29 mar 2003

rbi issues guidelines on credit derivatives
mumbai: rbi, in its draft guidelines on credit derivatives, has said that banks will be initially permitted to use credit derivatives only for the purpose of managing their credit risk, which includes buying protection on loans and investments for reduction of credit risk.

world bank cuts global growth outlook; sees us recession risk
new delhi: the world bank has downgraded its outlook for global growth for this year and sees the risk of recession and deflation in the united states, according to a bank report obtained by reuters on thursday.

rbi, banks to extend banking hours on
mumbai: the apex bank has asked all public sector banks and other authorised banks to keep their tax collecting branches open for a reasonably longer time for this purpose only, the rbi said in a release.

shareholders clear uti bank pref share allotment
mumbai: uti bank shareholders on friday approved the issuance and allotment of 3.83 crore shares on preferential basis at rs 42.75 per share to four investors, including chryscapital and bahrain-based citicorp banking.

ecgc plans insurance products for exporters
new delhi: ecgc is planning a slew of insurance products to suit the needs of exporters. these include products like a turnover policy, buyer-wise policy which would be rolled out in april this year, said pma hakeem, chairman and managing director, ecgc.

sbi life planning schemes for nris
mumbai: sbi life, the joint venture life insurance company between state bank of india and cardiff sa of france, is contemplating special insurance schemes for non-resident indians (nris). currently, the company is selling its existing insurance schemes to nris in india. these are all rupee-dominated schemes and the future payments will also be made in rupees.

idbi bank debenture for rs 45 crore
mumbai: idbi bank ltd has informed the bombay stock exchange (bse) that it has allotted, 900, tier ii, subordinated, unsecured, redeemable, non-convertible, and debentures — series c, by way of private placement.

gtb shareholders okay capital hike
hyderabad: the shareholders of global trust bank ltd (gtb) have approved a proposal to enhance the authorised share capital to rs 350 crore from the existing rs 200 crore. gtb currently has a paid-up equity capital of rs 121.36 crore.

housing finance cos' deposit rate cap at 11 pc
mumbai: national housing bank (nhb) has announced a 150 basis points reduction in the ceiling on the interest rates that housing finance companies (hfcs) can offer on public deposits.

28 mar 2003

floating rates on psb recap bonds from sept
mumbai: public sector banks have earned a major reprieve with the government agreeable to reversing its decision to impose floating rates on 10 per cent recapitalisation bonds retrospectively.

allianz sees indian insurance market poised for a churn
mumbai: the indian insurance regulator, n rangachary, better be prepared. the two-year old liberalised insurance market with 21 private and five public sector companies is in for a churn.

additional credit committee for each sbi circle to expedite loan sanctioning
new delhi: the state bank of india (sbi), in an attempt to quicken the process of sanction of loan proposals, has assigned one additional circle credit committee in each of its 15 circles, according to sbi’s bengal circle chief general manager tk keshavamurthy.ry

sbi life insurance rolls out bancassurance in bengal circle
kolkata: sbi life insu-rance co ltd on thursday announced the launch of bancassurance services in the bengal circle of state bank of india.

bye bye to `ashoka pillar' notes
mumbai: the reserve bank of india, it appears, has decided to phase out the ashoka pillar series currency notes. the apex bank, has since november last, been instructing the banks against reissuing currency notes bearing the ashoka pillar emblem.

syndicate bank plans to return rs 100-cr capital
bangalore: the public sector syndicate bank has proposed to reduce its paid-up capital base by rs 100 crore in a bid to improve shareholder returns. this would be done during the course of the next financial year and the bank's board had already approved it, syndicate bank's general manager, b.s. murthy said.

prudential bank on a major recovery drive - notices soon to defaulters for rs 250 cr
hyderabad: prudential bank, the city-based troubled urban co-operative bank, under the supervision of the newly-appointed administrator, t. satyanarayana rao, has decided to go aggressive on recoveries of non-performing assets (npas) with the help of the powers conferred under the recently promulgated securitisation act.

clean up co-op banks to tap `project loans' again
new delhi: the finance ministry, rbi and nabard have jointly revived the idea of writing off losses of well over rs 6,000 crore held by the co-operative credit system.

fewer complaints to ombudsman
mumbai: the number of complaints received by the banking ombudsmen of the reserve bank of india during the year 2001-2002 was down by 2.5 per cent, as compared to those received in 1998-99, according to an rbi report reviewing the banking ombudsmen scheme for the period 1998-99 to 2001-02.

27 mar 2003

rbi asks dena bank to pen capital restoration
mumbai: the reserve bank of india has come down hard on state-run dena bank and asked it to discuss capital restoration plan and strategies for its successful implementation to improve its financial position at its upcoming board meeting on end-march 2003.

many skeletons may fall out of ifci’s cupboard if probed: state
mumbai: the maharashtra government has said that many scams may come to light if an inquiry is instituted into the misuse of profits/interests earned by the industrial finance corporation of india on its lendings to the sugar industry in the state.

dcb picks infosys for core banking solution
mumbai: infosys technologies will provide core banking solutions to private sector development credit bank to improve operational efficiency of the bank and facilitate it to launch value-added services like internet banking.

corp bank to focus on car finance
mangalore: corporation bank is planning to lay more emphasis on retail portfolio, especially car finance, in the next financial year.

irda may get annuity pie of pensions markets
new delhi: while the insurance regulatory and development authority (irda) might have lost the race for the new pension regulator, the government has in store a consolation prize for it. according to the plans for the new pension system,irda would continue to regulate the annuities and other-related developments in the payout stage of the new pension scheme even after the setting up of the pension fund regulatory and development authority (pfrda).

centurion bank offers `sms alerts' facility
mumbai: centurion bank has launched mobile phone-based `sms alerts' a value-added premium service. centurion bank customers with mobile subscriptions can get updated information on their bank transactions through the `sms alerts' service.

tata aig unveils indemnity cover for auditors
mumbai: tata aig general insurance company has launched its professional indemnity policy for chartered accountants. the policy has been exclusively designed in consultation with the bombay chartered accountants society for individual chartered as well as their firms with one to five partners, said dalip verma, managing director, tata aig general insurance company, addressing a press conference here on wednesday.

retail trading in gilts lacklustre
mumbai: the reserve bank of india scheme for gilts trading on the bourses seems to be facing a `chicken and egg' situation excepting a few, most primary dealers are yet to even seek consent from their boards to participate in the new initiative.

dcb plans retail focus in new fiscal
mumbai: development credit bank ltd (dcb) is to change its focus from wholesale banking to retail banking in the new fiscal.

rcs panel to manage charminar bank
hyderabad: aa a part of its efforts to restructure and revive the operations of the ailing charminar bank, the city-based urban cooperative bank, the andhra pradesh state registrar of cooperative societies (rcs) has appointed a seven-member person-in-charge committee for a period of one year.

26 mar 2003

sbi life insurance teams up with ge, maruti countrywide
mumbai: sbi life insurance company on tuesday announced tie-ups with ge countrywide to provide life insurance cover against personal, two-wheeler and auto loans, and with maruti countrywide to provide life insurance cover against auto loans.

rocs in a bind over rbi decision on prudential bank
mumbai: the reserve bank of india’s recent decision to supersede the board of prudential cooperative urban bank has put the registrar of cooperative societies, a co-regulator of cooperative banks in the state, in a fix.

hsbc to guarantee saving on home, personal loans
mumbai: after having entered the market with what is apparently the cheapest home-loan offering at 8.5 per cent, hsbc, in an attempt to grow its market share, is set to launch a ‘guaranteed saving’ scheme for home and personal loans.

state relieved as court stays recovery of rs 50-cr arrears
mumbai: the maharashtra government has heaved a sigh of relief as the bombay high court has stayed the recovery of rs 50-crore arrears towards interest, principal and surcharge by industrial finance corporation of india, industrial development bank of india, icici and others.

plunging share prices may delay s korea’s plan to privatise banks
new delhi: plunging share prices are wrecking south korea’s plan to privatise state-owned banks as the government will have to lower prices or delay the process

corpn bank to open more outlets in lic premises
mangalore: in pursuance of its `strategic alliance' with life insurance corporation (lic), the mangalore-based corporation bank is opening 33 more service outlets on lic premises. these outlets, to be opened on march 26, will be spread across punjab,chandigarh, delhi, rajasthan, jharkhand, orissa, maharashtra, goa, karnataka and tamil nadu.

dena bank bond issue
mumbai: dena bank has informed the bombay stock exchange that it has come out with an issue of 7 per cent unsecured, redeemable, non-convertible subordinate bonds on private placement basis. the bank plans to raise rs 60 crore with an option to retain over subscription up to rs 40 crore.

bank of india plans rating tool for ssis
mumbai: bank of india (boi) will shortly introduce a credit rating system exclusively for the small-scale industries (ssis), factoring in the problems unique to the sector, and things easier for borrowers from this segment.

bank unions want rbi to review stapling order
even while the reserve bank of india has sought compliance on the `clean note policy', bank employees have decided to defy the order on stapling of notes. raising objection to the introduction of non-stapling, the united forum of bank unions (ufbu), while advising its members to oppose the policy, has appealed to rbi to restore the original system of stapling the notes.

prudential bank staff `refuse' administrator
hyderabad: at the headquarters of the hyderabad-based ailing prudential cooperative bank, employees refused to allow the government-appointed administrator to take charge of the affairs while superseding its board of directors on tuesday.

move to check nbfc, co-op bank frauds - ap govt plans special court for economic offences
hyderabad: the members of the andhra pradesh legislative assembly voiced their concern asking the government to constitute a house committee and prepare an action plan to address economic offences that have rocked several non-banking financial institutions.

25 mar 2003

kotak bank sets rs 100 crore to beef up retail operations
mumbai: kotak mahindra bank ltd, which has received the reserve bank of india’s approval for setting up a bank, will open its first branch at nariman point, mumbai on march 31, 2003.

rbi issues new norms on repos transactions
mumbai: the reserve bank of india on monday issued guidelines on uniform accounting policies to be followed by market participants for repos and reverse repos transactions.

ing vysya readies pension, group insurance products
mumbai: ing vysya life insurance company pvt ltd, the joint venture between ing insurance international bv, ing vysya bank and the gmr technologies and industries ltd, is planning to come out with products for the pension and the group insurance segment within the next 12 months.

icici lombard otc sales top 50,000 policies
new delhi: icici lombard general insurance on monday claimed that that the initial response to its over-the-counter products has been very positive, contributing 30 per cent of its non-motor retail sales.

bob commits rs 100 cr for india development fund
mumbai: bank of baroda on monday said that it has committed rs 100 crore to the india development fund.

i-flex solution for kotak bank
bangalore: i-flex solutions has announced that kotak mahindra bank has selected its flagship product, flexcube, for its core-banking operations.

bob to sell ing vysya insurance products
mumbai: bharat overseas bank (bob) entered into a memorandum of understanding (mou) with ing vysya life insurance on monday to promote the latter's insurance products across its branches.

new irda non-life brokerage norms - `no payment for business from govt, psus'
new delhi: as per the new guidelines on general insurance contracts, insurance brokers cannot charge brokerage or commission on the business of government and public sector undertakings.

insurance cos: divestment clause looms large for foreign promoters
new delhi: for foreign promoters of indian insurance companies, the euphoria over the move to hike foreign direct investment (fdi) cap in insurance to 49 per cent could be short-lived, with the government proposing to slap the mandatory divestment clause on them as is currently applicable to indian promoters.

state bank, bob get nod for offshore branches in sezs
mumbai: state bank of india (sbi) and bank of baroda (bob), the two largest public sector banks, have received rbi licence to set up offshore banking units (obus) in special economic zones (sezs).

24 mar 2003

dakshina kannada banks register rs 7,238-cr business
bangalore: the 331 branches of all the banks operating in the dakshina kannada district of karnataka have registered a total business of over rs 7,238 crore as of december 2002. total deposits of the banks stood at rs 4,963.46 crore and advances at rs 2,274.66 crore.

panel for immediate freeing of own-damage segment - motor insurance tariffs in for changes
new delhi: the free market forces are set to win a battle of a different kind with yet another tariff bastion - the motor insurance business - likely to crumble under its impact. in its draft report on detariffing on motor insurance, the justice t n c rangarajan committee has said that in an era of liberalisation market there appears no alternative but to remove tariffs from the own-damage (od) segment of the business with immediate effect.

royal sundaram opens new branch
chennai: royal sundaram, the chennai-based private general insurer has announced the launch of its second city branch in nungambakkam in chennai city on friday. the company has proposed to launch more branches across tamil nadu.

syndicate bank projects credit outlay of rs 951 cr
kochi: under the primary sector, crop loans aggregate rs 113.87 crore. under term loans, minor irrigation, land development, farm mechanisation, plantation and horticulture and allied activities have been given priority.

lok adalats to deal with andhra bank npas
hyderabad: following the request of andhra bank, the city legal services authority, city civil court, has constituted four benches of lok adalat on saturday exclusively to take up andhra bank matters of hyderabad zone.

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