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7 August 2004 Rupee steadies on RBI support
Mumbai: The rupee closed at 46.3750 per dollar, unchanged from previous day's close at 46.3750/3800 per dollar.
Forwards Market: The six-month forward closed at 2.40 per cent (2.35 per cent) while the twelve-month forward closed at 2.06 per cent (2.00 per cent).
G-Secs: The 10-year benchmark yield hardened by 18 basis points in a single day to a yield-to-maturity (YTM) of 6.31 per cent. The 7.37 per cent 2014 10-year benchmark paper closed at Rs.107.80 at close. The 7.38 per cent 2015 11-year benchmark paper fell to Rs.107.80.
Bank of Rajasthan goes live with RTGS
Mumbai: The Bank of Rajasthan has announced that it has gone live with the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), which enables instant transfer of funds between banks and institutions. To begin with the RTGS will facilitate on-line settlement of inter-bank transactions. In due course, it would extend the facilities all over the country by integrating its corporate financial branches.
6 August 2004 Rupee down marginally
Mumbai: The domestic currency ended marginally weaker on Thursday at 46.3750/3800, as against 46.3550 on Wednesday.
Forwards Market: The six-month closed at 2.35 per cent (2.55 per cent) while the 12-month ended at 2.00 per cent (2.06 per cent).
G-Secs: The 11-year benchmark 7.38 per cent 2015 paper closed lower at Rs.108.90.
Call Rates: At about 4.25-4.30 per cent.
Ceiling for Lok Adalats raised to Rs.20 lakh
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India has said that the monetary ceiling of cases for compromise settlements referred to the Lok Adalats organised by civil courts has been raised to Rs.20 lakh with immediate effect, as against the earlier limit of Rs.5 lakh. In a circular to all scheduled commercial banks and financial institutions, the apex bank has said, that convener banks of State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) and lead banks of districts should give necessary publicity to the scheme through various modes under their areas of operation.
Rights offer from South Indian Bank
Kolkata: South Indian Bank has proposed a rights issue of 1,19,19,480 equity shares of Rs.10 each at a premium of Rs.30 per share to the existing shareholders in the ratio of one equity share for every three shares held on the record date of July 23. The issue is expected to aggregate net sum of Rs.7.68 crore. ICICI Securities is the lead manager to the issue and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd has been selected as the registrar to the issue. The issue opens on August 12, and closes on September 11.
AMP Sanmar declares bonuses on three schemes
Chennai: AMP Sanmar Life Insurance Company has declared bonuses on three of its schemes. For the 'Nithya Shree' plan it has declared a bonus of 6 per cent (simple) on the sum assured, consisting of 4 per cent reversionary plus two per cent non-recurring reversionary. The company has declared a three per cent (compound) bonus on 'Subha Shree', consisting of two per cent regular and one per cent additional non-recurring. On the money back scheme called 'Dhana Shree' and for the child protection plan 'Yuva Shree', AMP Sanmar has issued a three per cent bonus- two per cent reversionary and one per cent additional non-recurring reversionary.
Birla Sun Life raises paid up capital
Mumbai: Birla Sun Life Insurance has raised its paid-up capital by Rs.25 crore to Rs.315 crore. The joint venture partners, the Aditya Birla Group and Sun Life Financial Inc, have contributed the additional amount of Rs.25 crore, said a press release. Since inception, the company has covered over 5,75,000 lives with the total sum assured exceeding Rs.16,150 crore as on June 30. BSLI plans to open 11 new branches in the first half of this year.
5 August 2004 Rupee firms up
Mumbai: The rupee firmed up against the dollar on Wednesday closing at 46.3550/3650 against Tuesday's level of 46.39.
Forwards Market: The six-month forward closed at 2.55 per cent (2.40 per cent) while the twelve-month closed at 2.06 per cent (1.95 per cent).
G-Secs: The yield on the 11-year benchmark 7.38 per cent 2015 paper, eased to 6.27 per cent from Tuesday's 6.35 per cent. The 10-year benchmark 7.37 per cent 2014 paper had its yield coming down by 8 basis points to 6.15 per cent from Tuesday's 6.23 per cent.
Call rates: At 6.25 per cent.
GTB puts off board meet to August 9
Hyderabad: The Global Trust Bank (GTB) has announced that its board meeting, earlier scheduled for Wednesday, has now been postponed to August 9. The meeting is for taking on record the audited financial results of the bank for the year ended March 2004.
Govt. to auction floating rate bonds of Rs.6, 000 crore
Mumbai: The Government of India has announced the sale of Floating Rate Bonds, 2015 (II), for an aggregate amount of Rs.6, 000 crore. The auction will be held on August 9.
It also announced the sale of a new 30-year stock for a notified amount of Rs.2,000 crore through a yield-based auction using uniform price method, according to an RBI press release.
The floating rate bonds will be of 11-year tenure and will be issued at par.
The interest rate on the bonds will be calculated by adding a 'spread' to a variable base rate. The 'spread' will be decided in the auction to be conducted by the Reserve Bank of India and will remain unchanged during the currency of the bonds.
The results of the auction will be announced on August 9.
T-bills auction fully subscribed
Mumbai: The 91-day Treasury Bill auction conducted by the RBI on August 4 for Rs.2, 000 crore was fully subscribed.
The weighted average price was the same as the cut-off price of Rs.98.89. Fifty-seven bids were received for an aggregate amount of Rs.5, 973 crore. 36 bids worth Rs.2, 000 crore were accepted.
In the 364-day Bill auction for a notified amount of Rs.2, 000 crore, 56 bids worth Rs.3, 325 crore were received. Of these, 32 were accepted at the cut-off price of Rs.95.58.
Bank Muscat will subscribe to Centurion Banks rights issue
Mumbai: Bank Muscat will subscribe to 75 million shares in the forthcoming Centurion Bank rights issue making an investment worth Rs.30 crore.
Shareholders will be offered shares at the rate of Rs.4 per share constituting a premium of Rs.3 on a face value of Re.1 per share.
Last year, Bank Muscat had taken a strategic stake in the bank.
SBI staff to strike on August 9
Bangalore: The State Bank of India Staff Federation has given a strike notice for August 9, protesting against the outsourcing of some of the work.
A union release said here that the strike was also to oppose the withdrawal of the non-contributory provident fund and contributory pension schemes.
4 August 2004 Rupee weaker
Mumbai: The rupee closed marginally weaker by about five paise to end at 46.39 against the dollar on Tuesday. It had closed at 46.3325/3450 on Monday.
Forwards Market: The six-month ended at 2.40 per cent (2.35 per cent) while the twelve-month forward ended at 1.95 per cent (1.91 per cent).
G-Secs: The 7.37 per cent 2014 paper closed at yield of 6.23 per cent. The 11-year benchmark closed at the yield of 6.35 per cent at a price of Rs 108.20.
Call rates: Ruling at about 4.30-4.40 per cent.
Flexcube to be deployed with South African Postbank
Mumbai: South African Post Office bank (Postbank) has deployed Flexcube, the flagship product of i-flex Solutions, for processing its retail banking transactions. According to a release, the bank is one of South Africa's largest banking entities catering to 60 lakh customers with operations out of 1,100 post offices across South Africa.
HDFC increases fixed rate loan band
Mumbai: The Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) has increased the interest band on its fixed rate loans to 7.75 per cent-8.5 percent, from the earlier band of 7.5 per cent-8.5 percent, citing likely hardening of interest rates in the long-term. Interest rates of the floating rate products and the retail prime-lending rate have not been changed. According to its statement, HDFC says that it is in the business of long-term housing loans and when it lends at fixed rates for periods as long as 15 to 20 years, it needs to keep in mind the long-term outlook on rates in order to avoid any possible mismatch.
Govt notifies the Senior Citizen Savings scheme
New Delhi: The Government has notified the 'Senior Citizen Savings Scheme,' with effect from August 2. The scheme will be available initially through designated post offices. The scheme was initially structured for citizens of 60 years of age and above. But now, even citizens who have retired under a voluntary or special voluntary retirement scheme and have attained the age of 55 years are also eligible to invest so long as certain conditions are met. The deposits for the scheme can be done in multiples of Rs 1,000 subject to a maximum of Rs 15 lakh. It would carry an interest of 9 per cent per annum (taxable). The maturity period of the deposit would be five years, extendable by another three years. The Scheme provides for premature withdrawal after a period of one year. However, this would be subject to certain deductions. Non-resident Indians and Hindu Undivided Families are not eligible to invest in the scheme. The investments in the scheme will be non-tradable and non-transferable. However, nomination facility will be available.
RBI: Steering committee to implement Basel II norms
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India plans to set up a steering committee to enable the implementation of the Basel II norms for capital adequacy of banks. According to officials, the steering committee would have smaller focused sub-committees for each of the three pillars of Basel II with members representing interests of all stakeholders. The main benefit of Basel II will flow from the greater awareness of risk that it will instill in the banks. It also has in-built incentives for improved risk analysis, risk management systems, allocation of capital and pricing of risk. Achieving sophistication in their risk management capabilities might enable banks to improve the quality of their asset portfolio. Importantly, Basel II permits banks a choice between Standardised Approach and Internal Ratings Based Approach towards measurement of capital requirements for credit risk. Internal Ratings Based Approach differs substantially from the Standardised Approach to the extent that banks' internal assessments of key risk parameters serve as primary inputs to capital calculation. The new norms require a lot of disclosures of risks and the risk management practices. Data sharing is also very crucial under the new norms. With effect from the current financial year, banks in India will be maintaining capital for credit risk and market risks on the lines of Basel I.
Allahabad Bank raises FCNR, NRE rates
Kolkata: The Allahabad Bank has raised the interest rates on foreign currency non-resident (FCNR) deposits and non-resident (External) Rupee (NRE) term deposit with effect from July 28. The revised rates for US dollar are 2.16 per cent (earlier 2.08 per cent) for one year to less than two years, 2.89 per cent (2.79 per cent) for two years to less than three years, and 3.35 per cent (3.28 per cent) for three years. In the case of Pound deposits, the revised rates are 5.04 per cent (4.99 per cent), 5.16 per cent (5.12 per cent), and 5.24 per cent (5.20 per cent) for respective maturities. For Euro deposits, the bank has fixed interest rates at 2.17 per cent (2.14 per cent), 2.61 per cent (2.56 per cent), and 2.96 per cent (2.91 per cent). The revised rates for NRE term deposits are: 2.40 per cent (earlier 2.33 per cent) for one year to less than two years, 3.14 per cent (3.04 per cent) for two years to less than three years, and 3.60 per cent (3.53 per cent) for three years.
Bank of India pays Rs.33.85 crore dividend
Mumbai: Bank of India has paid a final dividend of Rs.33.85 crore to the Government of India for the financial year 2003-04.
M.Venugopalan, Chairman, and Managing Director, Bank of India, handed over the dividend cheque to the Finance Minister, P.Chidambaram, said a press release.
3 August 2004 Rupee up 15 paise
Mumbai: The rupee closed stronger by about 15 paise at 46.3325/3450 against the dollar on Monday.
Forwards Market: The six-month closed at 2.35 per cent (2.60 per cent) while the twelve-month ended at 1.91 per cent (2.05 per cent).
G-Secs: The yield on the ten-year benchmark 7.37 per cent 2014 paper closed at 6.23 per cent with the 11-year benchmark matching the yield rise.
Call rates: Easy at 4.25 per cent.
IRDA revokes suspension of Mass Insurance Brokers
Hyderabad: The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has announced a decision revoking the suspension imposed on the licence of one of the direct insurance brokering companies - Mass Insurance Brokers Pvt Ltd based at Noida. According to the IRDA, on thorough examination of the matter and considering the assurances of the broking company, it was decided that Mass Insurance Brokers should be given a second opportunity and therefore the suspension order was revoked with immediate effect.
Oriental Insurance fiscal net at record Rs.322 crore
New Delhi: The Oriental Insurance Co Ltd has registered a record net profit of Rs.322 crore for the fiscal ended March 31, 2004, as against Rs.63.99 crore in the previous year. Profit before tax rose to Rs.454.33 crore against Rs.175.89 crore in the previous year. Net incurred claims rose to Rs.1, 587.64 crore (with net incurred claims ratio standing at 78.1 per cent) from Rs.1, 466.55 crore (77.3 per cent).
Toyota and New India Assurance tie up
Mumbai: Toyota Kirloskar Motor Company and New India Assurance have announced point of sale insurance for all Toyota vehicles. Under the tie-up, Toyota customers would be able to insure and avail post-accident, near cashless repairs of insured vehicles at the manufacturer's showrooms nationwide. Toyota-New India Assurance will offer customers instant issue of new policies and their renewal, besides completing all related transactions at the showroom itself. Toyota is hiking the number of its showrooms from 42 to 60.
2 August 2004 IndusInd Bank offers personal loan to GTB customers
Mumbai: The Indusind Bank has offered personal loans for salary account holders at the Global Trust Bank (GTB).
The scheme will provide temporary liquidity to many salary account holders who are in need and who at the same time are willing to move the salary arrangement to a new bank, said a press release.
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