How the cookie crumbled for ABG Shipyard

By Rajesh Kurup Rishi Kamlesh Agarwal, the former chairman and managing director of ABG Shipyard, must have been surprised by the developments over the last few days. After all, even he couldn’t have expected the investigating agencies to take nearly three years to close in on him since 2019, when his company’s forensic auditor EY found a diversion of funds, prompting State Bank of India (SBI) to approach the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). But investigating agencies seem to be making up for the lost time with a vengeance. A day after the Enforcement Directorate filed a money laundering case (media reports suggest at least 100 shell companies were used to divert public money), the CBI,...

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Pralay Mondal named deputy MD of CSB Bank after RBI nod

CSB Bank on Friday said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the appointment of Pralay Mondal as the bank’s deputy managing director for three years. In January, MD & CEO C VR Rajendran decided to take an early retirement from the post to take care of his health, following the advice of his physicians. Rajendran will continue to lead the bank till March 31, 2022. Accordingly, CSB board has decided to constitute a search committee to identify and evaluate internal and external candidates for the position of MD & CEO. It has also been decided to engage an independent search firm for the purpose. CSB had announced Mondal’s name as deputy managing director subject to RBI’s approval...

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National Asset Reconstruction Company begins search for senior executives

The National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL), operationalised in January, has begun its search for senior executives in investment and operational roles. The bad bank is looking to hire 13 full-time employees, including a chief investment officer (CIO) and a chief operating officer (COO). All the positions will be based in Mumbai, according to a notice put out by the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA). The CIO will be responsible for leading the trust-level relationships with selling lenders to identify and acquire distressed assets to be transferred to the NARCL. They will collaborate with the chief executive officer (CEO) of India Debt Resolution Company (IDRCL) to implement board-approved...

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National Asset Reconstruction Company begins search for senior executives

The National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL), operationalised in January, has begun its search for senior executives in investment and operational roles. The bad bank is looking to hire 13 full-time employees, including a chief investment officer (CIO) and a chief operating officer (COO). All the positions will be based in Mumbai, according to a notice put out by the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA). The CIO will be responsible for leading the trust-level relationships with selling lenders to identify and acquire distressed assets to be transferred to the NARCL. They will collaborate with the chief executive officer (CEO) of India Debt Resolution Company (IDRCL) to implement board-approved...

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Credit card spends ease a tad in January, February

Average monthly total credit card spend in the country in January and February is expected to be in the range of ₹84,000 crore to ₹88,000 crore, down from ₹94,700 crore in the December quarter, ICICI Securities has said in a note. from Banking/Finance-Industry-Economic Times https://ift.tt/FV8UG...

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IDFC FIRST Bank appoints Jaimini Bhagwati on board as additional director

Jaimini Bhagwati's appointment is for a period of three years with effect from February 18, 2022, subject to approval of shareholders. from Banking/Finance-Industry-Economic Times https://ift.tt/oLnr4...

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Gold auctions by lenders spike amid loan defaults

NBFCs auction mortgaged gold if customers fail to repay the loans in time. Many small businesses had taken gold loans soon after the withdrawal of the nationwide lockdown in 2020 to restart their businesses. However, before their businesses could recover fully, the second wave of the pandemic hit them. This forced many to falter on loan repayment. The spike in auction by gold loan companies shows that many small businesses are yet to recover from the impact of the pandemic. from Banking/Finance-Industry-Economic Times https://ift.tt/Y315c...

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How LIC’s Senior management is burning midnight oil to ensure success of mega IPO

Roadshows now on with an aim to reach out to at least 200 global and domestic institutional investors and sovereign wealth funds from The HinduBusinessLine - Money & Banking https://ift.tt/KEpAt...

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Govt should consider offering “livelihood loans” to support rural economy: SBI’s Ecowrap

The loans will act as a big consumption booster at subsistent levels, says the report from The HinduBusinessLine - Money & Banking https://ift.tt/94cjl...

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E-wallets will be interoperable within 6 weeks

Issuers of prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) will need to get their systems ready for interoperability in six weeks. The reason: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had set March 31, 2022 as the deadline for PPI interoperability. from Business News: Latest News on Business, Stock Markets, Financial News, India Business & World Business News https://ift.tt/1ontN...

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Banks to see 10% credit growth in FY23: Ind-Ra

After witnessing single-digit growth in recent years, the banking sector is likely to witness a 10% credit growth in FY23 on the back of a pick-up in economic activity, higher government spending in infrastructure sector and revival in retail demand, India Ratings and Research said in its banking sector outlook for the next fiscal. The rating agency, however, revised downwards its banking sector credit growth estimate for the current fiscal to 8.4% from 8.9%. Companies will likely start leveraging in the next fiscal because of revival in capital expenditure, increased working capital demand due to higher output, higher exports and commodity inflation, the agency said. It expects Rs 2 lakh-crore...

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Rate hike: SBI hikes retail deposit rates for second time in 2 months

State Bank of India (SBI) has hiked interest rates on retail deposits of some maturities for the second time in as many months. The rate hikes come a week after the monetary policy committee (MPC) voted to keep key rates unchanged to allow the economic recovery to gain strength. For deposits with balances of less than Rs 2 crore, SBI will now pay 5.2% per annum in the two-to-three-year bucket, up from 5.1%. Deposits maturing in three years to less than five years will now yield 5.45%, up from 5.3% earlier, and those maturing in five to 10 years...

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UCO Bank eyeing Rs 600-crore bad loans recovery in Q4: Soma Sankara Prasad, MD & CEO

UCO Bank is expecting cash recovery and upgradation from bad loans accounts to the extent of Rs 600 crore in the fourth quarter, although an elevated level of stress is observed in the retail, agriculture and MSME (RAM) portfolio going forward. Soma Sankara Prasad, MD & CEO, told FE that the bank is expecting cash recovery of Rs 400 crore and upgradation of Rs 200 crore in Q4. In the third quarter, the cash recovery and upgradation were at Rs 363 crore and Rs 191 crore, respectively. On slippages or fresh accretion to non-performing assets (NPAs) in the ongoing quarter, Prasad said, “We do not see much stress in the corporate segment, except in one major account which is under the FMCG space....

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Muthoot Finance lowers current FY guidance to 10-12%

NBFC Muthoot Finance has lowered its guidance for the current fiscal year to 10-12% from 15% with active loan base shrinking in the third quarter. In Q3 of FY22, the number of loan accounts shrunk by 3% quarter on quarter (QoQ) while the number of active customers declined by 2% QoQ. Some customers have more than one loan account. New customer acquisition during the quarter stands at 4.2 lakh. “More people took back their gold and closed loan accounts during Q3. Last fiscal year, in Q2 and Q3, there was a huge demand for loans right after the lockdown. Some of them abandoned their gold as the desired cash flow did not materialise and we had to auction some of them,” George Alexander Muthoot,...

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NBFCs to seek exemption of small-value accounts from new NPA norms

The non-banking financial company (NBFC) industry is planning to continue talks with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to seek an exemption of small-value loan accounts from the ambit of the new asset classification norms for the sector. On Tuesday, the RBI acceded to the industry’s requests for an extension and granted an additional six months – up to September 30, 2022 – to NBFCs to comply. Under the guidelines outlined in a circular dated November 12, 2021, NBFCs will be allowed to upgrade a non-performing borrower account to ‘standard’ only if all outstanding dues are cleared. Industry sources told FE they will continue talking to the regulator and seek further exemptions for some specific...

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Interest rates are unlikely to go any lower, signals RBI

The RBI’s statement that the pass-through of rates is complete means that banks have used all headroom for lowering interest rates. As the next interest rate revision by the central bank is expected to be a rate hike, it means this is as good as it gets for borrowers. from Business News: Latest News on Business, Stock Markets, Financial News, India Business & World Business News https://ift.tt/JtHET...

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NACH bounce rates fall to lowest in Q3 since start of Covid 19

ICICI Bank recorded the lowest bounce rates by volume while Kotak Mahindra Bank and IndusInd Bank posted higher bounce rates among peer private banks owing to large exposure to vehicle and self-employed loans. Other lenders like HDFC Bank, State Bank of India and Axis Bank recorded an improvement in bounce rates and were close to ICICI Bank's levels. from Banking/Finance-Industry-Economic Times https://ift.tt/HgG2J...

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Banks explore option of setting up panel to advise them on loan recast

The RBI had in 2016 as part of norms for resolution of large borrowers envisaged the constitution of an Overseeing Committee (OC), but its latest guidelines in 2019 on, 'Prudential Framework for Resolution of Stressed Assets,' did not mention such a requirement. from Banking/Finance-Industry-Economic Times https://ift.tt/6Aeqn...

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ED files money laundering case in ABG Shipyard bank fraud case

The action comes days after the CBI registered an FIR in the case. from The HinduBusinessLine - Money & Banking https://ift.tt/AOIDf...

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RBI allows NBFCs time till September 30 to comply with new NPA norms

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday extended the deadline for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) to comply with new asset classification norms issued on November 12. Non-bank lenders will now be allowed to move to the new rules for recognising bad loans by September 30, 2022, as against March 31, 2022. “Paragraph 10 of the (November 12) Circular stipulates that loan accounts classified as NPAs (non-performing assets) may be upgraded as ‘standard’ asset only if entire arrears of interest and principal are paid by the borrower. NBFCs shall have time till September 30, 2022, to put in place the necessary systems to implement this provision,” the central bank said in a notification. The...

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Repco Home Finance net down 60% to Rs 31.47 crore for Q3

Repco Home Finance has posted a 60% drop in its net profit at Rs 31.47 crore for the third quarter of FY22 as compared to Rs 79.60 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal. Total income stood at Rs 325.45 crore as compared to Rs 359.75 crore, registering a decline of 9.5%. Net interest income of the company stood at Rs 149.16 crore as compared to Rs 154.36 crore resulting in healthy margins of 5.04%, said a company release. The overall loan book stood at Rs 11,785.66 crore at the end of December 2021. Loans to the self-employed segment accounted for 51.30% of the outstanding loan book and loans against property product accounted for 18.16% of the same. Loans sanctions stood at Rs 494.31...

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Record IPOs in FY22 push up commercial papers issuances by NBFCs

By Manish M Suvarna The rush of public offerings by companies this financial year has resulted in a sharp rise in fundraising by non-banking finance companies (NBFC) via ultra-short-term commercial papers (CPs) to finance high net worth individuals (HNIs) investing in the issues. This was even after the rates on these instruments rose 50-70 basis points compared to the previous financial year. Non-bank lenders have raised Rs 5.12 lakh crore so far in FY22, compared to Rs 2.93 lakh crore in FY21, according to the data compiled by the Prime Database. NBFCs have raised Rs 4.53 lakh crore through seven-day papers and Rs 59,710 crore through eight-day papers so far in FY22. IPO-CPs are usually papers...

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Public sector banks see operating profit decline in Q3FY22

The October-December quarter of FY22 may have been a strong one for the banking sector, but public sector banks (PSBs) may still have some distance to go in terms of operational improvement. Data sourced from Capitaline showed that the 12 PSBs’ aggregate operating profit fell 0.6% on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis to Rs 49,596.41 crore, even as private banks as a group saw an improvement in the metric. Five of the 12 PSBs saw their operating profits decline. Most of them attributed the downtrend to poor performance on the treasury front which, in turn, is a function of interest rate movements in the money markets. Q3FY22 saw yields shooting up across debt instruments which resulted in banks booking...

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Reliance Capital's lenders agree on EoI document for bidders

The Reserve Bank of India had superseded the board of Reliance Capital on November 30 and brought in Nageswara Rao, a former executive director at Bank of Maharashtra, as its administrator. The administrator has admitted claims worth ₹24,000 crore of financial creditors so far. from Banking/Finance-Industry-Economic Times https://ift.tt/Me2Yo...

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KKR affiliate entity set to acquire IL&FS’ stake in Bangalore Elevated Tollway

Galaxy Investments, a wholly owned subsidiary of KKR Asia Pacific Infrastructure Holdings, has entered into a definitive agreement with UK’s development finance institution CDC’s India Infrastructure Fund II to acquire a stake in the company. from Banking/Finance-Industry-Economic Times https://ift.tt/deXM2...

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Govt, RBI on same page on crypto, says FM

The finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are on the same page on cryptocurrencies and other issues and there is complete harmony between the two entities in the last few years, top policymakers said on Monday. from Business News: Latest News on Business, Stock Markets, Financial News, India Business & World Business News https://ift.tt/r2JDZ...

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Real estate sector GNPAs of non-bank lenders likely to exceed 9% in FY22: ICRA

Non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and housing finance companies (HFCs) are likely to see their real estate sector gross non-performing asset (GNPA) ratio exceed 9% by March-end from 6.8% as of September 30, rating agency ICRA said in a report on Monday. Real estate GNPAs of non-bank lenders rose from 5.1% as of March 2020 to 6.2% as of March 2021, it said. Non-bank lenders have been witnessing stress building up in the real estate portfolio since FY19 (April-March) with domestic real estate sector facing a prolonged slowdown, subdued sales and consequent inventory overhang, resulting in debt build-up. Business disruptions on account of Covid-19 further exacerbated the issues, ICRA said....

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Yes Bank launches Agri Infinity program

The program will last up to six months from The HinduBusinessLine - Money & Banking https://ift.tt/TMz5v...

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Why it is important to strike a balance in your investment portfolio?

There are two main purposes to creating an investment portfolio. One is to grow your investments and two is to protect your investments. from Banking/Finance-Industry-Economic Times https://ift.tt/qcJmt...

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LIC equity investments touched ₹9.78-lakh crore by Sept 30, 2021: DRHP

About 90 per cent of the policyholders’ equity investments in India are held in stocks that are a part of the Nifty 200 and BSE 200 from The HinduBusinessLine - Money & Banking https://ift.tt/oOPJc...

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Axis Bank set to buy Citigroup’s $2.5 billion India retail unit

An agreement for the consumer unit may be announced as soon as the next few weeks and is contingent on approval from the Reserve Bank of India, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. The deal would include a cash component of less than $2 billion, accounting for the consumer business’s liabilities, the people said. from Banking/Finance-Industry-Economic Times https://ift.tt/oItJj...

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The LIC IPO is a delicate business

The insurers dominance won’t fade immediately but the loss of competitive advantage may bite from The HinduBusinessLine - Money & Banking https://ift.tt/z0Spw...

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RBI cuts reverse repo’s relevance by new route

In a quiet move, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has managed to reduce the relevance of the reverse repo rate. Reverse repo is the rate at which the RBI borrows from banks and sets the floor for money markets. from Business News: Latest News on Business, Stock Markets, Financial News, India Business & World Business News https://ift.tt/xaPfJ...

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IL&FS group to resolve debt of Rs 55,000 cr by March

Some of this has already been completed while the rest is at different stages of resolution, it said in a brief snapshot on the progress made in the ongoing resolution process till December 7, 2021, and suggested estimates of progress to be made by March 2022. from Banking/Finance-Industry-Economic Times https://ift.tt/wtuAd...

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Govt to soon appoint 3 independent directors on NaBFID board

The government is in the process of appointment of three independent directors on the board of newly-incorporated Rs 20,000 crore National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID), a move that will clear the decks for commencing of operation of the Development Finance Institution critical for infra financing. With the appointment of three independent directors, sources said, the formation of full board would be completed. In October last year, the government had appointed veteran banker K V Kamath as the Chairperson of the NaBFID for three years. It also appointed two government nominee directors on the board. The Development Finance Institution (DFI) has been set up with a...

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Government to soon appoint 3 independent directors on NaBFID board

In October last year, veteran banker K V Kamath was appointed as the Chairperson of the NaBFID for three years. from The HinduBusinessLine - Money & Banking https://ift.tt/guM39...

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SBI expects to recover Rs 8,000 cr from written-off accounts in FY22

Country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) is expecting to recover around Rs 8,000 crore from written-off accounts, including from NCLT resolved cases, in the current fiscal year to be ending on March 31, 2022. During the third quarter ended December 2021, SBI recovered Rs 1,500 crore from written-off accounts and for the nine months during April-December FY22, the recovery amount stands at Rs 5,600 crore, SBI said in a post Q3 FY22 earnings call with analysts. Bank’s net profit during the quarter surged by 62.27 per cent to Rs 8,432 crore. “But overall, the bank is expecting recovery of about Rs 8,000 crore in this whole financial year,” the lender said during the call. This includes...

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SBI expects to recover Rs 8,000 cr from written-off accounts in FY22

During the third quarter ended December 2021, SBI recovered Rs 1,500 crore from written-off accounts and for the nine months during April-December FY22, the recovery amount stands at Rs 5,600 crore, SBI said in a post Q3 FY22 earnings call with analysts. from Banking/Finance-Industry-Economic Times https://ift.tt/BFjYd...

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Muthoot Finance net profit surges 4% in third quarter

NBFC Muthoot Finance on Saturday reported a 4% year-on-year (y-o-y) increase in its third quarter consolidated net profit to Rs 1,043.6 crore largely due to the good performance of the gold loan division. The Kerala-based lender had reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,006.6 crore in the year-ago period and a net profit of Rs 1,002.9 crore in the preceding second quarter. The finance company which also operates a home loan, microfinance and insurance broking subsidiaries said that net profit of the gold loan division increased 4% y-o-y to Rs 1,028.9 crore . Consolidated loan assets under management of Muthoot increased by 9% y-o-y to Rs 54,687.6 crore. The gross loan assets under management...

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