LIC open to picking up Govt stake in Axis Bank, L&T, ITC'

LIC today said it has not been approached by the Government to pick up the latter’s stakes in Axis Bank, L&T and ITC, which are currently held by the Special Undertaking of Unit Trust of India (SUUTI), but added if it is so asked, it will definitely look at it.“As far as LIC is concerned, we have not been approached (to buy the Government’s stakes in Axis Bank, L&T and ITC). In case they approach us, we will definitely have a look at it,” Corporation Chairman Dinesh Kumar Mehrotra told presspersons on the sidelines of a capital markets...

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SBI to acquire 50,000 PoS machines

State Bank of India group plans to acquire 50,000 Point-of-Sale (PoS) machines for deployment over the next 18 months.These are being done as part of its plans to upgrade its technological infrastructure and improve the speed of customer handling at its branches as well as merchant locations.SBI has over 14,100 branches while its five associate banks have over 4,500 branches. The group has about 28,000 ATMs. Green Channel At present, the bank and its associates have a Single Window Operator counter called Green Channel at their branches. Under...

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RBI to issue Rs 50 notes with rupee symbol

The Reserve Bank will soon issue Rs 50 denomination banknotes incorporating rupee symbol with improved security features.“The RBI will shortly issue Rs 50 denomination banknotes incorporating rupee symbol, with inset letter ‘R’, in the Mahatma Gandhi Series—2005 with improved security features, bearing the signature of D Subbarao, Governor RBI,” the bank said in a statement.The year of printing, 2012, will be on the reverse of the banknote, it said.The design of these notes to be issued now is similar in all respects to the Rs 50 banknotes...

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Federal Bank blood donation camp in Kochi

Federal Bank organised a blood donation camp at Federal Towers here as part of CSR initiative. The camp was inaugurated by Ranjini Jose, renowned playback singer.The donors were the officers and staff members of the bank from Ernakulam Zone and also the different offices at Federal Towers.This initiative is a countrywide campaign linked to the celebration of the 67th Founders Day of the bank.On a pan-India basis, the bank hopes to arrange for 1,000 units of blood during the two month campaign, a release said....

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HDFC Bank Q2 net jumps 30% to Rs 1,560 cr

HDFC Bank has reported a 30 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 1,560 crore in the second quarter ended September 30, 2012 against Rs 1,199 crore in the year-ago period.Net interest income (interest earned less interest expended) of India’s second largest private sector bank grew 26.7 per cent to Rs 3,732 crore.NII was driven by a loan growth of 23 per cent and a net interest margin of 4.2 per cent....

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Syndicate Bank announces festival offer for loans

Syndicate Bank has announced festival offer for home loans and vehicle loans.The bank is offering home loans at 10.5 per cent (equated monthly instalment is Rs 944 per lakh) up to Rs 25 lakh for 25 years and at 10.75 per cent for above Rs 25 lakh up to Rs 75 lakh. For loans over Rs 75 lakh, the interest charged is 10.9 per cent.Similarly on four-wheeler loans, the interest rate is at 10.75 per cent (equated monthly instalment is Rs 1,699 per lakh) for 84 months with bank finance up to 95 per cent of the cost of vehicle on road.The bank has...

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In Q2, Vijaya Bank retires Rs 7,200 cr bulk deposits

Vijaya Bank has retired around Rs 7,200 crore of bulk deposits and certificate of deposits at the end of second quarter of this fiscal.“The bank is making conscious effort to stop overdependence on bulk resources. It is time for us to reduce this over-reliance,” said H. S. Upendra Kamath, Chairman and Managing Director, Vijaya Bank, while announcing the bank’s ‘festival bonanza campaign’.At the end of the second quarter, the bank’s bulk deposits and certificate of deposits to total resources stood at 38.9 per cent from a high of 46.6 per cent...

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On the Net, HDFC Bank is most searched banking brand

HDFC Bank was the most searched banking brand among Internet users in India during the period April 2011-March 2012, a report compiled by Google India has revealed.On the insurance front, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) was the most searched brand. And in the investment (brokerage) category, it was ICICI Direct that emerged as the most searched brand.This report combined the Google search trends in India and an independent research report of TNS Australia on the influence of the Net on the purchase decision of financial products.Today, India...

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‘Will do whatever appropriate’ to recover Kingfisher loan: SBI

State Bank of India on Thursday said it will do whatever appropriate to recover the loans that banks have made to the beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines (KFA).The cash-strapped airline owes about Rs 7,000 crore to a consortium of 17 banks, including SBI, IDBI Bank, Bank of Baroda and Bank of India.SBI Managing Director S. Visvanathan said: “Our effort is to recover the maximum from the company by all possible methods. There are many methods by which we (banks) recover money.“We let the company run and they give us the money back. We wind up the...

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ICICI Bank’s new home loan rates for festival season

Private sector lender ICICI Bank has announced its new interest rates for home loans at the onset of the festival season. This offer is effective from and valid for sanctions up to December 31, 2012. Under this offer, the bank will offer floating rate home loans at 10.25 per cent for amounts below Rs 30 lakh and 10.50 per cent for above Rs 30 lakh and up to Rs 3 crore, the bank said in a statement. The same rate of interest is applicable for fixed rate home loans for the one and two-year fixed tenures. For a fixed rate loan of three-year period,...

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Karnataka Bank looking to double biz in 3 years

Karnataka Bank wants to double its business in the next three years with the help of business process re-engineering (BPR). The bank has engaged KPMG Advisory Services Pvt Ltd for BPR implementation.P. Jayarama Bhat, Managing Director of the bank, said that the BPR initiative will be rolled out across its 510 branches, and is aimed at high quality growth across its assets, liabilities, products and services.“We want to to take the total business from the present Rs 55,000 crore to Rs 1.20-lakh crore by March 2015.” Bhat said that KPMG will...

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Corporation Bank denies extending overdraft to Vadra’s company

Corporation Bank has denied giving overdraft to Robert Vadra’s company, as reported in a section of the media.When contacted, the bank’s Chairman and Managing Director Ajai Kumar said: “As per the information given to me by the branch, there is no overdraft at all.”There was a report in a section of the media that the Friends Colony branch of Corporation Bank in Delhi had extended in 2008-09 an overdraft of Rs 7.94 crore to Sky Light Hospitality, one of the companies of Robert Vadra. The report also stated that it was repaid later on.“I have...

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RBI relaxes norms for opening subsidiaries by foreign NBFCs

Relaxing norms for foreign-owned NBFCs to open subsidiaries, the RBI said such entities can now set up arms even if the overseas investment is less than 100 per cent."NBFCs having foreign investment more than 75 per cent and up to 100 per cent and with a minimum capitalisation of USD 50 million, can set up step down subsidiaries for specific NBFC activities," RBI said in a notification.Earlier, only 100 per cent foreign owned non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) with minimum capitalisation of USD 50 million were allowed to set up subsidiaries.The...

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Karnataka Bank aims to double biz; engages KPMG for re-engineering

Karnataka Bank wants to double its business in the next three years with the help of business process re-engineering (BPR). In this regard, the bank has engaged KPMG Advisory Services Pvt Ltd for BPR implementation.P. Jayarama Bhat, Managing Director of the bank, said that the BPR initiative will be rolled out across its 510 branches, and is aimed at high quality growth across its assets, liabilities, products and services.Speaking to Business Line, he said: “We want to double the business over the next three years with this BPR. The bank wants...

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Govt invites applications for IRDA Chairman post

The Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, has invited applications for the post of Chairperson, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), Hyderabad. The post is falling vacant on February 21, 2013.As per Section 5(1) of the IRDA Act, the person will be appointed for a tenure of maximum period of five years or up to 65 years of age, whichever is earlier. The pay and allowances of the Chairperson shall be Rs 3.75 lakh consolidated per month without the facility of house and car.The applicant...

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Vijaya Bank eyes Rs 800-cr business from festival schemes

Vijaya Bank said on Wednesday that it is eyeing business mobilisation of Rs 800 crore from its festival bonanza scheme from its Chandigarh region.“We are targeting deposit mobilisation of Rs 500 crore and lending to the tune of Rs 300 crore in festival bonanza scheme which is valid till January next year,” bank’s DGM Pradeep Naik told reporters here.Vijaya bank’s Chandigarh region has 62 branches across Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh with total business size of Rs 5,500 crore.The bank is offering...

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Syndicate Bank offers cheap loans

In a bid to spur credit demand during festive season, Syndicate Bank has rolled out home loans at 10.5 per cent interest rate for loans up to Rs 25 lakh.The bank will charge interest rate of 10.75 per cent on loans above Rs 25 lakh and up to Rs 75 lakh, said a press statement issued by the bank.Syndicate Bank will also offer vehicle loans at an interest rate of 10.75 per cent for a tenure of seven years.The bank will finance up to 95 per cent of the cost of vehicle on road.The bank has further waived off processing and documentation charges...

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Fee, interest incomes boost IndusInd Bank profit 30% in Q2

IndusInd Bank has reported a 30 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 250 crore in the second quarter ended September 30, 2012 against Rs 193 crore in the year-ago period.The private sector bank has reported a 30 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 486.51 crore in the half-year ended September 30, 2012 against Rs 373.27 crore in the year-ago period. During the quarter, net interest income (the difference between interest earned and interest paid) rose 22 per cent to Rs 510 crore (Rs 419 crore). Non-interest income was up 34 per cent at Rs...

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RBI slaps Rs 30 lakh fine on ICICI Bank, Rs 55 lakh on ING Vysya for KYC violations

The Reserve Bank today slapped a penalty of Rs 30 lakh on ICICI Bank and Rs 55 lakh on ING Vysya Bank for violating certain norms related to Know Your Customer and anti-money laundering, among others."The penalties have been imposed on these banks for contravention of various directions and instructions issued by the RBI on Know Your Customer norms/Anti-Money Laundering Standards/Combating of Financing of Terrorism /Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002," RBI said in a statement.These include "failure to obtain adequate documents for opening...

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IDBI Bank looking to boost retail business

IDBI Bank is planning to focus more on growing its retail portfolio without losing sight of its corporate clients. Though being the sixth largest public sector bank in the country, it has only 972 branches. Saying that this is not a small number for an eight-year-old bank, K. Ramaswamy, Chief General Manager, Personal Banking Group, IDBI Bank, said during the current financial year it will launch 160 branches across the country.Besides, to increase its brand visibility, it proposes to spend a substantial amount on advertising. To lure more...

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Merit students taking management quota seats too can get bank loans

Merit students taking admission in recognised private institutions under management quota will also be eligible for bank education loans.This clause has been incorporated by the Indian Banks’ Association in its revised model education loan scheme. The reason is that there have been cases of meritorious students, despite getting admission in a government college, preferring to join a private institution. This can be for several reasons including proximity to home and notgetting the course of choice in the government college.Another new clause...

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S. Visvanathan is new MD of SBI

The Central Government has appointed S. Viswanathan as the Managing Director of State Bank of India.Prior to his elevation, he was the Deputy Managing Director (Mid-Corporates) at India’s largest bank.Viswanathan’s appointment takes effect from the date of taking over charge of the post till April 30, 2014 i.e. the date of his attaining the age of superannuation or until further orders, whichever is earlier.Following the elevation of Viswanathan, SBI now has four MDs. The other three MDs are: Hemant Contractor, Diwakar Gupta and A. Krishna...

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ING Vysya announces top-level changes in retail division

ING Vysya Bank has announced a top-level change in the retail banking division. The retail division will now be structured into two verticals -- retail assets and branch banking and private clients.Additionally, ING Vysya Bank has appointed Brett Morgan new Country Head, Branch Banking, Marketing & Private Clients. Brett, who has over 17 years experience, moves from ING DIRECT Australia and will be based out of Bangalore.ING Vysya Bank has appointed Mahesh Dayani as Country Head for Retail Assets, who will be responsible for its entire...

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Canara Bank offers retail loan scheme

Canara Bank today introduced a retail loan scheme for salaried and non-salaried individuals for purchase of consumer durables.Under the scheme, customers can avail loans up to Rs one lakh at 14.50 per cent interest and repayable in 36 instalments, the bank said in a statement here.The bank would hypothecate the durables purchased under the scheme as security and would not charge processing fees till January 31.It said there would be no prepayment or hidden charges for loans....

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SBI sees early signs of credit pick-up

State Bank of India today said it is witnessing early signs of revival in credit growth as mid-corporates have started seeking fresh funds.“There are early signs of credit uptake. Mid-size corporates are coming for fresh lending...,” SBI Managing Director and Group Executive for National Banking A. Krishna Kumar told reporters on the sidelines of a banking event here.He, however, said it is too early to predict a full-fledged credit revival based on these early figures. Retail credit Referring to retail credit, which has not been badly impacted...

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Federal Bank hopes credit demand to improve in H2

Demand for credit is likely to be better in the second half, a top official of Federal Bank said here today.“Credit demand is expected to be better in the second half of the current financial year compared with the first half,” Federal Bank Managing Director and Chief Executive Shyam Srinivasan told reporters here.He, however, said big capital expenditure programmes would take another three to six months to kick-start.Talking about possible reduction in interest rates in various loan segments offered by the bank, Srinivasan said any decline...

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Statutory auditor of Bank of Baroda resigns

Bank of Baroda has informed the BSE that Khimji Kunverji & Co, one of the Statutory Central Auditors (SCAs) of the bank for FY 2012-13, has resigned on technical grounds of the number of audit assignments handled by them at present.Consequently, the limited review of the financial statements of the bank for the half-year/ quarter ended September 30, 2012, will be done by the remaining five SCAs: Brahmayya & Co; Ray & Ray; S. K. Mittal & Co; N B S & Co; and Laxminiwas Neeth & Co...

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Festival bonanza...PNB waives of processing fee on retail loans

To cash in on the festive fervour, the state-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) today announced waiver of processing fee for housing, car and personal loans.The offer is valid from October 9 to November 30, PNB said in a statement.To meet the sentiments and aspirations of public, it said, the bank has announced a series of relaxations and concessions.It further said rate of interest on housing loans up to Rs 75 lakh was slashed to 10.50 per cent last month.The base rate or minimum lending rate of the bank stands at 10.50 per cent.Similarly, the...

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RBI open to raising intl e-commerce transactions cap

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is open to looking at increasing the limit on international e-commerce transactions currently set at $ 3,000, a top official said today.“If the system wants the limit to be enhanced, that is something that we are positively inclined to look at,” G Padmanabhan, Executive Director, Reserve Bank said on the sidelines of a CII event.Padmanabhan said the limit was set in consultation with PayPal, a major player among the international payment gateways, and added that as many as 99 per cent of the e-commerce transactions...

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Karur Vysya Bank looking to offer students fee-payment service via mobile

Students can soon reduce the drudgery of standing in queues to pay their fees. They can instead use their mobile phone and do it from the comfort of their hostels or homes, a top official of Karur Vysya Bank said.The Tamil Nadu-based bank wants to tap universities and institutes with large student strength to offer mobile banking services. All that the students need is to have an account with the bank, says K.Venkataraman, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.Students need not go to their college or bank, they can pay their fees using...

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BoB cuts home loan rates by up to 150 bps

Bank of Baroda has announced up to 1.50 percentage points concession in interest rates on home loans of different tenures/amounts as part of its festival loan campaign.During the campaign period, home loans of 25 years tenure of up to Rs 30 lakh, and above Rs 30 lakh will be available at 10.50 per cent (11.25 per cent earlier) and 10.75 per cent (12-12.25 per cent) respectively.The campaign, which kicked off on October 1, will be on till November 30, 2012.Customers can get car loans at 11.25 per cent (13 per cent earlier) for repayment up to...

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Citi Bank official to pay Rs 15 lakh for leaking account details

The Delhi State Consumer Commission has ordered a Citi Bank branch manager to pay Rs 15 lakh as compensation to a credit card holder for leaking his account details to a third party.The consumer body awarded the damages saying the supply of credit card statement details of the card holder to a third party is a “violation of confidential relationship” between the bank and its customer and “betrayal of trust”.“It appears that in the case, the copies of account of the complainant were produced before the civil court. Such accounts are universally...

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BoI cuts short-term deposit rates

Bank of India has said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange that it has cut its short-term deposit rates by between 25 and 50 basis points across different maturities with effect from today.For its special 555 days deposit, the bank has cut rates by 10 basis points....

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Citibank India opens new counter for securities lending

Citibank India has come up with a new service that will allow its domestic and offshore clients to get seamless access to the Indian securities lending and borrowing market.From being a custodian of securities, Citibank India has now assumed a market participant’s role. This is expected to impart the much-needed liquidity for it to take off. Simply put, FIIs and domestic institutional clients can do securities lending and borrowing through Citi’s new solution called ‘OpenLend’. Different structures Securities lending and borrowing (SLB)...

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Karur Vysya Bank to open 100 branches, 400 ATMs this fiscal

Karur Vysya Bank plans to open 100 new branches and 400 ATMs during the current fiscal across the country, according to K. Vekataraman, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.“Our target is to reach 540 branches pan-India by March 2013. This is in line with the long-term goal of achieving a total business of Rs 1,25,000 crore by 2016, when the bank celebrates its centenary”, he said.Speaking at the 96{+t}{+h} Founders’ Day of the bank here, Venkataraman said that the business has grown to over Rs 59,000 crore with a deposit base of Rs...

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Central Bank to launch combo loans, cut deposit rates soon

Public sector lender Central Bank has said it will bring down its deposit rates further soon, to enable it to lower its lending rates, and will launch a combo loan offer within a fortnight.“We are looking at cutting our base rate going forward. But to do that we have to first lower our deposit rates.Accordingly, as liquidity is comfortable, we will soon cut the pricing of our liabilities shortly, which will be followed by a base rate cut,” the Chairman and Managing Director, M.V. Tanksale, told PTI here.Speaking after inaugurating the 40th...

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Allahabad Bank ED pitches for CRR cut

Allahabad Bank’s Executive Director T.R. Chawla has joined other top Indian bankers in making a pitch for a cut in Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) to address the concerns of sluggish credit growth.The RBI is slated to take a call on rates at its second quarter review of monetary policy scheduled for October 30. CRR is the amount of deposits banks are required to keep with the central bank.“Inflation is still a cause of worry. A cut in CRR could reduce the overall rates and nudge up credit offtake. I am sure RBI will be looking at (changes in) policy...

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Ranjan Dhawan appointed as Bank of Baroda ED

The Centre has appointed Ranjan Dhawan as an Executive Director of Bank of Baroda.Dhawan, who is now Chief General Manager at Punjab National Bank, is expected to assume charge of his new role on November 1.He will replace Rajiv Kumar Bakshi, who is due to superannuate on October 31.Currently, BoB has three executive directors...

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HDFC Bank opens representative office in Abu Dhabi

HDFC Bank has opened its first representative office in Abu Dhabi to provide services to a large number of non-resident Indians (NRIs) based in the city.This is the bank’s second representative office in the UAE, with the first situated in Dubai.“The UAE is an important global business centre and this initiative reflects our commitment to bring world-class banking services to the doorstep of the Indian community in the region,” HDFC Bank Group Head (Equities, Private Banking, Third Party Products, NRI and International Consumer Business) Abhay...

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