RBI employees to strike on January 1

Employees and officers under the banner of United Forum of RBI Officers and Employees have called a country—wide strike on January 1, 2013 to protest the decision to close currency notes and coins issue counters from that date.In a press statement issued by the forum, General Secretary of the All India Reserve Bank Employees Association Samir Ghosh said that the RBI was mandated by the RBI Act 1934 to manage, issue and exchange of currency notes and coins throughout the country.RBI’s effort was also complemented by the various branches of commercial...

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Andhra Bank to focus on agri, SME lending

Andhra Bank will focus on lending to agricultural and micro-, mini- and small enterprises, according to its Chairman and Managing Director B.A. Prabhakar.“These two sectors are our priority business areas, as there is huge potential for growth. The non-performing assets here are also under control,” Prabhakar said.The agriculture portfolio of Andhra Bank grew 26 per cent year-on-year, small and medium enterprises 18 per cent and retail 13 per cent till date.Though demand for retail loans had picked up, competition has stiffened as major banks...

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Federal Bank offers stock options worth Rs 114 cr to employees

Private sector lender Federal Bank has offered employee stock options of more than 2.4 million equity shares amounting to Rs 113.76 crore to all its permanent employees.This is the second time the bank is offering stock options since it implemented the employee stock option plan (ESOP) in 2011.The grant in 2011 was at Rs 420.65 a share, and Rs 474 in 2012, the bank said in a statement.At the time of the announcement, the share price of the Kerala-based bank stock was at Rs 542. The bank has about 1,000 branches and 10,000 employees, the bank...

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Bank of India raises bulk deposit rates for select maturities

Bank of India today revised upwards the interest rates on deposits of Rs 10 crore and above for select maturities.“...has informed the BSE that the bank has revised the interest rate for the deposit of Rs 10 crore and above for the time bucket of 1 year and above to less than 2 years to 9 per cent (earlier 8.75 per cent),” Bank of India said in a filing to BSE.The new rates would be applicable from December 27, 2012, it added.Shares of the bank ended down at Rs 337.60 apiece on the BSE, down 0.82 per cent from their previous close.Recently,...

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Corporation Bank to raise Rs 200 cr via tier-I bonds

Corporation Bank plans to raise Rs 200 crore through tier-I bonds on a private placement basis, the bank said in an exchange filing late last evening.  The bonds will be unsecured, perpetual and non-convertible.  The face value of each bond is Rs 10 lakh.  The coupon rate is 9.29 per cent per annum.  There is no put option.  A call option can be exercised after 10 years.  The issue opens on Dec 27 and closes on Dec 28...

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Bank of Baroda to issue Rs 1,550 cr pref shares to Govt

Bank of Baroda (BoB) on Wednesday said it will raise Rs 1,550 crore by issuing preference shares to the government.The board at its meeting held on December 24, 2012, has approved issuance of shares of face value of Rs 10 each, for an amount upto Rs 1,550 crore, on preferential basis in favour of Government of India, BoB said in a filing on the BSE.The prices of the shares would be decided as per the SEBI norms, it said.Shares of the BoB closed at Rs 854.40, up 0.84 per cent on the BSE.Preference shares are given higher ranking over common...

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South Indian Bank business set to touch Rs 75,000 cr

South Indian Bank is all set to achieve a business target of Rs 75,000 crore by March 2013 as envisaged in the Vision Document 2008.SIB's five-year business plan — Vision 2013 — was drawn up in 2008 to achieve Rs 75,000 crore business, 750 branches, 750 ATMs and 7,500 employees.V. A. Joseph, Managing Director and CEO, told Business Line that the bank has been able to clock Rs 67,000 crore in total business as on date.Its employee strength is at 6,800, the number of branches 740 and ATMs 775.“We hope to achieve the target of Rs 75,000 crore...

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Karur Vysya Bank open to acquisition, if it’s a right fit

Old generation lender Karur Vysya Bank (KVB) is open to acquiring a bank if an opportunity comes its way, said a top bank official.K. Venkataraman, MD & CEO, KVB, gave this reply to a specific question on whether his bank would throw its hat into the ring to acquire one of the two distressed South-based old generation private sector banks (one headquartered in Tamil Nadu and the other in Kerala).He, however, said the 96-year old Karur (Tamil Nadu) headquartered bank is not actively pursuing an acquisition at this point in time. Not a target On...

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Ashwani Kumar named CMD of Dena Bank

Ashwani Kumar has been appointed as Chairman & Managing Director, Dena Bank, for a period of five years from the date of taking over charge of the post on or after January 1, 2013, vide notification dated November 6, 2012.According to the Government notification, Ashwani Kumar, who is the Executive Director of Corporation Bank, will function as Executive Director at Dena Bank on attachment basis with effect from December 17, 2012, till December 31, 2012, or until further orders.Accordingly, Ashwani Kumar has reported on December 17, 2012,...

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RBI to infuse Rs 8,000 cr into market via OMOs

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today said it will pump in Rs 8,000 crore in the market on December 28 by buying government securities to ease the liquidity situation.“Consistent with the stance of monetary policy and based on the current assessment of prevailing and evolving liquidity conditions, the Reserve Bank has decided to conduct Open Market Operations (OMOs) by purchasing...government securities for an aggregate amount of Rs 8,000 crore on December 28, 2012,” the RBI said in a statement.As part of the OMOs, the RBI will purchase government...

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Union Bank of India to raise up to Rs 1,500 cr via bonds

The State-owned Union Bank of India (UBI) today said it would raise up to Rs 1,500 crore from bonds over the next three months.The decision to raise funds was taken at the Board meeting held on December 22, UBI said in a BSE filing.The Board approved raising of additional capital funds not exceeding Rs 1,500 crore during the year 2012-13 by way of issue of Tier-I and Tier-II capital bonds as per eligibility, it said.Meanwhile, another public sector lender Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has cleared raising up to Rs 1,350 crore from various bonds.BoM...

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IndusInd bank promoter sells 46 lakh shares for Rs 196 crore

One of the promoters of IndusInd Bank - IndusInd International Holdings – on Monday offloaded 46 lakh shares of the private sector lender for about Rs 196 crore through open market transaction.As per the bulk deal data available with the stock exchanges, IndusInd International sold shares of IndusInd Bank at an average price of Rs 425.43 a piece.The deal was valued at Rs 195.7 crore.The entity held nearly 6.85 crore shares in the bank representing 13.12 per cent stake, as on December 5, 2012.On the BSE, the shares of IndusInd Bank dipped 0.67...

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Dena Bank, Federal Bank raise rates for some term deposits

Tight liquidity coupled with a gradual pick-up in credit has prompted Dena Bank and Federal Bank to increase term-deposit rates for some tenures.Dena Bank has upped the rates (for up to Rs 15 lakh and between Rs 15 lakh and Rs 1 crore) for 365 days and above 1 year to less than two years from 8.75 per cent to 9.1 per cent.The public sector bank said the new deposit rates are effective from December 22.Private sector lender Federal Bank has upped the interest rate on term deposits in the 91-119 days maturity period from 7 per cent to 7.5 per...

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SBI, Russian wealth fund ink pact to set up $2-billion investment consortium

State Bank of India and the $10-billion Russian sovereign wealth fund, RDIF, on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a $2-billion consortium to promote direct investment.The pact was among the 10 deals, including defence, that were signed at the 13th annual India-Russia summit here.In a joint statement, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin reviewed the progress made in key areas of co-operation including energy, trade, high technology and military-technical co-operation and noted that...

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Karnataka Bank conducts exporters’ meet in Chennai

Karnataka Bank, in association with Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), conducted an exporters’ meet in Chennai recently.A press release by the bank said here on Monday that the meet was organised to promote export business in Tamil Nadu, especially in and around Chennai.Inaugurating the meet, M. Rafeeque Ahmed, President of FIEO, highlighted various promotional activities undertaken by FIEO and the Government for the benefit of exporters.Speaking on the occasion, P. Jayarama Bhat, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer...

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Govt to infuse Rs 3,004 cr into SBI this fiscal

The Government has approved fund infusion of Rs 3,004 crore in SBI during the current fiscal to boost the bank’s capital base. This is a part of the capital infusion plan for the public sector banks for 2012-13, sources said.The Finance Ministry has recently approved allocation of Rs 12,000 crore for various public sector banks including SBI.Fund transfer to various banks would be made in due course of time after they obtain the necessary approvals. Decision about the remaining Rs 3,000 crore would be taken soon, they said.The Government has...

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Muthoottu Mini branches in Delhi

Muthoottu Mini Financiers Pvt. Ltd., one of the leading NBFCs, has announced the opening of its first bunch of branches in New Delhi. The seven branches in the capital city are located at Janakpuri, Dwarka, Dilshad Colony, Palam Colony, Uttham Nagar, Tughlakabad and Sunder Vihar.In the second phase, the company plans to open another 22 Branches.Roy M. Mathew, Chairman, Muthoottu Mini Financiers, said in a statement here that the company would offer various services including gold loans, e-gold, life insurance, general insurance, health insurance...

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Canara Bank Christmas fair

A Christmas fair organised by Canara Bank in association with Kudumbashree opened here on Friday.K.B. Valsala Kumari, Executive Director, Kudumbashree, inaugurated the event. She lauded the efforts of Canara Bank and Kudumbashree in coming forward to organise the fair.G. Sreeram, general manager, and C.G. Nair and S.T. Ramachandra, deputy general managers, Canara Bank, offered felicitations.Fifty stalls displaying various products have been put up at the fair....

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IOB to involve SHGs in Direct Benefits Transfer, says its Chairman

The Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) is planning to involve the Self Help Groups (SHGs) in some of the activities relating to the ambitious ‘Direct Benefits Transfer’ scheme of the Central Government which would also bring the SHGs supplementary income, the IOB CMD M. Narendra said here on Sunday.The bank has also taken initiatives to give a boost to retail credit and has tailor made schemes to meet the needs of different sections of the customers, he said.Participating in an IOB credit disbursement programme here this evening, he said though districts...

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More customers are taking to mobile banking

This year has seen a gradual pick-up in mobile banking transactions, thanks to increased customer awareness and proliferation of smart phones.M-banking services, such as mobile wallet and Interbank Mobile Payment Service (IMPS), are being used for instant inter-bank electronic fund transfer service through mobile phones in India.These services are mainly used for balance checks, account transactions, payments, credit applications and other banking transactions.The IMPS is also being extended to accept merchant payments, using the bank account...

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For Corporation Bank, using technology to monitor loans is paying off

You feel happy when an SMS alert from your bank informs that money has been credited to your account. The same may not be the case when it is about a deduction.What if your bank sends an alert on the EMI (equated monthly instalment) due, well in advance? If you are a genuine borrower, it may be a slight irritant. But it is one of the processes that Corporation Bank follows to monitor its loan accounts.“Follow-up using technology is the key. Following up right from day-one can keep the portfolio in a healthy condition,” Ajai Kumar, Chairman...

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