SBI installs cash deposit machine

State Bank of India inaugurated a cash deposit machine at its Hyderabad main branch premises.The machine, which will be available for 24 hours, can be used for cash deposits of maximum 200 pieces up to Rs 49,900 per transaction.It will accept only denominations of Rs 1,000, 500 and 100. Apart from this, customers can avail services such as balance enquiry, mini statement and pin change facility. This is the seventh machine in Hyderabad city....

Read more »

IRDA to come out with norms for new products soon

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority is working with the insurance industry to bring out a new product design template that will see the emergence of new products in the market. The insurance watchdog is in the advanced stages of preparing the draft guidelines for new products, both in the life and non-life segments.“We will come out with the new guidelines by the month-end,” IRDA Chairman J. Harinarayan, told media persons on the sidelines of an event here today.The new guidelines will specify things such as quantum of guaranteed...

Read more »

World Bank arm IFC open to investing in Religare’s proposed banking venture

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has indicated its willingness to invest in Religare’s proposed banking entity. IFC is an arm of the World Bank which invests and lends to the private sector.IFC has invested $75 million (around Rs 405 crore) in Religare through compulsorily convertible debentures. This transaction has been completed. Once all the debentures are fully converted into equity, IFC will have 7.9 per cent equity making it the single largest institutional investor in Religare. This is the largest investment by IFC in financial...

Read more »

Corp Bank SME loan centre in Jaipur

Ajai Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director of Corporation Bank, opened the bank’s 16th SME loan centre in Jaipur recently.A bank release said here on Thursday that the other SME (small and medium enterprises) loan centres are located at Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Pune, Mumbai, Vadodara, Kolkata, Mangalore, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Kochi and Tiruchi.The bank has launched exclusive SME loan centres in various cities across the country to cater to the SME segment in a big way, the release said....

Read more »

IndusInd Bank to allot equity shares to QIBs

IndusInd Bank Ltd said the finance committee of its Board of Directors has approved the allotment of 5.21 crore equity shares at a price of Rs 384 per equity share (including a premium of Rs 374 per equity share) aggregating to Rs 2,000.63 crore to qualified institutional buyers, the private sector bank said in a notice to the BSE.The private placement of equity shares is at a 9.16 per cent discount to Wednesday’s closing price of Rs 419.20 per share....

Read more »

Govt may infuse Rs 4,000-cr capital into SBI this fiscal

The Government is expected to infuse Rs 4,000 crore into State Bank of India this fiscal. This will boost the bank’s capital adequacy ratio to over 13 per cent, according to a top bank official.“The mode (of infusing capital) is being discussed and we have given various options. It is the government’s call to decide on how to infuse that equity,” said Diwakar Gupta, Managing Director, SBI.The country’s largest bank’s has been awaiting the Government’s nod for the rights issue for more than two years.When asked if the rights issue would be appropriate...

Read more »

ICICI Bank launches flexible recurring deposit for savings account customers

ICICI Bank has launched an online flexible recurring deposit product that will give its savings account customers the flexibility to choose when and how much to save to meet their goals. Unlike a traditional recurring deposit, the flexible recurring deposit will allow customers to save varying amounts of money at a time of their choice.The bank said customers could create several goals and track their progress on an easy-to-use online interface.Customers could also choose to share their wishes on Facebook and let their friends and family be...

Read more »

Andhra Bank cuts rates on educational loans

Andhra Bank has announced reduction in interest rates for fresh education loans.For educational loans between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 7.5 lakh, the interest rate has been reduced from 14.25 per cent to 13.25 per cent. Loans over Rs 7.5 lakh will carry a lower rate of 12 per cent, down from the 13.25 per cent, the bank said in a statement.For girl students, a further concession of 0.50 per cent has been decided.Also, to encourage meritorious students, an interest concession of 0.50 per cent has been introduced on education loans—this is for students...

Read more »

Citigroup to slash 11,000 jobs worldwide

In a major restructuring exercise, global banking giant Citigroup today announced that it will cut 11,000 jobs worldwide to save nearly $1.1 billion in expenses annually from 2014.The repositioning exercise comes two months after bank’s former CEO Vikram Pandit left the company unceremoniouslyThe restructuring would result in a “reduction of more than 11,000 positions,” a statement by Citi said, adding that “these actions are logical next steps in Citi’s transformation.”“While we are committed to—— and our strategy continues to leverage —...

Read more »

RBI, Bank of Japan ink currency swap pact to boost bilateral trade

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Bank of Japan (BoJ) have concluded a three-year Bilateral Swap Arrangement (BSA) between India and Japan.The BSA, which was signed by RBI Governor D. Subbarao and BoJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa, has become effective as of December 4, 2012.The arrangement aims at addressing short-term liquidity difficulties and supplementing the existing international financial arrangements, as one of the efforts in strengthening mutual cooperation between Japan and India.The BSA will enable both countries to swap their...

Read more »

Oriental Bank hikes certain deposit rates

Oriental Bank of Commerce has hiked interest rates on certain term deposits with short maturities. For term deposits of less than Rs 15 lakhs, interest rates have been revised upwards from 7.5 percent to 8 percent in respect of maturity period of 91 days to 179 days. In the same maturity period, interest rates have been hiked from 8 percent to 8.25 percent for term deposits of Rs 15 lakh and above but less than Rs 1 crore. For term deposits of Rs 1 crore and above but less than Rs 5 crore, the interest rate has been hiked from 5 percent to...

Read more »

Dena Bank waives off processing fee for home, car loans

After most public sector banks, now Dena Bank has waived off the entire processing fee for housing and car loans.It has also waived off half of the processing fee for personal and gold loans. The offer is valid up to December 31, the bank said in a statement.The public sector lender has also extended 50 per cent concession in processing fee for its Dena Trade Finance Scheme under which credit facilities up to Rs 2 crore are extended within the eligibility criteria of the scheme.In addition, a scheme for doctors with credit facilities up to...

Read more »

IRDA permits insurance cos use credit default swap

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has permitted the use of Credit Default Swap (CDS), a derivative instrument that offers credit protection, for insurance companies to hedge their risk.Insurers are allowed only as users (protection buyers) of CDS subject to condition, IRDA said in a final guideline for investment in CDS.The CDS is a guarantee in which the buyer of a credit swap receives credit protection, whereas the seller of the swap guarantees the credit worthiness of the product.By doing this, the risk of default is...

Read more »

India Ratings affirms ING Vysya at ‘IND AA-’

India Ratings has affirmed ING Vysya Bank’s Long-Term Issuer rating at ‘IND AA-’ with a stable outlook on adequate capital position, improving asset quality and moderate funding profile.“ING Vysya’s capitalisation is currently adequate. However, the bank will need to raise capital regularly to support its above-system-average growth targets. The bank raised Rs 970 crore of equity capital in FY’12 through a qualified institutional placement, in which its parent, ING Vysya NV, participated to the extent of its 44 per cent shareholding,” the ratings...

Read more »