Banking sector reforms being initiated
New Delhi: The government proposes to amend four laws to usher in the much-awaited reforms in the banking sector. They are the Banking Regulation Act, the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Amendment Act, 1994, or the Nationalisation Act, the Debt Recovery Tribunal Act and the Sick Industrial Companies Act.

The proposed amendments will, in effect, amount to denationalising the public sector banks and providing a single regulator in the sector, the Reserve Bank of India. At present both the RBI and the government perform regulatory functions. Some structural changes are sought to be made in order to make the RBI the sole regulator.
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Government to cut holding in MTNL by 3.02%
New Delhi: The government will offload 3.02 per cent of its equity in the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd through the global depository receipt route. The Foreign Investments Promotion Board has already cleared the proposal and MTNL has received an in-principle approval from the department of economic affairs.

The government will put up for sale 19 million MTNL shares of Rs 10 each in the overseas market. This will amount to $9.5 million. The government has a stake of 56.25 per cent in the telecom major. After the GDR issue, the stake will decrease to 53.23 per cent.
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IDBI to lower stake in CARE
Mumbai: The Industrial Development Bank of India has engaged SBI Capital Markets to recommend ways to reduce its stake in Credit Analysis and Research from 26 per cent to 10 per cent. Earlier, the Securities and Exchange Board of India had said promoters of credit rating agencies should not hold more than 20 per cent in these agencies.

Besides IDBI, Canara Bank and Unit Trust of India hold 23 per cent and 12.5 per cent stake respectively in CARE.
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HSBC, Royal & Sun to set up call centres
Mumbai: Two multinational finance entities, the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, and Royal and Sun Alliance, the insurance company, are planning to set up global back-office processing activities and call centres in India.

Revealing Royal and Sun Alliance's plans, Antony Jacob, its chief executive officer, said the company had chosen India to set up a worldwide hub for providing back-office processing services to the entire group. The company will set up a call centre, which will cater to customer queries from all over the world. The group will expand the activities of its 100 per cent subsidiary in India, Royal and Sun Alliance IT Solutions India, to undertake the processing and call centre work.

HSBC India's chief executive officer Zarir J. Cama said the bank is considering expanding its already existing processing services in India to cater to the group's worldwide needs.
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HypoVereins, Dresdner may merge
Frankfurt: HypoVereins, Germany's second largest bank in Germany in asset terms, is said to be merging with the No 1 German bank, Dresdner Bank. HypoVereins, however, did not respond to queries.

Analysts say a merger is likely next year, in the light of comments made earlier this year of such a possibility. They say a merger will combine HypoVereins' strength in mortgage banking with Dresdner's capabilities in asset management and investment banking.
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