13.11.2020: Today's Banking / Financial News

 13.11.2020: Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 Banks get margin boost in Q2 from cheaper deposits, lack of slippages : Large banks, many of these from the public-sector pack, saw an expansion in their net interest margins (NIMs) in the quarter ended September as falling interest rates helped cut their outgo on deposits. A judicial order barring the recognition of fresh slippages after August 31 also helped NIMs. In contrast, a few large lenders from the private sector reported shrinkage in margins as they were unable to profitably deploy the large amount of liquidity in their hands. Given the excess liquidity and muted loan growth, large banks have slashed rates sharply over the past year, with one-year term deposit rates down 100-160 basis points (bps), according to a recent report by Credit Suisse. “With the sharp drop in funding costs over the past year, while lending rates have also come off, spreads have widened and have aided NIMs despite the excess liquidity on bank balance sheets,” the report said. - financial express

🍒 Punjab & Sind Bank narrows net loss at Rs 401 crore in Q2 FY21 : Punjab & Sind Bank on Thursday reported narrowing of its net loss at Rs 401.27 crore in the second quarter ended September 2020. The state-owned lender had posted a net loss of Rs 468.73 crore in the same period a year ago. The loss, however, widened sequentially from Rs 116.89 crore in the June quarter of FY2020-21. Total income of the bank fell to Rs 1,999.19 crore in July-September of 2020-21 from Rs 2,222.57 crore in the same period of 2019-20, Punjab & Sind Bank said in a regulatory filing. Bank’s provisioning for bad loans and contingencies were down at Rs 863.82 crore for Q2FY21 from Rs 972.62 crore in Q2FY20. Of this, bad loans or NPAs provisioning were Rs 845 crore, as against Rs 949.36 crore a year earlier. Asset quality impaired with gross non-performing assets (NPAs) rising to 14.06 per cent by end of September 2020 from 13.64 per cent at end of September 2019. Value wise, the gross NPAs stood at Rs 8,673.16 crore, lower than Rs 9,218.22 crore. - financial express

🍒 EXIM Bank to get Rs 3,000 crore for Lines of Credit for project exports ; The Centre will release Rs 3,000 crore to EXIM Bank to provide Lines of Credit for project exports, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Thursday EXIM Bank extends Lines of Credit (LOC) on behalf of the Indian government, as assistance to developing countries under 'IDEAS' scheme. It promotes Indian export by mandating recipient countries to import 75 per cent value of the LOC.The projects supported through the scheme by EXIM Bank cover railways, power, transmission, road and transport, auto and auto components, sugar projects among others. So far, 811 export contracts, aggregating to $10.50 billion are being financed under LoCs. - Business Standard

🍒 Yes Bank case: Rana Kapoor's daughter Roshni gets bail : A magistrate court on Thursday granted bail to Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoors daughter Roshni Kapoor, an accused in the Yes Bank fraud case linked to DHFL, after she appeared before the court in response to summons issued to her. Roshni Kapoor was summoned by the court last month in connection with the case.She is one of the eight accused named in the chargesheet filed in the case by the CBI.Roshini Kapoor was granted bail by a magistrate's court, her lawyer Subash Jadhav said.. - economic times

🍒 AU Small Finance Bank starts operations in eastern India : AU Small Finance Bank, a scheduled commercial bank, started its operations in Eastern India with the setting up of a branch in the metropolis on Thursday. Since the start of banking operations three and half years ago, AU has presently 710 touchpoints in 13 states and two UTs, a bank spokesman said. Executive director of AU Bank Uttam Tibrewal said that the banking entity has started its journey in eastern India beginning with Kolkata. The city has been the hub of trade and commerce ever since the days of Independence, he added. Tibrewal said AU has built a net worth of Rs 4,900 crore with a deposit base of Rs 27,000 crore and loan of Rs 30,500 crore. - economic times

🍒 SIDBI commits Rs 250 cr funding to 3 firms; Stride Ventures gets up to Rs 85 cr : The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has committed Rs 250 crore funding to three funds, including Stride Ventures that has received up to Rs 85 crore. In a statement on Thursday, Stride Ventures said it has raised up to Rs 85 crore from SIDBI, and that the funds will strengthen the deployment of its maiden Stride Venture India Debt Fund I. "We are delighted to have joined hands with SIDBI in our journey to revolutionise venture lending."Their commitment of up to Rs 85 crore will further strengthen our deployment from our maiden fund - Stride Ventures India Debt Fund I," Stride Ventures founder and Managing Partner Ishpreet Singh Gandhi said. He added that SIDBI's support to indigenous funds strongly propels the country's mission to be 'Aatmanirbhar'. - economic times

🍒 Citibank expects card spends to reach year-ago level in Nov on festive offers, economic revival : Citibank expects debit and credit card spending by its customers in November to be at par with the performance in the year-ago period, a senior official said on Thursday. The increase in spends, which have been affected across the industry because of the pandemic, will happen on revival in economic conditions and also festive schemes launched by the bank, its head of credit cards, payments and unsecured lending, Arjun Chowdhry, told. It can be noted that local lenders, led by HDFC Bank and its peer ICICI Bank, have been reporting a return back to pre-COVID levels starting with the steps undertaken for opening up the economy after the stringent lockdowns - economic times

🍒 IRDAI tweaks norms on sale of life cover without wet signature : Life insurers should provide a standard presentation on the product being sold without the physical signature of the policyholder. A copy of such standardised presentation should also be e-mailed to the policyholder, along with the policy document, said the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) in a partial modification of the guidelines issued in September permitting insurers to do away with the mandatory physical signature for sale of insurance products. f the sale is made by an individual insurance agent, he should not solicit non-single premium unit-linked insurance policies for an annualised premium exceeding ₹50,000 or single premium unit-linked insurance policies exceeding ₹1 lakh, the regulator said in a circular. - Business Line

🍒 Central govt pensioners can submit digital life certificates to the postman ; India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on Thursday have successfully launched the initiative of the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare (DoPPW): “Doorstep Service for submission of Digital Life Certificate (DLC) through Postman”. In order to avail this service through IPPB, pensioners can get detailed information on the IPPB website. “It is a chargeable service and will be available to all Central government pensioners across the country irrespective of the fact their pension accounts are in different bank,” a government statement said. - Business Line

🍒 As Covid curbed spends, home savings surged to 21% of GDP in Q1 : The propensity of households to save appears to have risen significantly during the pandemic as they have been unable to consume up to their normal levels and have raised their precautionary savings, according to the RBI’s latest monthly bulletin. Preliminary estimates show a jump in household financial savings to 21.4 per cent of GDP in the first quarter of FY21 (April-June), up from 7.9 per cent in the first quarter of the previous fiscal and 10 per cent in the March 2020 quarter. - Business Line

🍒 Paytm, Sachin Bansal’s Navi among bidders for DHFL stake in insurer : Our Bureau Over half-a-dozen companies including Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s Paytm, Sachin Bansal-led Navi, US-based Oaktree Capital, and Mumbai-based Piramal Enterprises have evinced interest in picking up the stake Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd held in its life insurance joint venture, Pramerica Life Insurance. Sources close to the development said six-seven companies have submitted expressions of interest (EoIs) to acquire DHFL’s stake in Pramerica Life Insurance, earlier known as DHFL Pramerica Life Insurance Company. - Business Line

🍒 PFRDA expects process for NPS Trust separation to start next fiscal : The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) expects to begin the process for separating NPS Trust from itself in the next financial year as roping in a consultant for the process takes time, the regulator’s Chairman Supratim Bandyopadhyay said on Thursday. In the Union Budget for 2019-20, the government had proposed to separate the NPS Trust from the pension regulator in order to address issues of conflict of interest. “As per the directive of our board, we had floated an EoI (Expression of Interest) and we have got about 5-6 EoIs from very good consulting firms. Now, we will send RFP (Request for Proposal) to them. “The RFP process takes time, then our board will give a final approval. We have set a deadline of March 31 (2021) for a consultancy to pick-up its job. Thereafter, the separation process can start,” Bandyopadhyay told PTI. - financial express

🍒 Lakshmi Vilas Bank for deal with Clix without compromising on its core interest : Cash-starved Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) said it wants to reach an early conclusion to the merger deal with Clix Group without compromising on its core interest. This comes in the wake of reports that Clix is unhappy with the delay in reaching the deal. LVB had received an indicative non-binding offer from Clix on October 8. Shakti Sinha, independent director and part of the three-member committee of directors (CoD) approved by the RBI to run the day-to-day operations of LVB, told FE that the two teams are meeting regularly and negotiations are going on. - financial express

🍒 FM’s Diwali gift to home buyers: Tax relief on difference between circle and market rates : Adding sparkle to the Diwali, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced significant measures for those planning to buy residential units of up to Rs 2 crore. The initiative will also benefit developers who are hard pressed to offload unsold inventories, especially in those locations where the current market prices are below the circle rate – a rate at which different levies such as stamp duty, registration fee and other taxes are computed and paid. - Financial Express

🍒 Rupee slumps 28 paise against US dollar : The rupee depreciated 28 paise to close at 74.64 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday, as weak domestic equities weighed on investor sentiments. The local unit opened at 74.44 against the greenback at the interbank forex market and finally settled at 74.64 against the greenback, down 28 paise over its last close.

🍒 Dhanteras 2020: Gold prices steady for second day at Rs 50,702/10 gm; silver rises by Rs 357/kg : Gold prices were flat for the second day at Rs 50,702 per 10 gram in the Mumbai retail market on rupee depreciation and sluggish global market. The precious metal traded in a narrow range amid lack of fresh triggers despite weakness in the US dollar. The rate of 10 gram 22-carat gold in Mumbai was Rs 46,443 plus 3 percent GST, while 24-carat 10 gram was Rs 50,702 plus GST. The 18-carat gold quoted at Rs 38,027 plus GST in the retail market.Silver prices jumped Rs 357 to Rs 62,797 per kg from its closing on November 11.

🍒 Markets snap 8-session winning streak; Sensex drops 236 pts : After dropping 466.12 points during the day, the 30-share BSE index ended 236.48 points or 0.54 per cent lower at 43,357.19. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty slipped 58.35 points or 0.46 per cent to 12,690.80.SBI was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 3 per cent, followed by Kotak Bank, IndusInd Bank, NTPC, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank. On the other hand, HUL, ITC, L&T, Bajaj Finserv and Tech Mahindra ended with gains..

12.11.2020 : Today's Banking / Financial News

 12.11.2020 : Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 Bank of Baroda announces reduction in MCLR by 0.05% across all tenors : State-owned Bank of Baroda on Wednesday announced reduction in the marginal cost of funds based lending rate by 0.05 per cent across all tenors. "The bank has revised marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) with effect from November 12, 2020," Bank of Baroda said in a regulatory filing.  The one-year tenor -- which is the benchmark for all consumer loans such as auto, retail, housing -- has been reduced to 7.45 per cent from 7.5 per cent. Among others, from overnight to six-month tenor loans, the MCLR has been cut to 6.60-7.30 per cent, the bank said. Shares of Bank of Baroda were trading 1.76 per cent lower at Rs 47.35 apiece on the BSE. - Business Standard

🍒 Government okays Rs 5,500 crore equity infusion into Punjab & Sind Bank :  Public sector Punjab & Sind Bank (PSB) on Tuesday said the government has okayed infusion of Rs 5,500 crore capital into the bank in lieu of preferential allotment of shares. The bank is in receipt of letter dated November 10, 2020 from the Ministry of Finance regarding sanction to infuse an amount of Rs 5,500 crore, it said in a regulatory filing. The capital infusion, the lender said, is towards the contribution of the central government in the preferential allotment of equity shares of the bank during financial year 2020-21. The government's shareholding in the bank as of September 30, 2020 stood at 83.06 per cent, as per data on BSE. - economic times

🍒 RBI imposes Rs 50 lakh penalty on Central Bank of India for non-compliance : The Reserve Bank on Tuesday said it has imposed a penalty of Rs 50 lakh on state-run Central Bank of India for non-compliance with its directions on disbursal of some housing loans. "Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated November 10, 2020, imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 50 lakh" on the bank for non-compliance with certain provisions contained in the circular on 'Housing Sector- Innovative Housing Loan Products - Upfront disbursal of housing loans' dated September 3, 2013, it said in a statement. Giving details, it said an off-site examination of the records pertaining to some housing loans disbursed by the bank was conducted by RBI. The examination and related documents revealed non-compliance with the directions issued by RBI, it said. - Business Standard

🍒 ICICI Bank's retail home loan portfolio crosses Rs 2 lakh crore : Even as the unlock is happening gradually, demand for home loans surged and ICICI Bank which has more than half its retail loans in mortgages, witnessed all time monthly high loan disbursements in October which was mostly from the second and third tier cities. Overall, ICICI’s retail home loan portfolio reached Rs 2.05 lakh crore at the end of September, showing 9.6% year-on-year rise over Rs 1.87 lakh crore a year back.The bank said it's the first private sector lender to reach the Rs 2 lakh crore milestone. Country's largest lender the government-owned State Bank of India has a home loan portfolio of Rs 4.68 lakh crore at the end of September. SBI said its home loan grew 10.34% year-on-year. ICICI's total mortgage loan portfolio which includes securitized home loans from other lenders stood at Rs 2.12 lakh crore while the bank's gross loan portfolio was at Rs 6.53 lakh crore. - economic times

🍒 Retired PSU bankers may get one rank, one pension plan : A one-rank, one pension (OROP) kind of scheme is in the works for retired PSU bank employees. OROP was a longstanding demand of armed forces’ veterans, where the pension would be reworked so that everyone who retired in the same rank will get the same pension, irrespective of the date of retirement. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has sounded off banks to do more for employees who retired earlier so they are not discriminated against in terms of pension. The government has also asked banks to review the family pension scheme so that the pension for the spouse is the same as the government. - economic times

🍒 IBA, bank unions conclude wage revision negotiations : The Indian Banks' Association (IBA) on Wednesday announced the conclusion of the 11th Bipartite Wage Negotiations with bank unions and officers' associations. After three years of intense negotiations, bank employees' unions and IBA, on July 22, had entered into a memorandum of understanding for an annual wage hike of 15 per cent.  “The Indian Banks' Association is pleased to announce the conclusion of 11th Bipartite Wage Negotiations with bank unions and associations to be effective from November 1, 2017. The agreement reached today, provides for a 15 per cent increase in pay slip,” IBA chief executive Sunil Mehta said in a statement. - economic times

🍒 HDFC Bank eyeing tenfold growth in merchant base to 20 million in three years : Country’s largest private sector lender HDFC Bank has set an ambitious target to expand its merchant base by ten-fold in the next three years, eyeing a sizable share of India’s rapidly growing digital payments market. The lender is planning to reach out to more than 20 million small and medium merchants and also professional services like doctors, pharmacies, salons and laundry services across metro, semi urban and rural India in the next 3 years, the head of payments, consumer finance, marketing and digital banking, Parag Rao said on Wednesday. HDFC Bank has about two million merchants on its network as of FY20. “Small and medium businesses are the backbone of our economy,” Rao said. “To further deepen the penetration of digital forms of payment across India, it is important that the merchant network is empowered with the best range of solutions.” - economic times

🍒 DHFL bidders jack up offers; Oaktree’s highest at ₹33,000 cr : Lenders to the troubled Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL) have received revised offers from its four bidders, with the highest tender now at ₹33,000 crore. According to informed sources, US-based Oaktree Capital has revised its bid to ₹33,000 crore from ₹28,000 crore earlier for the entire company on an ‘as is where is’ basis. Under its earlier bid, it had offered lenders ₹15,800 crore for the entire company, payable after seven years. It also offered the ₹12,000 crore of cash available with the company to the lenders.  - business line

🍒 Gift City: IFSCA approves draft Banking Regulations : The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) —regulator of IFSCs including Gift City— on Wednesday approved draft Banking regulations that will be applicable in international financial services centres (IFSCs) such as Gujarat’s Gift City. The formulation of draft regulation paves the way for putting in place the rules for the various aspects of banking operations that would be permissible at the IFSC. The draft regulations include laying down the requirements for setting up IFSC Banking Units (IBUs); Permitting persons resident outside India (having net worth not less than $1 million) to open foreign currency accounts in any freely convertible currency at IBUs; Permitting persons resident in India (having net worth not less than $1 million) to open foreign currency accounts in any freely convertible currency at IBUs to undertake any permissible current account or capital account transaction or any combination thereof under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) of the Reserve Bank of India. - Business Line

🍒 1 in 3 people are making digital payment at least once a day during festival season: Survey : Digital payments continue to be the preferred payment method for 39 per cent of consumers in India, ahead of debit and credit card payments (26 per cent) and cash (26 per cent). According to a new study conducted during the festival season by YouGov and ACI Worldwide, revealed that digital payments, including eWallets and UPI payments, were used by 57 per cent of respondents more than twice per week for festival season purchases. This is up from 43 per cent a year ago. - Business Line

🍒 Sundaram Home Finance sees green shoots, to raise ₹2,000 cr in H2 : Sundaram Home Finance (SHF) plans to raise ₹2,000 crore during the second half of this fiscal through a mix of debt instruments and bank funding in order to fund its growth plans. “After a nervous start to the year, we have been witnessing some green shoots in the last two months in the housing sector, especially in tier-two towns in South India,” said Lakshminarayanan Duraiswamy, MD, Sundaram Home Finance. - Business Line

🍒 IRDAI nod for remote agent exams could help insurers recruit more easily : Insurance companies are hoping that recruitment of agents will become easier with exams now being held on a remote basis although there remain concerns about how accessible it will be for candidates.  The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India earlier this month decided to allow IC-38 examination for individual agents to be conducted from remote locations through remote proctor model proposed by NSEIT.- Business Line

🍒 Wadhawan writes fresh letter to DHFL Administrator : Highlighting the low value of the revised bids received, jailed promoter of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL) has once again written to the company’s Administrator, asking to be allowed to attend the next meeting of the Committee of Creditors. Stressing that DHFL continues to have considerable value, Wadhawan, in his letter, has said that the bids received by DHFL are “abysmally low” and will only result in massive loss of public money and substantially benefit a few if such bids are accepted.- Business Line

🍒 Rupee slumps 18 paise against US dollar to 74.36 : The rupee declined 18 paise to close at 74.36 against the US dollar on Wednesday, tracking strengthening American currency in the overseas market and higher crude prices. However, a strong rally in domestic equities and unabated foreign fund inflows restricted the slide of the domestic unit, forex traders

🍒 Sensex rallies 316 pts to finish at fresh peak; Nifty crosses 12,700 : After touching its all-time peak of 43,708.47 during the session, the 30-share BSE index settled 316.02 points or 0.73 per cent higher at 43,593.67. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty touched a fresh intra-day high of 12,769.75. It finished 118.05 points or 0.93 per cent up at its closing record of 12,749.15.Tata Steel was the top gainer among the Sensex constituents, surging around 8 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, ITC, Infosys, Sun Pharma, Kotak Bank, ONGC and UltraTech Cement. On the other hand, IndusInd Bank, Reliance Industries, Titan, Asian Paints and HDFC Bank were in the red.

🍒 Gold prices steady at Rs 50,708 per 10 gram on firm dollar; silver up Rs 656/kg : Gold prices rose marginally by Rs 43 to Rs 50,708 per 10 gram in the Mumbai retail market on rupee depreciation and weak global market. The precious metal traded in a narrow range amid a lack of fresh triggers and recovery in the US dollar. The rate of 10 gram 22-carat gold in Mumbai was Rs 46,449 plus 3 percent GST, while 24-carat 10 gram was Rs 50,708 plus GST. The 18-carat gold quoted at Rs 38,301 plus GST in the retail market. Silver prices climbed by Rs 656 to Rs 62,440 per kg from its closing on November 10.

11.11.2020 : Today's Banking / Financial News

11.11.2020 : Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 Issue only Rupay cards, seed all accounts with Aadhar by Dec: FM to banks : Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told bankers on Tuesday to only issue Rupay cards as the first option to customers, and also to seed all bank accounts with Aadhar number and, wherever necessary, with the pan card by December this year. “Rupay should be the only card that you must promote,” Sitharaman said in her address as the chief guest at the 73rd Annual General Meeting of the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA).“Make sure the NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India) can become a ‘brand India’ product. Whenever issuing a card, you must first issue a Rupay (floated by NPCI) card,” the finance minister said in her address.“Indian banks have done a tremendous job, but the financial inclusion drive is not over. I will not be patient to hear that there still exist accounts not Aadhar seeded, and linked with Pan cards wherever needed beyond December 31st. There should not be any unverified account in the system,” the finance minister said, while clarifying a few moments later that the deadline could be extended till March next year at the maximum. Technology should be adopted widely to ensure there is no duplication in booking benefits for the customers, or double encashment of a security. “It should be a fool proof arrangement so that you become a better managed bank,” Sitharaman said. - Business Standard

🍒 FM Nirmala Sitharaman backs expansion of the membership of New Development Bank at BRICS FMCG : Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday backed expansion of the membership of the New Development Bank at the first BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG). The meeting also involved discussions on the outcomes of G20 Saudi Presidency in 2020 and a digital platform to encourage infrastructure investments, a finance ministry statement said. The BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – created the New Development Bank in 2014 as a multilateral development bank which will provide financial support to public and private projects through loans, guarantees, equity participation and other financial instruments. - Economic Times

🍒 GNPAs of banks show improvement QoQ : The gross non-performing assets (GNPAs) to gross advances ratio of banks witnessed an improvement in the second quarter (Q2) of FY2021 vis-a-vis the preceding quarter, according to CARE Ratings. As per the credit rating agency’s data on the movement of NPAs of 31 banks, the overall GNPA ratio of banks improved to 7.7 per cent in Q2 (July-September) FY2021, compared with 8.2 per cent in Q1 (April-June) FY2021 and 7.9 per cent in Q4 (January-March) FY2020. “The moratorium provided till August had provided space in terms of recognition of NPAs which could have improved the ratios. “Therefore, we may have to wait for these time periods to elapse to gauge the true levels of NPAs in the system,” the agency said in a report. Also read: Merger woes: Why PNB Q2 performance carries tell-tale signs of more pain ahead - Business Line

🍒 Paytm introduces Payout Links for businesses : Paytm has launched Payout Links for businesses, enabling them to instantly process payouts to customers, employees and vendors, without collecting their bank details. As businesses struggle with the ever-growing numbers of manual financial processes, Payout Links offers seamless payment integration for businesses to quickly send incentives and refunds to customers through the easy and inexpensive method of a simple payout link. Removing the need to store bank details, the facility benefits partnerSMEs in diverse sectors such as gaming, e-commerce, retail, export and manufacturing, to transfer salaries, vendor payments, and commissionsinstantly. - Business Line

🍒 Bandhan Bank says will tap rural markets to stay as most profitable lender : Indian micro-financier Bandhan Bank Ltd. will diversify lending and selectively tap more rural markets to cement its position as the nation’s most profitable lender after loan repayments improved. “There is a big demand,” founder and Chief Executive Officer Chandra Shekhar Ghosh said in a recent phone interview. “Rural India is untapped and people there are not getting credit service. Lifestyles are going to change and they also have business needs.” Bandhan Bank, which received $1.4 billion from investors including BlackRock Inc. and Singapore’s GIC Pte in August, aims to maintain a 4% return on assets by diversifying. It plans to lend to less-risky sectors such as gold, as well as providing home and car loans. Currently the lender’s unsecured microfinance loan book stands at around 62%, Ghosh said. - Business Standard

🍒 ICICI Bank new initiative: Convert your kirana store to BigBasket-like online shop : In order to convert the kirana stores into online shops, private sector lender ICICI Bank on Tuesday unveiled its Digital Store Management platform. From inventory to billing to payment collection through PoS, QRCode and payment links — ICICI Digital Store Management platform helps the merchants to manage full in-store operations online. The neighbourhood store owner can quickly create an online store and start receiving orders from customers online in a few clicks, the lender mentioned. Any merchant can apply for the Digital Store Management platform while they are applying for a PoS machine on ICICI Bank's Eazypay application for merchants. The digital platform has three applications. The EazyStore mobile app, that helps a grocery store to set up an online store in flat 30 minutes. The EazyBilling app enables the kirana stores to track digital payments like UPI or debit and credit card. The owners can also manage inventory and order through this app. There will also be an option to create quick reports on sales, profits, GST among others. - Live Mint

🍒 Rs 946-cr bank fraud case: CBI carries out searches against Ezeego promoters in Mumbai : The CBI has carried out searches at eight locations in Mumbai in connection with an alleged bank fraud case of Rs 946 crore in Yes Bank against Ezeego One Travel and Tours, officials said on Tuesday. The agency recently carried out the searches at the premises of the booked promoters and directors of the company, they added. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked company promoters Ajay Ajit Peter Kerkar and Urrshila Kerkar, and directors Neelu Singh, Arup Sen, Manisha Amrapurkar, Pesi Patel and Karthik Venkatrman for alleged diversion of loan funds, the officials said. - economic times

🍒 CBI books Best Foods Ltd for ₹1,006 cr bank fraud : The CBI on Tuesday conducted searches at the offices of Best Foods Limited and residences of its chairman and managing director for alleged bank fraud to the tune of ₹1,006.46 crore in a consortium led by State Bank of India, officials said on Tuesday. They said the agency had invoked IPC sections related to cheating, criminal misappropriation, criminal conspiracy, criminal misconduct and forgery against Best Foods Limited for alleged diversion of credit funds during April 01, 2015 to March 31, 2018. - Business Line

🍒 Unpaid dues from previous months may keep credit cost higher for MFIs : Even as most microfinance lenders said that repayment collection for October exceeded 90%, unpaid dues from the previous four-five months still remain a concern, likely inflating credit costs at the lenders. Cumulative repayments continue to be low in the range of 60-70%, industry organization Sa-Dhan said. Another area of concern for the sector is that 4-5% of customers are yet to begin repayments.These pose a risk of high NPAs and call for higher provisioning, at least in the short run, said Sa-Dhan. Just about 0.69% of MFIs' loan total portfolio of Rs 1.02 lakh crore was non performing at the end of March 2020. - economic times

🍒 Commerce and industry minister reviews ‘Vivad Se Vishwas’ scheme : Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal recently interacted with large corporates and top tax professionals on ways to make the ‘Vivad Se Vishwas’ scheme a success. Officials of Indian businesses houses, MNCs and Big Four consultants suggested an extension of the cut-off date of the scheme, the need to clarify the stand on settling tax disputes of merged companies, and transfer pricing matters. They also told the commerce and industry minister that the scheme would evoke a better response if it is structured ‘issue wise’ — where a taxpayer is allowed to choose and settle some disputes, under the scheme — instead of the ‘year wise’ requirement where the scheme, once availed, must include settling all disputes. - economic times

🍒 Bonus paid to employees or shareholder by a company can get tax benefit: ITAT : Any company giving bonuses to employees or shareholders should be able to get tax benefits as per the law unless there is a clear finding of tax avoidance or evasion, Mumbai Bench of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) said Tuesday. According to the details of the case, a stock broking company in 2011-12 had paid Rs 5 lakh to two directors as bonus and incentives. This was over and above the remuneration they were receiving.- economic times

🍒 Gold loan market will continue to shine on high prices: World Gold Council : The organised gold loan market, which continues to hold much promise, got a significant push from the current pandemic and economic downturn, and is expected to grow to ₹4.05-lakh crore this fiscal, according to a report by the World Gold Council. The organised gold loan market is expected to grow at an annual rate of 15.7 per cent to ₹4.61-lakh crore in FY22 from ₹3.44-lakh crore in FY20, the report said, adding that demand for gold loans, both through banks and non-banking financial company (NBFC), has grown in response to the economic impact of the pandemic. - Business Line

🍒 Non-life insurance premium falls to ₹15,855 cr in October : The non-life insurance premium declined marginally by 0.4 per cent at ₹15,855 crore in October 2020 as against ₹15,921 in the same period last year. As per the data released by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), gross direct premium up to October 2020, however, showed a growth of 1.11 per cent at ₹1,12,685 crore as against ₹1,11,450 crore in the corresponding period of last year. The health insurance segment drove the growth. - Business Line

🍒 Flipkart offers customised group health insurance cover issued by Bajaj Allianz : Flipkart, on Tuesday, announced that it now offers group health insurance cover ranging from ₹3 lakh to ₹20 lakh issued by Bajaj Allianz General Insurance and Care Health Insurance to its large and growing pan-Indian customer base. Customers opting for policies of Bajaj Allianz General Insurance and Care Health Insurance on the Flipkart platform are not required to undergo any pre-emptive medical tests; the policy is issued against a declaration of good health; making it convenient to cover for their health scares. The policies further safeguard individuals against medical expenses and hospitalisation expenses, while also covering alternate treatment methods such as Ayurvedic and Homeopathic for up to a certain percentage of the sum insured.- Business Line

🍒 Adani, Piramal, others revise offers for DHFL : Suitors for the troubled non-banking finance company Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) have raised their offer price in the revised bids submitted for the company, sources said. Adani Group, Piramal Enterprises, US-based Oaktree and Hong Kong-based SC Lowy have submitted 10-70 per cent higher price for either a stake in the company or buying out some of its assets. Oaktree Capital has raised its bid price for the entire portfolio to Rs 33,000 crore from Rs 27,800 crore earlier, sources with knowledge of the development said. - financial express

🍒 Godrej Group forays into housing finance business : Amid a spurt in demand for home loans, Godrej Group, on Tuesday, announced its foray into the financial services industry with the launch of Godrej Housing Finance. “With Godrej Housing Finance (GHF), the group aims to build a long-term, sustainable retail financial services business in India, aiming for a balance sheet of about ₹10,000 crore in the next three years,” it said in a statement. - Business Line

🍒 Gold loan market will continue to shine on high prices: World Gold Council : The organised gold loan market, which continues to hold much promise, got a significant push from the current pandemic and economic downturn, and is expected to grow to ₹4.05-lakh crore this fiscal, according to a report by the World Gold Council. The organised gold loan market is expected to grow at an annual rate of 15.7 per cent to ₹4.61-lakh crore in FY22 from ₹3.44-lakh crore in FY20, the report said, adding that demand for gold loans, both through banks and non-banking financial company (NBFC), has grown in response to the economic impact of the pandemic. - Business Line

🍒 Rajeev Misra, three others resign as SoftBank internal board directors : SoftBank Group Corp on Monday announced changes to its board of directors and appointment of corporate officers. As part of corporate restructuring, four of SoftBank’s internal board directors — executive vice president and chief operating officer Marcelo Claure, executive vice president and chief strategy officer Katsunori Sago, executive vice president Rajeev Misra, and governor and board member of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia Yasir O Al-Rumayyan, have resigned from the board. - financial express

🍒 Rupee slips 3 paise to 74.18 per USD : The rupee depreciated by 3 paise to close at 74.18 against the US dollar on Tuesday as higher crude oil prices and a stronger greenback overseas weighed on sentiment. The rise in crude oil prices had a negative impact on the domestic unit, but robust domestic equities supported the rupee and restricted the fall, experts said. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic currency opened higher at 74.04 a dollar, but could not hold the momentum and finally settled 3 paise lower at 74.18. During the session, the local unit reached a high of 74.02 and touched 74.30 at the lower end.

🍒 Gold prices fall sharply to Rs 50,665 per 10 gram, silver tanks Rs 4,268 a kg : Gold prices dropped by Rs 1,755 to Rs 50,665 per 10 gram in the Mumbai retail market on rupee weakness and sharp sell-off yesterday in the overseas market. The precious metal pared some of the losses and traded firm in the international market. The rate of 10 gram 22-carat gold in Mumbai was Rs 46,409 plus 3 percent GST, while 24-carat 10 gram was Rs 50,665 plus GST. The 18-carat gold quoted at Rs 37,999 plus GST in the retail market. Silver prices crashed Rs 4,268 to Rs 61,784 per kg from its closing on November 9.

🍒 SBI board okays to divest 8.5 per cent stake in UTI Trustee Co : State Bank of India (SBI) has decided to sell 8.51 per cent stake in UTI Trustee Company, which is the sponsor of UTI Asset Management Company. In a statement to stock exchanges, SBI said the Central Board of Directors has approved the divestment of 8,510 equity shares constituting to 8.51 per cent in UTI Trustee Company to comply with SEBI regulation.

🍒 After The Bell: Sensex, Nifty at new highs; what should investors do on Wednesday? : The S&P BSE Sensex hit a fresh record high of 43,316 while the Nifty50 make a fresh life high of 12,643 in intraday trade on Tuesday. Let’s look at the final tally on D-Street – the S&P BSE Sensex rose 680 points to 43,277 while the Nifty50 rose 170 points to 12,631. In the last 8 trading sessions, Nifty 50 gained 1110 points and the Bank Nifty rose 5200 points. Bajaj Finance contributed the most to the Nifty and Sensex advance, increasing 8.85 percent, while Indusind bank had the largest gain in the Bank Nifty, rising 7.29 percent.

10.11.2020 : Today's Banking / Financial News

10.11.2020 : Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 BoI puts on hold branch expansion plan as customers prefer digital banking : Bank of India (BoI) has put its branch expansion plan on hold for now in the backdrop of increased digitalisation of transactions on account of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the need to maintain a healthy cost to income (C-I) ratio. The Mumbai-headquartered public sector bank saw a 143 per cent year-on-year (YoY) jump in mobile banking users (to 45.21 lakh as at September-end 2020) and 17 per cent YoY increase in internet banking users (to 71.63 lakh). Following an increase in the usage of alternative delivery channels, the Bank is gradually rationalising its branch and ATM network. - Business Line

🍒 DRT slaps Rs 5 lakh penalty on Bank of India for compromising loan recovery : A Debt Recovery Tribunal here imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on Bank of India for allowing withdrawal of a plea filed to recover over Rs 2.25 crore from its borrowers. The tribunal also observed that the lender entered into a compromise to recover Rs 31.2 lakh against the loan amount.The Presiding Officer of the DRT-1, Ahmedabad, Vinay Goel came down hard on the bank for sacrificing Rs 2.25 crore of taxpayers'' money while making compromise with the borrowers.In an order dated October 28 that was made available online Saturday, the tribunal also noted that the letter of acknowledgement of debt submitted to it by the bank was forged, which the bank said it filled up in a bona fide manner as the original letter was not traceable.The tribunal also questioned the bank as to why it accepted the property as collateral security which has value of Rs 18 lakh to grant loan of Rs 1.25 crore and not took action against its officials who recommended the property, and the valuer who recommended such property as collateral security.To justify its withdrawal plea, the bank had told the tribunal that the three auctions conducted by it to sell the mortgaged land with a valuation of Rs 18 lakh had failed.The tribunal raised serious questions over the process to sanction loan to the respondent borrower Krishna Tea Traders and three others, and said that the approach of the bank was against the spirit of the Reserve Bank of India guidelines. - Outlook

🍒 HDFC cuts retail prime lending rate by 10bps : Home loans are set to get cheaper as mortgage financier Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd has cut its Retail Prime Lending Rate by 10 basis points. “HDFC reduces its Retail Prime Lending Rate (RPLR) on housing loans, on which its Adjustable Rate Home Loans (ARHL) are benchmarked, by 10 basis points, with effect from November 10,” it said in a statement on Monday, adding that it will benefit all existing HDFC retail home loan customers. - Business Line

🍒 SBI to raise share of financial inclusion to 20% by March 2022 : State Bank of India (SBI) expects to raise the share of the newly created business vertical — financial inclusion and micro-markets (FI&MM) — from the current 12 per cent to 20 per cent by March 2022. The emphasis will be on enhancing income-generation work (deposits and loans) at around 8,000 branches under the FI&MM vertical. This will be completed once customer servicing — currently handled by the branches — is shifted to the business correspondents (BC) network to bring down the cost-to-income (C/I) ratio.SBI had recently created a separate FI&MM vertical within the bank with an exclusive focus on rural and semi-urban areas to improve customer experience in the hinterland. - Business Standard

🍒 Microfinance industry sees 31% rise in loan portfolio at Rs 2.36 lakh crore in FY20: Report : India's microfinance industry registered a 31 per cent jump in its loan portfolio to Rs 2.36 lakh crore for 2019-20 and expects to post a moderate growth of about 15 per cent in the current financial year, an industry report said on Monday. Despite the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in the last quarter of the financial year 2019-20, the country's microfinance industry grew 31 per cent, industry representative Sa-Dhan said.According to Sa-Dhan's 'Bharat Microfinance Report 2020', the industry's loan portfolio outstanding as on March 31, 2020, had stood at Rs 2,36,427 crore.The year-on-year growth of loan outstanding in 2019-20 was 31 per cent, which is substantially lower than the growth of 41 per cent in 2018-19. - economic times

🍒 Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Q2 profit up marginally at Rs 96 cr : Ujjivan Small Finance Bank (SFB) on Saturday reported a marginal rise in net profit at Rs 96 crore for September quarter as provisions spiked. The bank posted a net profit of Rs 93 crore in the same quarter a year ago. In June quarter, the profit was Rs 55 crore.Total income during July-September 2020-21 increased to Rs 818.01 crore from Rs 729.36 crore in the year-ago period on the back of healthy interest income.Core income or the interest income increased 15.2 per cent to Rs 753.61 crore from Rs 654.33 crore in the same quarter of 2019-20. Net interest income grew 21 per cent to Rs 470 crore. However, income from other sources fell to Rs 64.40 crore from Rs 75.03 crore. - Business Line

🍒 Bank of Maharashtra cuts repo-linked lending rate by 15 basis points to 6.90% : State-owned Bank of Maharashtra has reduced its repo linked lending rate (RLLR) by 15 basis points to 6.90 per cent. The lender's retail and MSME loans are linked to RLLR. The new rates are effective from November 7. "Reduction in RLLR makes our home loan, car loan, gold loan, education loan, personal loan along with MSME loans more attractive and affordable," bank's executive director Hemant Tamta said in a release. Earlier ahead of the festive season, the bank had also announced processing fee waiver on home, car and gold loans. With this downward revision in RLLR, home loan rates start at 6.95 per cent (0.05 per cent concession to woman and defence personal), car loan rates start at 7.55 per cent and gold loan rates at 7.35 per cent, the bank said. Bank of Baroda also reduced its RLLR by 15 basis points (bps) to 6.85 per cent from November 1.- Business Line

🍒 Karnataka Bank launches National Common Mobility Debit card : Karnataka Bank Ltd has launched National Common Mobility Debit Card. A press release by the bank said on Monday that this Rupay card is a contactless debit-cum-prepaid and interoperable transport card.It said that the users can make payments without inserting the card at PoS terminals. Payments can be made at toll plazas, metro transits, parking lots, retail outlets and smart cities with the help of this card. The card’s wallet supports small-ticket size offline payments through the value stored in the card, it said.Quoting Mahabaleshwara MS, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the bank, it said that this card is expected to change the banking paradigm in retail payments by its unique features of ‘tap and go’ and ‘offline wallet’ payments.- Business Line

🍒 Bank of India Refuses to Share Under RTI Information on Rs57,275 Crore Bad Loans Written Off and 23% Recovery in Past 8 Years : The way public sector banks (PSBs) are giving flimsy excuses for denying information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act on bad loans, loan write off and names of big defaulters, whose defaults are Rs100 crore and more, one could safely say that the public information officers (PIOs) of these PSBs have mastered the art of evasion to a fault. Take for example, Bank of India, which refused to share any information on loan write offs over the past eight years by giving an excuse that it would 'disproportionately divert its resources'! Notwithstanding, Pune-based RTI activist Vivek Velankar, went on to study BoI's annual reports, which yielded the information in black and white, that the lender wrote off Rs57,275 crore and recovered just 23% or Rs13,560 crore over the past eight years. - Moneylife

🍒 Former SBI chairman P G Kakodkar passes away : Former chairman of State Bank of India (SBI) P G Kakodkar died in Panaji on Sunday following a cardiac arrest. The family sources stated that 83-year-old former banker passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest.He was also on the Managing Committee of Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industries (GCCI).Kakodkar joined SBI as a probationary assistant in the year 1957 and retired as chairman of the bank on March 31, 1997.During his tenure as chairman of the SBI, he was instrumental in the bank achieving several milestones.He is credited with the entry of the bank into the global capital markets by its GDR issue.He also served as chairman of Goa Public Service Commission from 1997 to 1999. - Live Mint

🍒 PMC depositors move Delhi HC, seek higher withdrawal limit for all emergencies : Depositors of the scam-hit Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank (PMC Bank) have filed a plea with the Delhi High Court seeking higher withdrawal limit for all financial emergencies. In June this year, the RBI had announced that the withdrawal limit for PMC Bank account holders has been increased to ?5 lakh but only after producing medical documents.Claims of only 13 out of 300 applicants were accepted by the RBI under the stipulated ‘financial emergencies’. It has also pleaded for compensation for the families of over 60 depositors who lost their lives due to lack of availability of funds. The matter is set to be heard on November 10. - Business Line

🍒 Banks await clarity from RBI on current account opening norms : Banks are awaiting more clarity from the Reserve Bank of India on its current account circular but domestic lenders believe it is a good move that will ensure a comprehensive relationship with customers. “There are a lot of issues on which banks have sought clarity from the RBI regarding the issue of current accounts. The Indian Banks’ Association is working on the issue,” said two persons familiar with the development. - Business Line

🍒 Airtel Payments Bank ties up with Bharti AXA General for car insurance : Airtel Payments Bank has partnered with Bharti AXA General Insurance to offer comprehensive car insurance to the payments bank’s customers. The Smart Drive Private Car Insurance offers financial protection against damage to the vehicle due to accident, theft, and natural and man-made disasters. Airtel Payments Bank’s customers can purchase the Bharti AXA’s car insurance policy within five minutes using a paperless, secure, and quick process through the Airtel Thanks app. Currently, the country’s first payments bank has over 3 crore customers. - Business Line

🍒 Paytm aims to disburse ?1,000 crore in loans by March 2021 : Paytm today announced that it will be expanding its collateral-free loans of up to ?5 lakh at a low interest rate and daily repayment flexibility customised for micro-merchants in a bid to extend financial support to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The digital financial services platform is aiming to disburse ?1,000 crore in loans by March 2021. Bhavesh Gupta, CEO - Paytm Lending, said, “With our collateral-free instant loans, we are trying to help kirana stores and other small business owners who have been left behind by the traditional banking sector and do not have easy access to loans and credit. Going forward, we will especially focus on EDC merchants and provide higher loan amount based on their EDC transactions.”- Business Line

🍒 Banking sector stress expected to drop following collection boost, income improves in Q2 : The domestic banking sector continued to show improvement in the net interest income (NII) in the September quarter helped by falling interest expenses, according to ETIG's analysis of the quarterly financials of a sample of 27 listed banks. The sample's NII rose sequentially for the second consecutive quarter to Rs 1.3 lakh crore compared with Rs 1.2 lakh crore in the previous quarter. NII had fallen sequentially by 2% to Rs 1 lakh crore in the March quarter following a nationwide lockdown in the last week of March to curtail the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. - economic times

🍒 Loan growth continues to remain tepid: RBI data : Indian banking system loan growth continues to be tepid even as some pockets like loans to retail and medium sized firms picked up in September. Bank loans rose 5.1 per cent ( year-on-year) to Rs 102.2 lakh crore as of October 23, according to the latest RBI data. Overall loan growth has remained below the 6 per cent mark ever since the economy went into a lockdown following the COVID-19 pandemic.Several regulatory and policy measures, easing liquidity conditions, lowering of policy rates and the easing of lockdown conditions have helped revive credit demand in certain sectors. Loans to medium enterprises rose 14 per cent, loans against shares and securities rose around 20 per cent, according to the latest data on sectoral deployment of bank credit until September. - economic times

🍒 15th Finance Commission submits final report for FY22-26 to President Kovind : The NK Singh-led 15th Finance Commission (FC) presented its final report for the five fiscal years from 2021-22 to 2025-26 to President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday, according to an official statement. The report titled ‘Finance Commission in Covid Times’, contained four volumes each pertaining to an area of the terms of reference of the FC, the statement said. -economic times

🍒 Concentration of MF equity investment worries investors : The lack of depth in the stock market and tough regulations have forced mutual funds to bet big on top market-cap companies, putting crores of investors’ money at risk. In fact, the top 10 market-cap companies have attracted 36 per cent or ?4.28 lakh crore of the overall equity asset under management of mutual funds of ?11.83 lakh crore, as of September end. - Business Line

🍒 Sensex, Nifty hit new highs; rally likely to continue as global uncertainties taper : On Monday, the Sensex closed with gains of 704 points, or 1.68 per cent, at 42,597. The wider index Nifty rose 197 points, or 1.61 per cent, to close at 12,461. It took less than eight months for the Sensex and Nifty to recoup from a historical loss suffered since the market crash in March. 

🍒 Rupee rises 4 paise against US dollar : The rupee surrendered most of its early gains to trade just 4 paise higher at 74.04 against the US dollar in late afternoon trade on Monday. At the interbank foreign exchange (forex), the domestic currency opened sharply higher at 73.95 a dollar and gained further strength to touch a high of 73.83. Shares of IndusInd Bank hit an over 7-month high of Rs 777.80, up 5% on the BSE today. The stock of the bank was trading higher for the 6 straight trading session and has rallied 33% during the period. It was quoting at its highest level since March 13, 2020

09.11.2020 : Today's Banking / Financial News

09.11.2020 : Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 Fresh investment demand from corporates is some time away, says SBI Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara : Although corporates have started utilising their working capital limits on the back of a very clear trend for demand revival in the economy, any fresh investment demand from corporates is some time away, State Bank of India chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara said on Saturday. “My sense is from the next financial year we (economy) will be nearer to the normal,” Khara said addressing the annual general meeting of The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry here. He said in October all the high-frequency indicators were portraying a very positive scenario. “I think partly it is also attributed to the fact that there is a lot of Covid fatigue. Everybody would like to get into the mainstream economic activity as soon as possible. That is also one of the reasons for the kind of enthusiasm seen in the economy. Earlier, we have felt that it is pent up demand, which is there from the consumers. But, I think now the way indicators are showing, there is a very clear trend for the demands,” the SBI chief said through video-conferencing.He said in October all the high-frequency indicators were portraying a very positive scenario. “I think partly it is also attributed to the fact that there is a lot of Covid fatigue. Everybody would like to get into the mainstream economic activity as soon as possible. That is also one of the reasons for the kind of enthusiasm seen in the economy. Earlier, we have felt that it is pent up demand, which is there from the consumers. But, I think now the way indicators are showing, there is a very clear trend for the demands,” the SBI chief said through video-conferencing. - financial express

🍒 Indian Overseas Bank seeks about Rs 1,000 cr capital support from government : Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has sought a capital support of about Rs 1,000 crore from the government in order to create buffer for any exigency, a top official of the bank said. The state-owned lender, which has posted profit for the last three consecutive quarters, expects to continue the trend in the remaining part of the current fiscal year with increased focus on recovery and business pick up.For September quarter, the bank posted a profit of Rs 148 crore as compared to a net loss of Rs 2,254 crore in the same period a year ago. Net profit in the quarter grew 22.3 per cent from Rs 121 crore in April-June."We expect the trend to continue and book profit quarter after quarter aided by prospects of better recovery. There will be no question of going back," IOB Managing Director P P Sengupta told PTI.Asked about capital needs, he said, "we want our profit to strengthen our capital. That is our internal aim and we are marching towards that goal. As a prudent measure, we have sought some capital support, let us see how much we get. We want to keep capital as buffer for any exigency or contingency." - Economic Times

🍒 Lakshmi Vilas Bank makes its stance clear to Clix group on Religare deposit case : Lakshmi Vilas Bank has reached out to the Clix Group with “all the documents” on its contingent liability related to Religare Finvest deposits, instruments the bank had set off against unpaid loans given to private firms of the erstwhile Religare promoters Malvinder and Shivinder Singh. Clix wanted Lakshi Vilas to make full provisions against the liability amounting to Rs 794 crore ahead of the proposed merger. The bank holds a contingent provision of Rs 200 crore, which is not included in tier I/tier II capital calculations. Hence, Clix wanted it to provide the balance Rs 594 crore. “We have submitted all the documents justifying our stance as to why making full provision is not necessary. We are the rightful owner of the money,” a senior bank official told ET. The bank has taken legal opinion on the matter and believes the appropriation is lawful and tenable, requiring no further provisions. - economic times

🍒 Less than half of ₹8,000-crore Covid claims filed so far have been settled : Seventy-seven year old Asesh Prasad Ghosh died after a three-day battle with Covid at one of the premier city-based private hospitals. His total bill for three days added up to nearly ₹3 lakh, with the ICU room charges and ventilator alone costing his family a whopping ₹88,000 a day. Luckily, he was under his son’s corporate health insurance cover and got back nearly 90 per cent of the total claims. But having an insurance policy may not be enough to ensure that you get fully covered, and there have been instances where patients have received only 50-70 per cent of their claims. Insurance companies on their part have clarified that they would only be able to honour claims to the extent that they are “reasonable and customary”, indicating that they may not be able to honour claims that are “unreasonable” arising primarily due to overbilling by hospitals. - Business Line

🍒 Closely monitoring inventory, asking builders to start selling: PNB Housing : With economic activity gradually improving post lockdown, PNB Housing Finance is closely monitoring the inventory levels of builders and asking them to start selling as demand for home loans is nearly getting back to normal, its MD and CEO Hardayal Prasad said. "Economic activity is still at a low ebb, but it has started picking up. The economic activity in certain areas is obviously returning back to pre-Covid days, I would say. When we talk to the builders and our sales team and people who are on the ground, who go and talk to the consumers and prospective borrowers, there are green shoots that we are seeing everywhere," Prasad told PTI in an interview. "The kind of enquiries that we used to get at one point of time, we are already almost at about 80-85 per cent of the pre-Covid level," he added. - Business Standard

🍒 Early-stage VC firm Inflexor aims to close Rs 500-crore fund by March : Early-stage venture capital firm Inflexor Ventures aims to close its Rs 500-crore fund by March next year, and the proceeds will be invested in about 25 companies over the next few years, a top executive said. Inflexor Technology Fund, which was set up by the founders of the erstwhile Parampara Fund, had made the first close of the Rs 500 crore fund in August this year, at Rs 230 crore.Speaking to PTI, Inflexor Ventures Managing Partner Venkat Vallabhaneni said the latest fund is focussed on technologies that are making a deep impact on the society. "Mostly, we invest in early-stage companies that are making some revenue and have customers. Generally, we enter with a Rs 5-7 crore cheque and after that we stay with the company through their growth," he said adding that there is a follow-on funding of up to Rs 15-20 crore based on performance, growth and capital requirements. - - Business Standard'

🍒 M-cap of nine of top-10 most valued firms zooms over Rs 2.30 lakh crore : The combined market valuation of nine of the top-10 most valued companies zoomed by Rs 2,30,219.82 crore last week, with HDFC twins leading the pack. During the last week, Sensex soared 2,278.99 points or 5.75 per cent.Barring Reliance Industries Ltd, the country''s most valued firm, all nine companies witnessed rise in their market valuation for the trading week closed on Friday. The market capitalisation of HDFC Bank jumped by Rs 68,430.18 crore to Rs 7,19,948.29 crore, emerging as the biggest gainer among the most valued companies. - financial express

🍒 CII writes to finance ministry, suggests ECLGS scheme for stressed sectors : The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has written to the finance ministry, urging to explore an Emergency Loan Credit Guarantee Scheme to support the stressed sectors and argued that prolonged strain on employment-intensive sectors could impede economic recovery. The industry chamber on Sunday said it has recommended this intervention to assist the stressed segments, primarily in the service sectors like hospitality, tourism aviation and retail, as this would not have any impact on the fiscal deficit this year but will provide the much needed liquidity to these sectors which employ a large number of people. "CII appreciates the revenue constraints faced by the government and its impact on the widening fiscal deficit. This intervention, similar to what has been done for the MSMEs will be a win-win for all," Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General CII, said. - economic times.