Strong FII inflows bolster the rupee - up another 2 paise
Mumbai: Once again strong FII inflows into the domestic stock market strengthened the rupee against the dollar, this time by 2 paise, to 40.43 as against the previous close of 40.45.

Forwards: In forwards, the six-month premia closed at 1.79 per cent (2.48 per cent) while the 12-month closed at 1.85 per cent (2.37 per cent).

Bonds: Bonds went up by over 50 paise as the system was awash with surplus cash, despite a government auction. The 7.49 per cent-10 year-2017 paper ended at Rs97.07 (7.92 per cent YTM), against the previous close at Rs96.52 (8.007 per cent YTM). The 8.33 per cent-29 year-2036 paper closed at Rs99.60 (8.36 per cent YTM), against the previous close at Rs99 (8.42 per cent YTM).

Call rates: The inter-bank call rates closed at 1.5-2 per cent on Monday higher than the previous close of 0.2-0.4 per cent.

Reverse repo: The Reserve Bank of India received bids worth Rs86,315 crore while it accepted Rs2,999 crore through the reverse repo window under the two sessions of Liquidity Adjustment Facility. The central bank did not receive any bids through the repo window.

In the first one-day reverse repo auction, the RBI received 34 bids for Rs52,935 crore while it accepted Rs1,99 9 crore. In the second one-day reverse repo auction, the apex bank received 28 bids for Rs33,380 crore while it accepted Rs1,000 crore. There were no repo bids in the first and second one-day auctions.

CBLO: The CBLO market saw 354 trades aggregating Rs29,091 crore in the 0.02-0.5 per cent range.
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Next in line for RBI - transfer of Nabard stake to Govt.
Bangalore: With the transfer of State Bank of India equity to the Government, the country's apex bank may be clearing the decks for the transfer of its stake in the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard).

Reports suggest that discussions were still underway between the Reserve Bank of India and Nabard in this regard regarding the methodology for transfer.

The RBI holds 72.5 per cent stake in Nabard or Rs1,450 crore of the paid-up equity of Rs2,000 crore. The Centre holds the remaining 27.5 per cent or Rs550 crore. Nabard has an authorised capital of Rs5,000 crore.

The stake transfer proposal comes as Nabard enters its 25th year of operations.

The officials said that the RBI preferred to consolidate its role as the banking supervisor/regulator. Consequently the move is to limit commercial/financial interests in any banking/financial institution, including Nabard. This is also one of the major reasons that prompted the transfer of SBI equity to the Government.
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Stanchart's private banking hub to operate from Chennai
Chennai: The Standard Chartered Bank has announced the setting up of its global private banking hub in Chennai, which will be operated through its wholly owned BPO subsidiary, Scope International Private Ltd.

The bank has private banking operations in ten cities across the globe, and the Chennai hub would handle all the transaction processing, according to Peter Flavel, Global Head, The Standard Chartered Private Bank. Flavel was speaking at a press conference here today.

He said that Scope was initially set up as a cost arbitrage opportunity by offshoring processes, but "has evolved into a centre of expertise, providing risk-controlled process efficiency." Today, it processes 80 million transactions for Standard Chartered Bank annually.

Private banking is much the same as wealth management services, but refers to a higher level of service for higher networth individuals, with investible wealth of over $1 million.

Standard Chartered Bank has been offering wealth management services to its customers in India for a number of years and today manages around Rs10,000 crore for them. But only recently the bank has started the more specialised 'private banking' service. This service is available for clients in Mumbai and Delhi and would be extended to six other cities shortly.
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World Bank ends record lending year for India - to maintain the tempo
New Delhi: The World Bank expects to further ramp up its loan exposure to India during the current year, even as it completed a record loan sanction year for India during the financial year ended June 2007. In this period, the World Bank's loan sanctions to India touched $3.8 billion, the largest ever in the history of the engagement of India and the bank for any single country. The amount also represents a 169 per cent increase over the previous year's lending of $1.4 billion.

The loan sanction of $3.8 billion includes IDA credit of $2.32 billion and IBRD loans of $1.5 billion.

In addition, the Bank's private funding arm, IFC, has also funded $700 million in different projects in India.

A major portion of the World Bank's FY-07 total lending — $1.6 billion — would support government rural development initiatives and one-third of IBRD lending for infrastructure, including components for Bharat Nirman.
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JM Financial to invest Rs40-cr in microfinance organization Spandana
Mumbai: JM Financial India Fund will invest Rs40 crore ($10 million) in Spandana, a microfinance organisation in India. JM Financial India Fund is a $225-million corporate private equity fund, sponsored by JM Financial Ltd and Old Lane Partners LP.

Spandana operates in India through its 300 plus branch network in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu, with a client base of over 10 lakh.

The investment by JM Financial India Fund will be used to expand Spandana's branch network and to pursue growth opportunities both organically and through acquisitions, said a press release.
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ICICI Pru opens second representative office abroad - this time in Dubai
Mumbai: ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has opened a second overseas representative office, this time in Dubai, after the first one in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The company hopes to cater to the vast Non-Resident Indian population in the Gulf, said a release.

ICICI Prudential will offer a range of products including wealth creation, education insurance, retirement solutions and health solutions.

A press release quoting Bhargav Dasgupta, executive director, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, said: The booming UAE economy has resulted in greater wealth for Non-Resident Indians, most of whom are seeking to use their enhanced earnings to secure the future of their families back home in India, be it for their retirement planning, child's education or wealth creation needs."
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