🍒 PNB says completed technology integration with Oriental Bank of Commerce : State-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) has completed IT integration of all branches of erstwhile Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) with itself, the bank said in a release on December 2. All customers of erstwhile OBC Bank are now migrated to CBS of PNB wherein they can transact seamlessly via existing branches and digital banking channels like internet banking and mobile banking, the bank said.The ATM Switch and terminals also rowed smoothly into the PNB network. The entire migration has been completed without effecting any change in their account numbers, debit cards or net banking credentials, the bank said.With this, the OBC customers can now enjoy services at a wider network of branches without any hassle owing to harmonized products and services at PNB network. The amalgamation of PNB, United Bank of India and OBC has come into effect from April 1, this year. The merger created the second-largest nationalized bank in terms of business and total branches. Six Indian public sector banks (PSBs), some of which have been in existence for over a century, ceased to exist on April 1 after their amalgamation with bigger PSBs. - moneycontrol
🍒 Punjab National Bank introduces loan management solution to speed up delivery : To speed up and maintain accuracy in online loan processing and sanctioning of credit proposals, Punjab National Bank introduced 'LenS' which is a tech-based loan management solution. PNB said in a statement, "After the merger, it was paramount to have a stringent loan management solution, which can be used for activities related to lead capturing, loan appraisal, sanction, and documentation".The bank also added, "PNB started development/customisation of an IT-based solution PNB LenS- The Lending Solution for loan management. It facilitates field functionaries in uniform and consistent appraisal methodology to improve due diligence standards".To standardise the system, process and appraisal formats for loan processing, speed up the process of credit sanctions, and auto-generate loan documents, among others are the main purpose behind the launch of it. For all kinds of loans such as MSME, agriculture, retail and other credit, the system is expected to be implemented in a phased manner. - moneycontrol.
🍒 Banks want RBI to extend recast window till March 31, 2021 : Indian Banks Association (IBA) has made a representation to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to extend the restructuring window outlined by the KV Kamath committee by another three months to March 31, 2021, two people familiar with the development said. The window to seek restructuring is set to lapse on December 31. Bankers have requested the regulator that given the case in the Supreme Court leading to a prolonged moratorium, they haven’t been able to assess borrower cash flows. Also, with borrowers pinning hopes on the Supreme Court verdict in the loan moratorium case, several customers have sought more time to submit recast requests. “A request has been made to the RBI to extend the recast window by another three months, bank books are very opaque currently since several borrowers are sitting on the fence and awaiting a positive verdict from the apex court,” said a banker in the know of the IBA’s representation. - economic times
🍒 SBI’s digital banking platform ‘YONO’ encounters technical glitch : State Bank of India’s (SBI) digital banking platform ‘YONO’ encountered a technical glitch on Wednesday. Customers took to twitter to complain about not being able to open the app/login. According to SBI’s FY20 annual report, the daily active user base on YONO averaged 30 lakh logins (average 10 lakh in FY2019). This app was launched in November 2017. As of September-end 2020, India’s largest bank had about 2.85 crore cumulative registrations for YONO. As per the report, YONO provides both lifestyle and banking experience with more than 31 products, and over 40 services of 5 Joint Venture partners (SBI Life Insurance, SBI Card, SBICAP Securities, SBI General Insurance and SBI Mutual Fund) live on its financial superstore. - Business Line
🍒 Nabard, SBI ink MoU for livelihood intervention projects : Nabard’s Karnataka Regional Office on Wednesday has entered into MoU with State Bank of India (SBI), LHO-Bengaluru, to take up joint intervention projects and provide support, concessional refinance and capacity building of the stakeholders in Nabard’s livelihood projects. The ongoing development initiatives of Nabard and SBI include — Tribal Development Fund (TDF), Watershed Development Fund (WDF), Farmer Producer Organisation (FPOs), Self -Help Group (SHGs), and Joint Liability Groups (JLGs). The MoU will benefit farmers and 45,000 beneficiaries of 260 FPOs in 28 districts; 8,500 beneficiaries of 70 watersheds in 20 districts and 15 tribal development programmes (wadis) along with JLGs/ SHGs through EShakti (digitisation)/artisans/agri-preneurs/agri-start-ups. - Business Line
🍒 Legal tussle between LVB shareholders, RBI likely to reach SC : Irrespective of who wins the ongoing litigation arising from the amalgamation of LVB with DBS India Ltd (DBIL), it is more than likely that the losing side will escalate the matter to the Supreme Court. LVB shareholders (the petitioners) have challenged a clause in ‘The Lakshmi Vilas Bank Ltd(amalgamation with DBS Bank India) Scheme, 2020’ in the Bombay and Madras High Courts, whereby the value of their shareholding became zero overnight. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the main respondent in the aforementioned litigation, had prepared the draft scheme of amalgamation, which was sanctioned by the government on November 25. As per the clause in the scheme, the entire amount of the paid-up share capital, reserves and surplus, including the balances in the share or securities premium account of the transferor (LVB) bank, shall stand written off. - Business Line
🍒 LVB shareholders believe merger with DBS negates bank’s inherent strengths : The legal tug-of-war between the shareholders of Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regarding valuation of their shares, which have been marked down to zero following the amalgamation of the financially-stressed bank with DBS India Ltd (DBIL), is unlikely to end soon. Each party to the case, currently on in the Bombay and Madras High Courts, expects the other to seek relief in the Supreme Court should they lose the case in the High Court. While depositors’ interest has been safeguarded by merging the troubled LVB with a healthy bank (DBIL), shareholders of LVB are disappointed. As per a clause in the scheme in ‘The Lakshmi Vilas Bank (amalgamation with DBS Bank India) Scheme2020’, the entire amount of the paid-up share capital, reserves and surplus, including the balances in the share or securities premium account of the transferor (LVB) bank, shall stand written off - Business Line
🍒 Insolvency resolution in India sees second consecutive quarter of under-performance : Insolvency resolution in India saw a second consecutive quarter of underperformance as the number of cases admitted to the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) fell 86% year-on-year in July-September. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted 80 cases during the second quarter of this financial year, one less than in the previous quarter and substantially lower than the 588 admitted a year ago, data released by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India showed. The data was along expected lines as the suspension of sections 7, 9 and 10 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) remained in place through the second quarter. "The drop in number of admissions in the quarter of July-September, is perhaps also on account of limitations of virtual hearings and the NCLT and the ecosystem adapting to the same," said Misha, partner at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, adding that the suspension would have definitely put a stop to operational creditors (OCs) initiating CIRPs. - economic times
🍒 Fintech start-up CRED raises $80 million : Fintech start-up CRED, a members-only app that rewards users with exclusive rewards for paying credit card bills, has raised $80 million in a fresh round of funding. The new Series C round, which was led by existing investor DST Global along with other existing investors – Sequoia Capital and Ribbit Capital, takes CRED’s post-money valuation to $800 million. Including this round, CRED has raised a total of $175.5 million from 20 investors as per data sourced from Crunchbase. Founded in 2018 by Kunal Shah, CRED raised $120 million in Series B funding last year in July at a valuation of $450 million. Shah is the founder of mobile wallet service Freecharge, which he started in 2010 and which subsequently got acquired by Snapdeal in 2015 for $450 million. - Business Line
🍒 SIP inflow into MFs rises for first time in 7 months in Oct : After six months of continuous decline, investment in mutual funds through SIPs rose to Rs 7,800 crore in October indicating a return to normalisation for the retail investor. However, the increase in SIP numbers “may induce many to profit booking, as we are seeing in November equity flow preliminary numbers”, said Gautam Kalia, head (investment solutions) at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas. The industry raised Rs 7,800 crore through the SIP route last month, compared with Rs 7,788 crore garnered in September, data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) showed. This was the first increase in Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) inflows since March this year. - Business Line
🍒 Over 60 bids submitted for Reliance Capital’s asset monetisation plan : In a relief to creditors, over 60 bids including by Oaktree Capital, Blackstone and KKR are understood to have been submitted for various subsidiaries of Anil Ambani controlled Reliance Capital. As many as eight entities including Oaktree Capital, JC Flower and a number of asset reconstruction companies have put in bids for the entire RCAP assets on an as-is-where-is basis, according to banking sources. The details of the offer made by these entities including the bid amount could not be ascertained. For Reliance General Insurance, 18 bids have been submitted including by Chryscap, JC Flower, Blackstone, KKR, CVC Capital Partners, and Bain Capital. Meanwhile, 16 bids have come in for its life insurance subsidiary – Reliance Nippon Life Insurance from players including Bain Capital, NIIF, Arpwood Partners, Dabur Investments, Bandhan Bank, and Multiples Asset Management. - Business Line
🍒 High bounce rates indicate trouble ahead for lenders : Despite banks claiming that loan collection efficiencies have reached 95% of pre-Covid levels, bounce rates on auto-debit transactions continued to remain abnormally high. Data with NPCI and research done by Macquarie Capital showed that bounce rates on the National Automated Clearing House (NACH) platform stood as high as 40% in volumes and 32% in value at the end of October. This was at 31% in volume and 25% in value in February. Though these rates have come off slightly from a high of 45% in volumes and 38% in values in the month of June. Most banks and NBFCs have claimed of achieving near normal collection efficiency levels, but data suggests that Covid has altered borrower repayment behaviour. - economic times
🍒 Global bank job cuts reach five-year high : Banks around the world have announced the most job cuts in five years as the pandemic adds further pressure to business models upended by the digital revolution. ABN Amro Bank NV and Banco de Sabadell SA disclosed plans to eliminate as many 4,600 positions between them this week, taking the total to 85,540 globally, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s the most since 2015, when deep overhauls of several major lenders called for a combined 91,448 positions to be axed. The moves by ABN Amro of the Netherlands and Spain’s Sabadell are a reminder that Europe is at the epicenter of the industry’s job cull, with its lenders facing record-low and even negative interest rates. Yet banks in the region have the added challenge of tougher labor protections than in other parts of the world, meaning the cuts will be drawn out over several years. - Live Mint
🍒 Ant Group mulls selling Paytm stake as China-India tensions mount : Chinese fintech giant Ant Group is considering selling its 30% stake in Indian digital payment processor Paytm amid tensions between the two Asian neighbours and a toughening competitive landscape, people with direct knowledge of the matter said. Financial details of the possible transaction have not been firmed up and Ant, the Alibaba-backed payments-to-consumer credit behemoth, has not launched a formal sale process yet, four people told Reuters. Paytm, which is also backed by SoftBank Group Corp among others, was valued at about $16 billion during its latest private fundraising round a year ago. At that valuation, Ant’s stake in the Indian firm is worth about $4.8 billion. Both Ant and Paytm said that the information was incorrect. A Paytm spokesman said “there has been no discussion with any of our major shareholders ever, nor any plans, about selling their stake.” - financial express
🍒 Razorpay, PayPal come together to help MSMEs : Razorpay has announced a partnership with PayPal to enable international payments for MSMEs and freelancers. The company’s partner businesses will integrate with PayPal and accept payments from international customers from across 200 markets in a convenient and secure manner, reducing wait time from days down to minutes. After having faced stiff challenges due to the ongoing pandemic, Indian SMEs are hoping to bounce back by leveraging digital technologies as they believe it’ll help them increase their revenues. Even the freelancer economy is flourishing, a recent study revealed that India saw a 46% increase in new freelancers. These businesses lose out on prospective global clients due to highly complex payment and banking infrastructure, processes and systems in place that lack seamless integration. By integrating PayPal into Razorpay’s payment platform, freelancers and MSMEs will be able to accept international payments easily. This service will also reduce wait times for statutory approvals. - economic times
🍒 Sensex dips 37 points on profit-booking; Nifty edges higher : The BSE Sensex retreated from record highs to close 37 points lower on Wednesday due to profit booking in banking and infrastructure stocks by cautious investors after the recent rally. The 30-share barometer closed lower by 37.40 points or 0.08 per cent at 44,618.04. The broader NSE Nifty edged higher by 4.70 points or 0.04 per cent to end at its fresh record high of 13,113.75.Banking stocks bore the brunt of profit selling ahead of the RBI policy announcement this week. Kotak Bank was the top loser among Sensex stocks, dropping by 3.28 per cent. HDFC Bank declined by 1.86 per cent, HDFC by 1.28 per cent and ICICI Bank by 0.99 per cent. SBI fell 0.5 per cent while Bajaj Finance by 0.72 per cent. Larsen & Toubro dropped 0.16 per cent. - Business Line
🍒 QIP mechanism: SEBI proposes discontinuing segregated offering of NCD, warrants : Markets regulator SEBI on Wednesday proposed discontinuing segregated offering of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) and warrants to institutional investors under the QIP mechanism. Under the current framework, an investor can either subscribe to the combined offering of NCD instrument with warrants or to the individual securities (that is, either NCD or warrants). It depends upon the type of offering made by the issuer -- whether the issuer has offered staple or segregated product. - Business Line
🍒 Rupee settles 13 paise lower at 73.81 against US dollar : The rupee pared its initial gains and settled for the day 13 paise lower at 73.81 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday, tracking muted domestic equities. At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit witnessed a highly volatile trading session. It opened at 73.45, pared the gains and finally closed at 73.81 against the greenback, registering a decline of 13 paise over its previous close of 73.68.
🍒 Gold prices today fall, a day after big jump; silver rates drop : Gold and silver prices in Indian markets dropped today amid weak global cues. On MCX, February gold futures slipped 0.24% to ₹48,449 per 10 gram while silver dropped 1% to ₹62,559 per kg. The precious metals had seen a sharp upmove in the previous session. Gold had jumped 1.4% or ₹700 per 10 gram while silver had surged about ₹3,000 per kg. Gold has been on a downhill journey since hitting a high of ₹56,200 in August.
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