’s Executive Director, A. K. Gupta, said the bank was launching Canara Freedom Suraksha on Tuesday as a value-added service for new and prospective SB customers.The life cover, aimed at the low- and middle-income groups, comes with little documentation and no medical test but on a self-declaration of good health. It applies in natural and accidental deaths.As many as 10,000 accounts are expected...

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RBI move on group exposure will affect banks: Moody’s

SBI and ICICI Bank are among those that would be affected if RBI implements its proposed guidelines on banks’ exposure to their group entities, global credit rating agency Moody’s said today.Last week, the RBI released draft guidelines to limit banks’ exposure to their own group non-financial and financial entities.As per Moody’s, the proposed rules would hurt companies that depend on parent banks for capital and brand support, particularly those with large international operations, or those that operate insurance, securities or asset management...

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Number of ATMs to double; will also accept deposits

The government today said banks have been asked to upgrade their ATMs to double-up as cash collecting machines as well to mobilise Rs 11 lakh crore lying as cash with people.Also, the public sector banks have been asked to double the number of ATMs from about 63,000 in the next two years, Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters after reviewing working of state-owned banks and financial institutions."People must take to banking ... Something like Rs 11 lakh crore lies as cash in hands of people. That Rs 11 lakh crore money should not lie...

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‘US probing dealings of Deutsche Bank to sanctioned nations’

After Standard Chartered Bank, government agencies in the US are investigating the dealings of Deutsche Bank and many other global banks over accusations of funnelling billions of dollars through their branches here for sanctioned nations like Iran and Sudan, a media report said.The investigation into Deutsche Bank is the latest in a series of cases against global financial firms since 2009, a report in the New York Times said. StanChart to pay $340-m penalty Earlier this week, global banking giant Standard Chartered agreed to pay $340...

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Canara Bank to launch life insurance cover scheme

Canara Bank is launching “Canara Freedom Suraksha”, a life insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh for all its savings bank customers as a value-added service at a very nominal premium.Bank Executive Director A K Gupta said the facility is being launched on Tuesday in association with its joint venture company Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company.The cover is extended without any medical test and merely on a declaration of good health by customers and covers both natural and accidental death, he said.The annual premium rates (inclusive...

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RBI to decide on rate cut in Sept

RBI is taking steps for capital flow into the country and will decide interest rate cut in its Sepetmber policy.“You cannot say when the rate cut will come. Wait for our September policy,” RBI Deputy Governor H R Khan said at the sidelines of a function organised by Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) here.Stating that RBI was taking steps for flow of capital with focus on creation of non-debt capital, Khan said “We are trying to improve capital flow through FDI and NRI deposits.”On the market slide, he said RBI was making efforts...

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United Bank may recover Rs 400-500 cr NPAs cr this fiscal

United Bank of India on Saturday said it expects to recover Rs 400-500 crore in cash this fiscal as it gears up to hasten its recovery process.“We expect to recover Rs 400-500 crore in cash in this fiscal,” bank’s Executive Director Deepak Narang told reporters here today.United Bank non-performing assets, NPA, increased to 3.47 per cent from 3.42 per cent in March 2012, with major default occurring in aviation and steel sectors, the bank said in a statement.At present, bank’s gross NPA stands at Rs 2,120 crore while net NPA is at Rs 1,096...

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