In expose 4, Kejriwal guns for Swiss account holders

Training its guns on black money stashed in Swiss banks, India Against Corruption (IAC) on Friday called for an immediate halt to operations of HSBC in India, alleging its involvement in money laundering and hawala.At a packed press conference here, Arvind Kejriwal and lawyer Prashant Bhushan of IAC said their allegations were based on the list of 700 people who, they claimed, had accounts in HSBC’s Geneva branch. They said the names were in a CD given by the French Government to India in July 2011.According to Kejriwal, it was a Congress leader...

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Don’t reject educational loan application on technical grounds: RBI

The Reserve Bank on Friday asked banks not to reject any educational loan application even if the residence of the borrower does not fall under their service area.”... banks are advised not to reject any educational loan application for reasons that the residence of the borrower does not fall under the bank’s service area,” RBI said in a notification today.RBI has further asked the banks to issue suitable instructions to their branches or controlling offices for meticulous and strict compliance in this regard.The apex bank issued the notification...

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IIFCL’s Rs 10,000-cr tax-free bond issue to open on Monday

India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) will launch its Rs 10,000-crore tax-free bond issue on Monday, S.K. Goel, Chairman & Managing Director, said.The company would first do a private placement of these bonds for Rs 2,500 crore with institutional investors.After the institutional portion is completed, the retail one of Rs 7,500 crore will be done in tranches.The entire issue will be completed before March-end this fiscal, Goel said on the sidelines of the India Infrastructure Investment Forum meet here.The Centre had allowed...

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Banks should ensure end use of crop loans: RBI

Banks should ensure that all crop loans are being used for the stated purpose and there is no diversion of funds, the Reserve Bank said here on Friday.“Banks should not claim any interest subvention for loans not meeting the criteria as these will not be treated as ’agricultural’ loans,” RBI said in a notification.For disbursal of agricultural loan, RBI said the banks must ensure that the borrower is an agriculturist; the rate of interest is not above the rate stipulated by the government, and the amount of loan is fixed as per the prescribed...

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ATM network crosses 1-lakh mark

The number of ATMs in India has crossed the one lakh mark, according to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). All the banks put together have plans to install an additionally about one lakh ATMs over the next two years, raising the number of ATMs per million population to about 170 ATMs from 85.As of October 2012 the total number of ATMs was 1,04,500. Public sector banks and the State Bank group with about 61,500 ATMs accounted for 59 per cent of the ATMs. The private sector and foreign banks put together have about 41,800 ATMs...

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Corporation Bank Q2 net up marginally despite higher NPAs

Corporation Bank’s net profit rose 1.1 per cent to Rs 405.71 crore in the second quarter ended September from Rs 401.11 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.The net interest income (NII) stood at Rs 803.25 crore (Rs 743.60 crore), and the ‘other income’ came down to Rs 325.96 crore (Rs 389.38 crore).Speaking to Business Line over phone from Mumbai, Ajai Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director, Corporation Bank, said the bank had performed well despite the difficult economic situation and high interest rates leading to defaults...

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Anil Ambani denies HSBC Bank account allegation

A spokesperson for Anil D. Ambani categorically denied all allegations made by Arvind Kejriwal against him today.The spokesperson stated, "Anil D. Ambani had no bank accounts with HSBC in Geneva. It is regrettable that such baseless allegations are being made by IAC at the behest of vested interests....

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SBI Q2 net rises 30% on lower provisioning

State Bank of India reported a 30 per cent jump in second quarter net profit at Rs 3,658 crore helped by lower loan loss provisions.Write-back of provisions worth Rs 260 crore, which was made for investment depreciation, coupled with recoveries from bad loans also boosted profitability.“We had already made more than enough provisioning in the first quarter. So, to that extent the provisioning has come down in the second quarter,” Pratip Chaudhuri, SBI Chairman said.The country’s largest lender had reported a net profit of Rs 2,810 crore in...

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DHFL cuts home loan rates

Mortgage lender Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) cut its home loan lending rates by 0.25 per cent across categories for new customers.This is a second rate cut by the lender within a month.The variable rate of interest for loans of up to Rs 15 lakh has been cut to 10.75 per cent from 11 per cent, while for those above Rs 30 lakh but up to Rs 75 lakh will come at 11.25 per cent and those above Rs 75 lakh at 11.75 per cent, it said in a statement issued here.It had earlier cut rates by 0.25 per cent on October 10.The retail segment, especially...

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RBI slaps Rs 5 lakh penalty on Solapur District Central Co-op Bank

The Reserve Bank of India has imposed Rs 5 lakh penalty on the Solapur District Central Co-operative Bank. The penalty has been imposed on the bank for violating the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act (As Applicable to Co-operative Societies), as it had granted unsecured loans to companies in which the directors of the board had interest and not reporting the transactions in the relevant monthly statement after sanctioning the loans, the RBI said in a statement.The central bank had issued a show-cause notice to the co-operative bank in...

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Federal Bank rolls out mobile fund transfer facility to merchants

Federal Bank has launched a funds transfer facility to merchants and enterprises through mobile phone.The Kochi-based private sector lender’s IMPS-Merchant Payment Service, in association with National Payment Corporation of India, will enable customers to use their mobile phones to access bank accounts and transfer funds.Currently, services enabled through IMPS-Merchant Payment Service include railway ticket booking through IRCTC, mobile/DTH recharge, mutual funds, credit card bill payments, insurance premium, online shopping, post-paid mobile...

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UCO Bank Q2 net slumps 55% on higher provisioning

Higher provisioning for non-performing assets (NPAs) pulled down the net profit of UCO Bank by 55 per cent to Rs 104 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2012.Provisioning increased by 26 per cent to Rs 597 crore. According to Arun Kaul, Chairman and Managing Director, UCO Bank set aside Rs 435 crore as provisioning towards NPA during the period under review, as compared with Rs 244 crore during the same period last year.“We witnessed fresh slippages worth Rs 1,500 crore during the quarter, of which, Rs 820 crore came from one group alone,”...

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Education loan: HRD Ministry sets deadline for banks to submit interest subsidy claims

Education loans taken by students belonging to the economically weaker sections on or after April 1, 2009, would do well to submit their parents’ income certificate from designated competent authorities to banks.Else, they will lose the interest subsidy benefit they get on their education loans.The reason: The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MoHRD) has set a deadline for banks to submit all pending interest subsidy claims pertaining to the period FY2010 and FY2011 to the nodal bank (Canara Bank) before November-end 2012.For FY12, the...

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SBI opens Kohinoor branch in Vizag for high networth individuals

The State Bank of India opened a Kohinoor branch for high net worth individuals here on Wednesday, the second in the State. It was inaugurated by Chief General Manager Rakesh Sharma at Ocean View Layout on the beach road.The CGM told reporters that the first such branch, Kohinoor Banjara, had been opened in Hyderabad a year ago and it had so far mobilised Rs 500 crore in deposits and the advances amounted to Rs 150 crore. "We expect the branch here to mobilise Rs 100 crore by the end of the financial year," he said.He explained that the USP...

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UCO Bank net halves to Rs 104 cr

Dragged down by higher provisioning, UCO Bank has posted a 55 per cent drop in net profit to Rs 104 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2012, compared with Rs 231 crore during the same period last year.Provisioning increased 26 per cent to Rs 597 crore. Net interest income was almost flat at Rs 1,013 crore (Rs 1,010 crore), while other income increased by about five per cent to Rs 213 crore.Shares of UCO Bank were trading at Rs 74.70, up 1.43 per cent on the BSE on Wednesday.shobha.roy@thehindu.co.in...

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PNB adopts schools in Kerala

Punjab National Bank has organised various programmes as part of its CSR activities.Pushpa Kamath, wife of K R Kamath, Chairman and Managing Director of PNB, participated in the programmes. The bank adopted the Government Higher Secondary School, Aroor, by donating desks and benches to the school.Pushpa also handed over ceiling fan to the Principal. The CMD handed over the consent letter to the leader of Government Girls’ High School, Cherthala, as part of adoption of the school.K.V.Rajesh, Deputy General Manager and Circle Head, also participated...

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Suzlon moving CDR cell to give lenders time to sort issues:SBI

State Bank of India, a major banker for debt-laden Suzlon, on Wednesday said the wind turbine maker’s move to approach corporate debt restructuring cell would give more time for lenders to sort out the issues.Loss-making Suzlon Group last month said it has started discussions with lenders for restructuring debt, including a two-year moratorium on repayment of term loans.“I think reference to the Corporate Debt Restructuring (CDR) cell gives the bankers more time to iron out these issues and Suzlon’s financials are a little more complex,” SBI...

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Canara Bank Q2 profit dips 22% as non-interest income slips

Decrease in non-interest income dragged Canara Bank’s profit 22.44 per cent to Rs 660.97 crore in the second quarter of this fiscal.While the bank’s revenues grew 9.08 per cent to Rs 9,203.61 crore compared with the same period last year, EPS fell to Rs 14.92 from Rs 19.24.“During the quarter, the bank’s performance was affected by a drop in non-interest income (commission) by Rs 215 crore, flat net interest income and provisioning for non-performing assets,” said Ashok Kumar Gupta, Executive Director.The operating profit before provisions...

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Andhra Bank Q2 profit muted on higher NPA provisioning

Andhra Bank clocked a net profit growth of 3.2 per cent for the quarter ended September 30 at Rs 326 crore, as against Rs 316.12 crore in the year-ago period.Higher deposit costs, slower credit off-take and stressed assets kept the bank’s growth muted during the quarter. It is expected to maintain this level of growth in the current quarter.The total income of the bank touched Rs 3,417.62 crore, up by 15.5 per cent from the year-ago period. However, its net interest income declined six per cent to Rs 894 crore during the quarter.B.A. Prabhakar,...

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RBI allows SIDBI to tap external commercial borrowing route

The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday said the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) can tap the external commercial borrowing route for on-lending to the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector.For on-lending to the MSME borrowers, the RBI has stipulated that SIDBI should hedge the foreign currency risk in full in case the on-lending is in rupees.On-lending in foreign currency will only be to those MSMEs which have a natural hedge by way of foreign exchange earnings.Availment of ECB by SIDBI, including the outstanding...

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Migrate to web protocol IPv6, RBI tells banks

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today asked the banks to migrate to the latest version of Internet Protocol IPv6 from IPv4, preferably by December 2012.“Since migration to IPv6 is an eventuality that has to be accepted and managed proactively, the government wants it to be done in a planned way rather than against time,” the RBI said in a notification.Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is the latest Internet Protocol (IP), the primary communications protocol upon which the entire Internet is built. It is intended to replace the older IPv4,...

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Vijayalakshmi Iyer appointed Bank of India CMD

Bank of India has a new Chairperson and Managing Director in Vijayalakshmi R. Iyer. She assumed charge of this post on Monday soon after the Finance Ministry issued a notification on her appointment.Prior to this appointment, Vijayalakshmi Iyer was an Executive Director at Central Bank of India. She had served as an Executive Director at Central Bank of India since September 1, 2009. She has over thirty years of experience in the banking industry. Iyer began her banking career with Union Bank of India in 1975.The Centre has also appointed Malay...

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Kingfisher will not fly if doesn’t get capital by Nov 30: SBI

State Bank of India (SBI), the lead bank to ailing Kingfisher Airlines, on Tuesday cautioned the carrier that it “will not fly” if it fails to bring in fresh capital by November 30.“Banks’ consortium has done everything possible to make the company (Kingfisher) work. Only the company is not working... The management has to get capital. We have given time till November 30 that they should get capital otherwise the company will not fly...,” SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri told PTI.He further said the airline would not be able to get investors if...

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Interest income lifts Dena Bank Q2 net 24%

Dena Bank has reported a 24 per cent increase in net profit for the quarter ended September 30 at Rs 240 crore on the back of robust growth in interest income.The public sector lender had posted a net profit of Rs 194 crore in the year-ago period.Net interest income (the difference between interest earned and expended) increased by 15 per cent to Rs 594 crore as against Rs 515 in the second quarter of last fiscal. Non-interest income rose by 18 per cent to Rs 134 crore (Rs 113 crore).The percentage of net non-performing assets (NPAs) increased...

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SKS Microfinance raises Rs 200 cr through securitisation deal

SKS Microfinance today said it has raised Rs 200 crore by selling loans to a state-run bank through a securitisation deal.This is the first major deal in the troubled microfinance sector after the Reserve Bank issued revised securitisation guidelines for non-banking finance companies in August.As part of the deal, SKS, which is the only listed MFI, said, it has downloaded the receivables from micro-loans extended to over 2.60 lakh rural women to a special purpose vehicle and pass through certificates, have been purchased by a public sector...

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Syndicate Bank looking to boost fee-based income

Syndicate Bank is working towards boosting its fee-based income. It has created a separate wing and recruited professionals for this.The target is to increase the revenues from this business segment to at least 20 per cent over last year, the bank’s Executive Director M. Anjaneya Prasad said.The bank has taken on board 20 chartered accountants and tied up with nine mutual funds in the last few months, including HDFC, Reliance and IDBI, to drive up business from the capital market, mutual funds and insurance, he told Business Line at a recent...

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Central Bank targets home-loan book at Rs 10,000 cr by March

City-based public sector lender Central Bank of India yesterday said it is targeting to take its home loan portfolio to over Rs 10,000 crore by this fiscal end.“At the end of the September quarter, our home loan portfolio stood at Rs 6,800 crore, and by March, we are targeting to add Rs 4,000 crore or so. The target is to cross the Rs 10,000-crore-mark this fiscal,” Chairman and Managing Director Mohan V Tanksale said.With the huge success of ‘Swapna Sankul-2012’, the first realty exhibition organised here by the bank last week, Tanksale said...

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Vijaya Bank profits down 39.4%

Vijaya Bank profits were down 39.38 per cent to Rs 123.37 crore for the second quarter of this fiscal.The total income was up 9.69 per cent at Rs 2,301.72 crore, while the EPS was at Rs 2.49 compared with Rs 4.31 last year.anil.u@thehindu.co.in...

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Federal bank offers loan for house warming

Now you can get a loan for not only buying a house but also for house warming.Federal Bank has launched a new product “House Warming Loan” for its customers (both existing and new) for meeting house warming and other related expenses.The loan will be available on acquisition/ completion of house/ flat. The loan is offered at 2 per cent over the housing loan rate.The quantum of loan can be up to 5 per cent of the Housing Loan limit with a maximum of Rs 2 lakh, the private sector bank said in a statement.D. Sampath, Additional General Manager...

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LIC eyes distribution tie-up with Postal Department

Life Insurance Corporation of India is in favour of having a distribution tie-up with the Indian Postal Department, which has plans of its own in the insurance space.The Government has launched an initiative to pave the way for over 1.5 lakh post offices in the country to offer full-fledged banking and insurance services. Postal Life Insurance is also setting up a full-fledged investment division for generating optimal returns.“They (the postal department) have a huge network. It will be prudent to have some kind of distribution synergy between...

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Allahabad Bank Q2 net drops 52% on rising bad loans

Allahabad Bank plans to open 250 branches in the current fiscal, of which authorisations have been received for about 60 per cent of them.It is also entering Dhaka by opening a branch there and work in this regard is in progress. Second quarter performance The bank, in a communication to the stock exchanges today, said its total business had gone up to Rs 2,74,116 crore as on September 30, 2012, compared to Rs 2,38,897 crore as at the end of Q2 of last year, marking a 14.74 per cent growth year on year.The total deposits also moved up to...

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IndusInd Bank to triple solar-powered ATMs in 2 yrs

IndusInd Bank plans to triple the number of solar-powered ATMs in its network in the next two years, Romesh Sobti, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, has said. Plans are afoot to increase the bank's overall ATM network strength to 1,500 ATMs in 2 years, of which at least one-fifth would be solar-powered, Sobti told Business Line on the sidelines of an event here. Currently, IndusInd Bank has 750 ATMs, of which 100 are solar-powered. "We are the only bank in the country to have solar powered ATMs. Every solar powered...

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Postal Life Insurance can now cover more groups of employees

Life insurance behemoth, Life Insurance Corporation of India, and new-generation private life insurers had better sit up and take notice. The Government has allowed the country’s oldest life insurer, the Postal Life Insurance, to cover more groups of people. The Department of Posts can now offer Postal Life Insurance (PLI) and Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI) to employees engaged/ appointed on contract basis by Central/State Governments, where the contract is extendable. Employees of joint ventures in which Central/State Government,...

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Standard Chartered launches Yatra Platinum card

Standard Chartered in collaboration with travel portal Yatra.com launched the ‘Standard Chartered Yatra Platinum Credit Card’. The card offers a suite of benefits to credit-card customers when they make travel reservations on Yatra.com besides their regular shopping and other spends.The co-branded card offers benefits like Cashback and accelerated reward points on spends at yatra.com, travel discount vouchers and free tickets. Some of the attractive benefits that the card holder will get are – 10 per cent cashback on all travel spends at Yatra.com,...

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LIC all set for major recruitment drive

In one of its biggest recruitment drives in recent times, Life Insurance Corporation will be taking on board about 5,000 graduates as development officers in the next few months.This is part of the company's strategy to achieve its 2020 vision of increasing the number of policy holders from the current 40 crore to 100 crore.“We will be soon coming out with the advertisement for recruiting the development officers.We currently have a pool of 27,000 development officers, who form the strength of our marketing team,” K. B. Saha, Executive Director,...

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Yes Bank, EZspend launches prepaid cards

Private sector lender, Yes Bank, has launched two prepaid cards in association with EZspend Prepaid Payment Solutions on the MasterCard platform.Available in the Delhi/NCR and Gurgaon region, the Yes Bank-EZspend Card are prepaid cards that can be used to make purchases at point of sale terminals and even for online shopping across India on the MasterCard network. Each card holder’s account is linked to an online card tracking system which monitors and helps the account holder to track each transaction and provides a detailed statement every...

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