3 may 2003

finmin spots 11 eds for state-run banks
mumbai: union ministry of finance (finmin) on friday finalised the list of 11 candidates of general manager rank from state-run banks for the positions of executive directors (eds). the names include subodh kumar goyal from andhra bank, dr k c chakravarty and m balachandran from bank of baroda (bob), k ramakrishnan of bank of india (boi), p subarao of central bank of india, vishwanathan nair and k achuthapai of corporation bank, a r naggapan of indian bank, m s aftab of punjab national bank (pnb), b sambamurthy of syndicate bank and h a daruwala of union bank of india (union bank). out of these, six would be appointed before december 2003 and others would be in the waiting list for the positions. the finmin had already selected nine eds last year and six of them have already been appointed while three are still to join.

bancassurance to boost bajaj allianz retail sector
mumbai: the number one private general insurance company, bajaj allianz general insurance's ceo and managing director sam ghosh said that it could be cheaper to offer non-tariff products through the bancassurance channel and increase its retail portfolio.

the bancassurance scenario is bound to grow in india as it is successful internationally and is particularly helpful to new private general insurance companies as it cuts cost by providing a distribution channel with a ready customer base. "regarding bancassurance partners we are very strict to ensure that we share a common goal of providing an efficient service to our customers," he said.

union bank cuts plr by 25 bps
mumbai: the union bank of india on friday reduced its prime lending rate (plr) by 25 basis points from 11.25 per cent to 11 per cent per annum effective may 6. it will charge interest at 1 per cent below plr on loans to ssi (small scale industries) and agriculture upto rs two lakh. on loans above two lakh, the maximum rate of interest will be 2 per cent over plr, depending on the rating of the borrower. it has also absorbed 50 per cent of the guarantee fee payable under the credit guarantee fund scheme for the ssi sector and decided to extend credit to exporters at reduced rates. interest rates on deposits are revised downwards on all maturities. interest rates stand at 4.25 per cent for 15 to 29 days, 4.50 per cent for 30 to 45 days, 5.00 per cent for 46 to 179 days, 5.25 per cent for 180 days to less than one year, 5.50 per cent for one year to less than two years.

singhania to hold brief for co-op bank victims
hyderabad: visu trust, which has decided to take up the cause of the victims of crisis-ridden cooperative banks, has roped in singhania & co, an international law firm based out of the us, to help it in filing an "appropriate" petition in the supreme court, seeking a direction to the authorities concerned to return the monies invested in those banks.according to a press release here on thursday, the trust said that the us law firm, which runs offices in london, bangalore, kolkata, new delhi, chandigarh, chennai, mumbai and hyderabad, had several former judges of the apex court and various high courts on it."we would also seek an interim and immediate relief for payment of interest due and payment of matured deposits," it said.

sbi staff union defers token strike on may 5
thiruvanathapuram: the state banks' staff union (sbsu), kerala circle, has deferred its call for a token strike on may 5 to an undisclosed date after the assistant labour commissioner (central), thiruvananthapuram, offered to intervene to solve the contentious issues. accordingly, a reconciliation meeting between the striking union and the bank management has been convened on may 10, v.g. sidhardhan, general secretary, and k. raja kurup, vice-president, sbsu, said.

amway, icici bank tie up for credit card
new delhi: the rs 625-crore direct selling major, amway india, on friday announced an alliance with icici bank, for the launch of a co-branded international credit card. the card will enable amway distributors to purchase amway products and earn and redeem reward points. the icici amway credit card will be made available at 62 locations across the country.

govt set on buyback to trim debt burden
mumbai: the government proposes to buy back 24 securities with a face value of rs 82,623 crore from banks and fis in a `switch deal' under the debt - buy back scheme announced in the union budget. the finance secretary, dr s. narayan, on friday said the first tranche of the buy back offer will be made by june-july. the government would only pay the premium and fresh securities will be issued in lieu of securities being bought back. the government plans to spend a maximum of rs 3,000-6,000 crore, which will add to the fiscal deficit, the secretary said. this amount has not been budgeted. the buyback while reducing the interest burden of the government will help banks to improve their books.

rrbs under canara post 16-pc growth
bangalore: the total business of the eight regional rural banks sponsored by the public sector canara bank has achieved a record rs 4,673 crore in 2002-03, a 15,63 per cent growth over the previous year. the bank release said here that the rrbs continued to have high cd ratios of about 77 per cent as against the national average of 42 per cent. among the rrbs, the south malabar grameen bank had the highest cd ratio of 103 per cent.

bank director denied bail
kolkata: the chief metropolitan magistrate (cmm) calcutta on friday rejected the bail prayer of keshab bangur and vinod baid and remanded them to jail custody. the cbi had arrested bangur, a director of bank of rajasthan, for alleged misappropriation of the funds of the bank. it has been alleged that the bank of rajasthan accepted cheques and allowed money to be withdrawn after encashment of these cheques. later the money was transferred to the account of bangur.

2 may 2003

bangalore airport project: 3 insurers in fray for risk cover
general insurers have pitched for providing construction risk cover for the country's second private sector airport, bangalore international airport ltd (bial). sources here said three insurers - united india insurance company ltd, oriental insurance company ltd and bajaj allianz general insurance company ltd - were in the race to secure the mandate. construction risk covers offered by these insurers included both property and liability insurance.

rakesh mohan allays fears on inflation
"inflation cannot go up in india while globally we see low inflation. we have an open market, therefore global conditions will influence us," rakesh mohan, deputy governor, reserve bank of india, said on wednesday reiterating the apex bank's views on the inflation rate. "when we have an open trade market, even if our share in international trade is small, the prices in our market will not be higher than the international prices since people are free to import,'' elaborated the deputy governor.

banks reconciled to discount on debt buyback
public sector bank chiefs from across the country will be in mumbai on friday to meet the finance secretary, s narayan, and the top brass of the reserve bank of india (rbi) to finalise modalities of the proposed plan for buyback of government securities. however, the banking industry seems to have reconciled to the fact that it would have to settle for a `substantial' discount on the market price of the debt that would be purchased back by the centre.

banks not on the same wavelength on plr cut
public sector banks seem to be split on the issue of reducing prime lending rates (plrs) following the cut in the bank rate announced in the credit policy.

while state bank of india had announced a 25 basis points reduction in plr and deposit rates, there are others such as bank of india (boi) and central bank of india, which are against an immediate reduction in lending rates.

gtb promoters offload equity
the promoters of global trust bank (gtb) have offloaded as many as 55.45 lakh equity shares in the open market during the fiscal year ended march 31, 2003. this assumes significance since the capital markets regulator, securities and exchange board of india (sebi), had suspended a group of 50 entities belonging to the gtb promoters' group and associates of the tainted stock broker - ketan parekh - from buying, selling, transferring, pledging or otherwise disposing of their holdings in gtb.

psbs seek pref share route for capital expansion
a clutch of public sector banks (psb) has approached the government for issuing preference shares to meet their capital enhancement requirements. high-level banking sources said this capital issuance could be made either open-ended or close-ended or with convertible options. but issuing open-ended preference shares with fixed coupon rates would be more in the nature of perpetual bonds. besides, such forms of capital would require regulatory approval.

currently banks are permitted to issue only subordinated bonds as part of their tier ii capital subject to a ceiling of 45 per cent of their gross capital.

rbi to auction rs 9,000-crore dated papers
the reserve bank of india has announced rs 9,000-crore auction on may 3 through the re-issue of two dated securities through price-based auctions.

the auction will consist of rs 6,000 crore of the 7.27 per cent 2013 paper and rs 3,000 crore of the 6.30 per cent 2023 paper in accordance with the auction calendar. both auctions would be price-based, using the multiple price auction method, said an rbi press release.

bank of india launches global debit card
bank of india has launched `starlinks' - the bank of india visa electron international debit card. the bank expects to issue over 2 million starlinks debit cards in three years and has entered into a partnership with visa international and india switch company , according to the bank officials. starlinks will be issued to bank of india's savings bank and current account holders to pay for purchases at over 55,000 visa electron merchant outlets in india and over 12 million merchant outlets globally.

boi awaits centre's nod for second vrs
around 6000 out of the 45,000 employees of bank of india are keen to leave the bank under the second voluntary retirement scheme (vrs), according to k. v. krishnamurthy, chairman and managing director. speaking to press persons here today, krishnamurthy said, while the bank had already written to the union government requesting permission for a second vrs, a reply in this regard was still awaited.

lord krishna to focus on retail lending
lord krishna bank will henceforth concentrate on its areas of core competence: retail lending and niche marketing and not dabble in all spheres of banking. "with this objective in mind, the bank will be looking to increase its credit base among the middle-income and upper middle-income people," mr r.m. nayak, managing director and chief executive officer of the bank, said. in niche marketing, the bank has already got into tie-ups with icici prudential, bajaj insurance and western union for money transfer and the focus will be on cross-selling their products to the bank's customers.

30 apr 2003