1 mar 2003

pension plan for happy greying
coimbatore: the proposed launch of a plan by lic for citizens over the age of 55 guaranteeing an annual return of 9 per cent would serve as one of the best investment options for those seeking pensions.

private players will miss mass pensions action
mumbai: icici prudential would have been happy to have an opportunity to be part of the mass pensions segment.

no big bang, but...
new delhi: the expected big bang announcement on freeing of foreign direct investment (fdi) limit in banking ended in disappointment.instead of lifting the 20 per cent cap on fdi in state bank of india (sbi) or other nationalised banks as was being expected by the capital markets, the finance minister, jaswant singh, limited his tampering with the limits to only the private sector bank where fdi of `at least 74 per cent' would be allowed against the previous 49 per cent.

it's time for private banks to go rural
new delhi: private banks will be encouraged to open more branches in rural areas, the finance minister has said. the statistics seem to bear out the case that private banks have hitherto been shy of going into india interior.

savings bank, repo rates cut
mumbai: the reserve bank of india on friday reduced the interest rate on savings accounts from four per cent per annum to 3.5 per cent with immediate effect.

28 feb 2003

hudco doubles sanctions to infrastructure projects
new delhi: housing and urban development corporation sanctions for infrastructure projects have more than doubled to rs 10,142.56 crore in the current year compared to rs 5,098 crore last year.

lack of demand forces tiic to scrap two finance schemes
chennai: the tamil nadu industrial investment corporation ltd has dispensed with the hire purchase and leasing finance schemes with effect from january 28.

sbi buys over 1 per cent equity stake in dfhi from idbi
mumbai: the state bank of india has bought 24,94,850 equity shares in discount and finance house of india ltd from industrial development bank of india for rs 315 per share.

icici bank term deposits get highest safety rating
new delhi: credit rating agency icra assigned the highest safety rating of 'maaa' to icici bank's term deposit programme and reaffirmed the highest safety 'a1+' rating to certificate of deposits for the enhanced amount of rs 3,000 crore.

japan banks'funding drive strains family ties
mumbai: japan's biggest banking group, mizuho holdings, is finding that out as it goes about raising a massive $7.3 billion in funds from its group firms to boost capital levels that have been left looking thin by a government crackdown on bad loans.

punjab national bank to reduce net npas to 5 per cent by 2005
new delhi: punjab national bank, one of the leading nationalised banks, was all set to bring down its net non-performing assets to international standards, having maintained a consistent track record of profitability, pnb chairman, ss kohli said

norms tightened for inter-branch reconciliation
mumbai: the reserve bank of india has decided to reduce the time period allowed to banks for making provisions against the net debit balance in the inter-branch accounts from one year to six months from the year ending march 31, 2004.

ubi plans offices in 3 gulf nations
mumbai: union bank of india (ubi) is in the process of setting up representative offices abroad - at united arab emirates (uae), sultanate of oman and qatar. the plan is expected to crystallise within the next 3- 5 months.

corpn bank cuts fcnr (b) rates for select periods
mangalore: corporation bank has reduced interest rates for select tenures on fcnr (b) deposits with effect from february 28. while the interest rate on dollar deposits for tenure of one-year to less than two years remains at 1.10 per cent, the interest rate for a period of two years to less than three years and for three-year dollar deposits are 1.55 per cent (1.65 per cent) and 2.05 per cent (2.20 per cent). fcnr (b) deposits are currently accepted in three currencies - the dollar, pound and euro.

sbi bets rs 1,000 cr on venture with maruti
new delhi: state bank of india has taken an exposure of rs 1,000 crore for the current financial year under the sbi maruti finance scheme, a strategic tie-up between the largest public sector bank and maruti udyog, the country's largest passenger car manufacturer in india.

27 feb 2003

bob charts plan to reap 50 per cent more profit from global ops
ahmedabad: state-run bank of baroda (bob) has chalked out a blueprint for increasing its operating profit from overseas operations by 50 per cent in 2003-04 by focusing on existing operations territory-wise and setting up operations in some more countries.

icici bank to raise $100 million forex loan
mumbai: icici bank has hit the syndication market with a $100 million external commercial borrowing. the facility, with a tenure of one year, is likely to carry a coupon of less than 50 basis points above libor.

ap govt offers revival package for charminar co-op bank
hyderabad: the andhra pradesh government has announced a revival-cum-reconstruction package for the ailing charminar co-operative bank whose chairman, sajjad aga committed suicide last year.

rbi cuts provisioning period for bad entries
mumbai: the reserve bank of india has brought down the one-year limit for mandatory 100 per cent provisioning in case of unreconciled entries outstanding in inter-bank accounts to six months, which will be made applicable from march 31, 2004.

karnataka bank plans rights issue at 1:2
mangalore: the mangalore-based karnataka bank, which has issued bonus shares in the ratio of 1:1 to its shareholders in december 2002, is offering rights issue of shares in the ratio of one share for every two shares of post-bonus share capital at a premium of rs 15 per share per share of rs 10 face value.

infosys' banking summit in bangkok
bangalore: infosys technologies is hosting a banking summit with a theme "technology-enabled agile banking" at bangkok on march 3.

amp sanmar unveils pension plan
chennai: amp sanmar assurance launched a pension plan, `bhagya shree',on wednesday. a company release says that the plan has been structured with flexibility as the key principle.

redington debt plan on watch
mumbai: the `p1+' rating assigned to the rs 80-crore short-term debt programme of redington has been placed on rating watch by crisil, following the announcement that gtl ltd plans to acquire the company.

dena bank to sell om kotak life products
mumbai: dena bank and om kotak mahindra life insurance company ltd (omkm) on wednesday announced a strategic alliance for bancassurance. under the `mutually exclusive referral' arrangement, omkm's life insurance products will be made available through dena bank's branch network.

irfc to borrow $ 100 m abroad
new delhi: indian railway finance corporation ltd (irfc) has entered the overseas market with a plan to borrow $100 million which would be utilised to retire some of its earlier high cost loans, a top railway ministry official said.

lenders free to decide on npa categorisation
new delhi: the government on wednesday ruled out any further legislative flexibility to the existing securitisation law in the matter of settlement of non-performing assets (npas) even as it recognised the validity of industry's suggestion over the need for a distinction between "wilful defaults" and "honest failures".

26 feb 2003

crisil sees psbs' profits down 40 per cent by '06 as spreads decline
mumbai: public-sector banks (psb) better note this. the credit rating and information services of india has said that over the next four years, psbs may see an over 40 per cent drop in profitability because of the decline in spreads on their investment portfolios.

crisil estimates market for potential securitisation at rs 60,000 crore
mumbai: the credit rating information services of india on tuesday said that it estimates the local banking system has assets of about rs 60,000 crore that can be potentially securitised.

hdfc bank in parleys with civic bodies for card payment
mumbai: hdfc bank, one of the new generation private sector commercial banks, is holding talks with the municipal authorities in karnataka and punjab for enabling utility services payments through hdfc bank credit and debit cards, according to the bank's executive director, vinod yennemadi.

icici-pru grabs 73 per cent of pvt pensions mart
new delhi: icici prudential life insurance on tuesday claimed that it had captured 73 per cent of the local private sector pensions market as of january 2003.

canara bank eyes rs 20 cr income via insurance hawking
mumbai: canara bank is targeting fee-based income of rs 20 to 25 crore during the first year of its distribution of insurance products of aviva life insurance.

idbi bank home loans come with durables, job loss cover
mumbai: idbi bank has tied up with bajaj allianz general insurance to offer unemployment insurance cover, along with its housing loans.

union bank plans insurance cover for clients
mumbai: union bank of india is planning to unveil value-added insurance scheme for its customers. the bank is planning to offer a group insurance cover for its depositors and a loan cover term assurance plan for its borrowers.

stanchart launches `parivaar'
mumbai: standard chartered bank has introduced family savings account under the name parivaar. according to the bank, this account provides a wealth management package with insurance and investment services.

replacement for idbi as mutual fund partner - principal group in talks with pnb
new delhi: in what could lead to yet another major reorganisation in the mutual fund industry, the principal financial group has opened up negotiations with punjab national bank for an equity tie-up for its asset management company .

sbt offers one-time settlement of npas
thiruvananthapuram: state bank of travancore has evolved a one-time settlement scheme for recovery of dues in respect of outstanding balance of non-performing assets not exceeding rs 10 crore as on march 31, 2000.

25 feb 2003

iba pegs extra monthly spend post-wage revision at rs 800 crore
new delhi: the banking industry is poised to incur an additional expenditure of around rs 800 crore per month on account of the 8th bipartite wage revision in the industry.

sbi in talks with pwc, deloitte on npa front
new delhi: with a view to bringing down its non-performing assets, state bank of india has decided to rope in external recovery agents.

iib plans tie-up with iim to impart training for bankers
kolkata: indian institute of bankers will tie up with indian institute of management to impart management skills to the top officials in the banking sector.

pseb to raise rs 200-crore loan to augment working capital
chandigarh: the punjab state electricity board has approached the market to raise a term loan of rs 200 crore at an interest rate of 10.50 per cent to augment its working capital resources.

centre seeks to adress iibi dividend obligations
new delhi: in order to nip in the bud any new signs of sickness among financial institutions, the government is casting about for means to tackle the predicament facing the industrial investment bank of india.

govt places rs 13,000-cr debt with rbi
new delhi: in a move aimed at benefiting from a strong foreign exchange reserves position and low interest rate regime in the domestic market, the government today privately placed with the reserve bank of india (rbi) two new securities aggregating rs 13,000 crore for buying foreign currency to prepay loans taken from world bank and asian development bank (adb).

western union plans direct bank credit facility
mumbai: western union financial services is planning to start direct money transfers to bank accounts of individuals in india as a new service area to increase its market share in the country.

sknl debentures downgraded
new delhi: icra has downgraded the rating assigned to the rs 50-crore non-convertible debenture programme of s. kumars nationwide ltd ) from `lbb', under rating watch, to `ld', indicating default.

union bank keen to tap captive insurance
mumbai: union bank of india had a total credit portfolio of rs 22,465 crore at the end of last financial year. of this about rs 19,000 crore were secured against insurable assets.

lvb raises bulk deposit rates
hyderabad: the lakshmi vilas bank ltd has decided to pay additional interest of 0.25 percentage points on bulk deposits of rs 50 lakh and above for maturity periods ranging between 90 and 365 days (both inclusive).

boi hikes rates on deposits
mumbai: bank of india has raised interest rates by 25 basis points on domestic term deposits of amounts less than rs one crore, in the maturity bracket of "46 to 90 days'', effective from february 27.

24 feb 2003

nidhis want to be covered under securitisation act
chennai: for more than a century-and-a-half, the `nidhi' non-banking finance companies, had been doing geography-specific lending, against the security of property and jewels.typically, repayments of loans against property were delayed, but recoveries were 100 per cent.

idbi bank eyes housing portfolio
mumbai: idbi bank ltd is likely to acquire retail portfolios of other banks or finance companies once clarity on its merger with parent, industrial development bank of india (idbi), emerges.

tu urges recap funds for primary co-op banks
chennai: the all india co-op bank employees' federation has reiterated its demand for recapitalisation assistance to primary co-operative banks.

rbi asks states to augment revenues
mumbai: the reserve bank has expressed concern over the huge fiscal and revenue deficits in several states in the recent years, and asked them to make concerted efforts to augment their revenue receipts to ensure adequate funds for developmental activities.

list of reports on finance diary