YES Bank plans to raise $500 m

YES Bank Ltd has proposed to raise up to $500 million in one or more tranches through multiple options including Qualified Institutional Placement.In a filing with the stock exchanges, the bank said its board of directors on April 17 empowered the capital raising committee, a sub-committee of the board, to raise up to $500 million in one or more tranches.The funds will be raised through QIP or any other international offering like Global Depository Receipts (GDRs)/American Depository Receipts (ADRs), ordinary shares through (Depository Receipt...

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SBI chief sees no impact of sliding prices on gold loans

SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri said sliding gold prices will not have much impact on his bank’s gold loan portfolio, which currently stands at Rs 35,000 crore.A chunk of the gold loans have been taken by farmers for agriculture purposes. Generally, the bank has been lending only up to 70 per cent of the peak value of the gold. “We have the security of the crop or farm. Generally, we keep 30 per cent margin and we will have to review that valuation. So, loan-to-value ratio of 70 per cent may come down.”“We would be revising our advisory for gold...

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YES Bank net up 33% in Q4 on rise in interest income

Robust interest income and loan growth helped YES Bank post a 33 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 362 crore in the fourth quarter ended March, 2013.The mid-sized private sector lender had posted a net profit of Rs 272 crore in the year-ago period.Net interest income (difference between interest earned and expended) increased 42 per cent to Rs 638 crore on the back of healthy growth in customer assets and net interest margins (NIM). Rana Kapoor, Managing Director and CEO, said, “There is a strong platform for interest rates to come down and...

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Andhra Bank’s business grows 17% in 2012-13

Andhra Bank’s business has grown by 17 per cent in the financial year ended March 31, 2013.“Our total business has touched Rs 2.24 lakh crore in 2012-13 compared with Rs 1.92 lakh crore in the previous year,’’ B.A. Prabhakar, Chairman and Managing Director, told Business Line.Deposits and advances grew at 17 per cent and 18.4 per cent respectively while net interest margin was in the range of 3.25–3.3 per cent, he said.Andhra Bank’s board will meet on May 2 to finalise Q4 and full-year numbers. TARGET For the current financial year, a 20...

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Union Bank new office in Varanasi

Union Bank of India opened its second Field General Manager’s office at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.The Varanasi FGM’s office has been carved out from the existing FGM’s office in Lucknow to give more support to the customers in 25 districts, with majority of them located in the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh.The Varanasi FGM’s office was inaugurated by K.C. Chakraborty, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India.Union Bank has 694 branches in Uttar Pradesh. The bank’s total business mix of the State is Rs 46,634 crore comprising Rs 35,768 crore deposits...

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State Bank chief wants 100 bps cut in CRR

A cut in Cash Reserve Ratio will be much more effective in bringing down lending rates than a repo rate cut, said State Bank of India Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri.A strong votary of abolishing the CRR, the SBI chief said he will bring the base rate down by 20 basis points, if the Reserve Bank of India cuts the CRR by 100 basis points. Base rate is the minimum lending rate below which banks cannot lend. Policy meeting The RBI will review key policy rates in its annual policy meeting scheduled on May 3.Currently, the CRR (the slice of deposits...

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RBI meet in Mangalore

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will conduct a meeting to listen to the grievances of the public in Mangalore on April 16.A press release said here that RBI will conduct a ‘town hall meet’ for the benefit of customers of various banks at the auditorium of the corporate office of Corporation Bank in Mangalore at 11.30 am on April 16.K.C. Chakrabarty, Deputy Governor of RBI, will be present. The purpose of the meeting is to listen to the grievances regarding deficiencies in services and problems while dealing with the banks.Customers of all banks...

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Union Bank hits global debt market with $500 mn bond issue

State-run Union Bank of India has hit the global debt market to raise around $500 million through bond issuance, said two merchant bankers working on the issue.This has comes days after successful bond issuances by State Bank of India last week and a dozen of corporates in recent months.“We have launched roadshows in the leading Asian and European finance centres on behalf of Union Bank of India last week, as part of the bank’s plan to launch a benchmark issue.If the market condition is conducive, we will close the sale programme this week,”...

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Karnataka Bank gets ISO certificate for IT systems

Karnataka Bank has secured the ‘ISO 27001:2005’ certificate for its three IT (information technology) units.A press release from the bank said here on Monday that NQA (National Quality Assurance) — an assessment, verification and certification body accredited to the United Kingdom Accreditation Service — has awarded the ISO 27001:2005 certificate of registration to Karnataka Bank’s three IT units. Two of them are situated in Bangalore, and one in Mangalore.The release said ISO27001:2005 specifies a well documented information security management...

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ICICI Bank to auction 11-kg pledged gold to recover loans

The country’s largest private sector lender ICICI Bank will auction this month gold jewellery weighing over 11 kg, pledged by more than 150 borrowers, who have defaulted on their payments.The auction would be conducted by the bank’s branches in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Uttarakhand from April 18-22 for gold jewellery deposited by about over 150 customers as collateral for their loans, the bank said in a public notice last week.While neither the exact value of the gold ornaments being auctioned nor the outstanding loans could be ascertained,...

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Bank of America pays Mukesh Ambani Rs 1.3 cr as director pay

Indian billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani has been paid $240,000 (about Rs 1.3 crore) as director compensation for 2012 by global banking giant Bank of America - a position he would relinquish next month.Ambani, who heads the Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries group, was paid a higher compensation of $276,816 by the bank in the previous year, 2011.Ambani joined Bank of America’s board as an independent director in March 2011, but would step down from this position at the company’s next Annual Meeting of shareholders on May 8.The US-based...

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Dena Bank hopes to get Rs 600 cr capital infusion this fiscal

Public sector undertaking Dena Bank hopes for Rs 600-crore capital infusion by the Government this financial year. The bank had originally sought Rs 1,260 crore from the Government, and “we expect at least 50 per cent of that this year,” said Ashwani Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director of the bank. Talking to a group of journalists here today, he said Dena Bank plans to expand its network by adding around 150 branches and 560 ATMs (automatic teller machine) during the current financial year. The bank has pan-India presence with 1,600...

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PNB Metlife launches product to protect borrowers

PNB MetLife India Insurance Company Ltd (PNB MetLife) on Sunday announced the launch of its loan protection plan, Met Flexi Shield for PNB’s home and education loan customers.This proposition provides protection against loan liability, in the event of unforeseen circumstances of the death of the borrower and offers full financial protection to the family.“With the launch of this offering, we have added a customised life insurance product, which comes at competitive rates and offers best service to our customers at the branches”, said K.R. Kamath,...

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