🍒 Blanket interest waiver on all loans to be Rs 6 lakh crore: Centre to SC : The Centre informed the Supreme Court on Tuesday that if it were to consider waiving interest on all the loans and advances to all categories of borrowers for the six-month moratorium period announced by RBI in view of COVID-19 pandemic, then the amount foregone would be more than Rs 6 lakh crore. If the banks were to bear this burden, then it would necessarily wipe out a substantial and a major part of their net worth, rendering most of the lenders unviable and raising a very serious question mark over their very survival, it said. A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R S Reddy and M R Shah was informed by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, that this was one of the main reasons why waiver of interest was not even contemplated and only payment of instalments was deferred. The top court is hearing a batch of pleas of various bodies including from real estate and power seeking sector wise relief in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. - economic times
🍒 Reserve Bank of India cancels license of Maharashtra's Karad Janata Sahakari Bank : The RBI on Tuesday said it has cancelled the licence of The Karad Janata Sahakari Bank Ltd, Karad, Maharashtra, as it does not have adequate capital and earning prospects. More than 99 per cent of the depositors of the bank will get full payment of their deposits from Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC), the Reserve Bank said in a statement. With the cancellation of licence and commencement of liquidation proceedings, the process of paying the depositors of The Karad Janata Sahakari Bank will be set in motion. On liquidation, every depositor is entitled to repayment of his/her deposits up to a monetary ceiling of Rs 5 lakh only from the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) as per usual terms and conditions. - economic times
🍒 Indian Bank raises ₹1,048 cr through private placement of Basel III compliant bonds : : State-owned Indian Bank on Tuesday said it has raised ₹1,048 crore by issuing bonds on private placement basis. The bank has successfully raised tier I capital fund through private placement of Basel III compliant additional tier I perpetual bonds aggregating to ₹1,048 crore, Indian Bank said in a regulatory filing. The bonds will bear a coupon rate of 8.44% per annum payable annually, it said. The placement of the bonds has been completed by the bank through BSE-EBP (bond platform), Indian Bank said. Indian Bank shares jumped 15.44% to close at ₹85.60 apiece on BSE. - Live Mint
🍒 ICICI Bank to be designated bank for all financial transactions under National Health Mission in West Bengal : ICICI Bank has won the mandate to be the designated bank for all financial transactions under National Health Mission (NHM) in West Bengal, outbidding State Bank of India and other public sector lenders despite their bigger presence in the state. "ICICI quoted the lowest bid," a person familiar with the development said. Punjab National Bank, the convenor of state level bankers' committee (SLBC), by the virtue of its merger with United Bank of India, did not bid for the project. PNB officials said that neither UBI nor PNB could bid as both were busy in the process of merger. PNB has 1258 branches in the state, with SBI having nearly the same count. ICICI Bank has 213.- economic times
🍒 Bill Gates calls India’s digital finance approach a global model : Tech pioneer Bill Gates praised India’s policies for financial innovation and inclusion, saying his philanthropic foundation is working with other countries to roll out open-source technologies modeled on the country’s implementation. India has built ambitious platforms for universal identification and digital payments, including the world’s largest biometric database and a system for sending rupees between any bank or smartphone app. Gates said those policies have drastically reduced the cost and friction of distributing aid to the poor, especially during the pandemic. “If people are going to study one country right now, other than China, I’d say they should look at India,” Gates said at the Singapore Fintech Festival on Tuesday. “Things are really exploding there and innovation around that system is phenomenal.” - economic times
🍒 RBI bought three times more gold in HI FY21 : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) bought about three times more gold in the first half (H1) of the current financial year vis-a-vis the year-ago period, betting on the safe haven asset class in the face of the pandemic’s deleterious impact on the global economy. India’s central bank mopped up 15.24 tonnes of the yellow metal in H1 (April-September 2020), against 5.61 tonnes in the year-ago period, as per RBI’s Report on Management of Foreign Exchange Reserves. - Business Line
🍒 Kotak MF launches REIT Funds of Funds scheme : Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company has launched of Kotak International REIT Fund of Funds, which is India’s first diversified Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT) Mutual Fund. The open-ended scheme will invest in units of SMAM Asia REIT Sub Trust Fund. This MF scheme will have a diversified investment portfolio comprising of listed REITs which will invest in real estate projects such as residential, office, data centres, warehousing, retail and hospitality. The New Fund Offer will be open for subscription till December 21. - Business Line
🍒 Banks are not snatching our jewellery loan business: Muthoot Finance MD : George Alexander Muthoot, Managing Director of Muthoot Finance, is not too worried about banks suddenly turning aggressive in the ‘loans against jewellery’ business, which is bread and butter for his company. In an interaction with BusinessLine, Muthoot emphasised that banks will lose interest in this business as soon as they find some other lending opportunity. - Business Line
🍒 Chanda Kochhar told Videocon's Dhoot to invest in hubby’s company: ED : Former head of ICICI Bank Chanda Kochhar had in 2009 told Videocon group chairman V N Dhoot, whose loan applications had been pending with the bank, to invest money in her husband Deepak’s company, said the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in its chargesheet filed recently. The documents attached to the chargesheet show that in Pacific Capital Service Pvt Ltd (PCSPL), one of the companies belonging to Kochhar, an office boy who served tea was shown as a director and had a stake in the company. - economic times
🍒 Walmart could join other tech giants in picking up stake in one of the NUEs : US-based retail giant Walmart could join Facebook, Google and Amazon in securing a part ownership in one of the upcoming new umbrella entities (NUEs) vying to become the country’s next big retail payment network. People close to the situation said that at least two consortium players preparing to apply for the coveted NUE license have approached Walmart’s PhonePe to become a strategic investor in their respective ventures. The Bengaluru-based fintech major is learnt to be studying the guidelines before deciding on its participation. Sameer Nigam, the co-founder and CEO of PhonePe, in an interview with ET confirmed that the startup has been approached by several prospective participants, even as he downplayed the interest. - economic times
🍒 IndusInd's Ramesh Sobti likely to join Aditya Birla Capital's board, pending RBI approval : Ramesh Sobti, who helped transform IndusInd from a small struggling bank into one of the fastest growing private sector lenders, is likely to join the board of Aditya Birla Capital, two people aware of the development said. Sobti’s induction which is subject to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) approval, comes after some prominent investors had expressed concern over the performance of the group’s flagship financial services business, one of the persons cited above said. - economic times
🍒 Committee of Creditors at DHFL likely to extend deadline for debt resolution by a month : The Committee of Creditors at DHFL is likely to extend the deadline for debt resolution by a month to February of next year to factor in and evaluate the latest round of bids that might be radically different from those made in the past. Lenders met on Tuesday to discuss the extension proposal that would soon be put to vote, three people with knowledge of the matter told ET. The proposal will be submitted to Mumbai's National Company Law Tribunal citing growing complexities of competitive bids and a lawsuit by National Housing Bank, sources said. - economic times
🍒 Artificial Intelligence: Financial services industry behind the curve in meeting customer expectations : The financial services industry has not been up to the mark in driving Artificial Intelligence (AI) at scale to transform customer experience, said Capgemini, a global leader in consulting, technology services and digital transformation. Financial services customers’ overall expectations have still not been met, irrespective of all claims made by enterprises that are investing in Artificial Intelligence (AI) for improving customer experiences, Sudhir Pai, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer, Global Financial Services, Capgemini, told BusinessLine. - Business Line
🍒 Bank employee unions oppose large-scale engagement of apprentices : Four bank employee unions have opposed engagement of apprentices on a large scale in the banking sector and sought immediate review and reconsideration of the same by the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA). The unions said it is a matter of concern and intrigue that while banks as a whole would be recruiting only about 2,500 clerical staff in the next financial year, State Bank of India alone is planning to engage about 8,500 apprentices. In a joint letter to IBA Chairman Rajkiran Rai G, the unions observed that if the objective of engaging apprentices is to provide skill to them — keeping in view future job opportunities in the banking sector — then engaging 8,500 apprentices, when future job openings are so meagre, is not reconcilable. - Business Line
🍒 ICICI Bank to sell 2.21% stake in ICICI Sec via OFS : ICICI Bank will sell up to 2.21 per cent stake in ICICI Securities through an offer for sale on December 9 and 10. The proposal was approved by the board of directors of ICICI Bank on Tuesday. In a regulatory filing, ICICI Securities said the OFS will take place on December 9 for non-retail investors and on December 10 for retail investors. The floor price has been set at ₹440 per share, which amounts to a 4.75 per cent discount on ICICI Securities’ closing price of ₹460.90 a piece on the BSE on Monday. No discount is being offered to retail investors. - Business Line
🍒 Outlook for NBFC-HFC sector remains ‘negative’, says ICRA : The outlook for the non-bank sector – non-banking finance company (NBFC) and housing finance company (HFCs) – remains ‘negative’ as the operating environment is yet to materially recover post the pandemic-induced disruptions, according to ICRA. Further, the near-term demand outlook is likely to continue to remain subdued, the credit rating agency added. ICRA expects the NBFC Assets Under Management (AUM) to contract by 2 to 4 per cent in FY21 as the wholesale exposures – corporate/ real estate – are steadily being run down, while retail-NBFC AUM is expected to grow at +/- 1.5 per cent. - Business Line
🍒 South Indian Bank mulls multi-pronged approach to return to profitability : Thrissur-based South Indian Bank (SIB) is working on short- and medium-term growth strategies to remain competitive in the new and changed business environment. Murali Ramakrishnan, the new Managing Director and CEO, who brings with him a lot of exposure to retail banking, has identified many focus areas, including beefing up of capital to strengthen the balance sheet, focused drive on building strong and low-cost CASA book, leveraging of the strong distribution network to increase business, strengthening of NRI relationships, and augmenting the talent of young resources. As per the strategy of the bank, the corporate portfolio was consciously de-grown and is presently at 25 per cent of the total advances portfolio. Also, the stressed accounts in the large corporate book which were identified, have either turned into NPAs or have been sold off to ARC barring a few, which are closely monitored. - Business Line
🍒 BharatPe, third-largest player in UPI payment acceptance space : BharatPe, on Tuesday, said it has become the third-largest player in the merchant UPI payment acceptance space. The company recorded ₹3,334 crore in transaction value for November and processed 6.15 crore transactions last month.With this, BharatPe said it has toppled Google Pay from the third position. “BharatPe has been outgrowing the market and has doubled its market share in the UPI P2M merchant payment acceptance category since April 2020,” it said in a statement. - Business Line
🍒 Fitch affirms Axis Bank's IDR at BB-plus with negative outlook : Fitch Ratings has affirmed Axis Bank's long-term issuer default rating at BB-plus with a negative outlook and its viability rating at bb. The negative outlook mirrors the outlook on India's BBB-minus sovereign rating which was revised to negative from stable in June due to the impact of escalating coronavirus pandemic on the country's economy. Axis's issuer default rating which is higher than its viability rating is driven by its support rating floor and support rating. Fitch said the bank has a moderate likelihood of extraordinary state support if required due to its size and systemic importance; 5.6% of banking sector loans and 4.5% of deposits on 1H FY21. - Live Mint
🍒 Kotak Mahindra Bank introduces fitness allowance for employees : Kotak Mahindra Bank (Kotak) today announced the introduction of a fitness allowance and remote working benefits for its employees. The allowances – new additions to Kotak’s ‘Health to the Power Infinity’ programme for employees – are effective from 1st December, 2020. Under Kotak’s 'Health to the Power Infinity' programme, employees are eligible for a monthly fitness allowance. However, to ensure employees actually benefit from the purpose of the allowance, they would need to share their fitness goals with the bank. Further, as per Kotak’s Remote Working policy for employees, roles have been classified as full-time or partially remote working roles. To make work-from-home (WFH) more comfortable and productive, Kotak employees in full-time and part-time remote working roles will receive a remote working allowance every month. - Live Mint
🍒 Google Pay, PhonePe accounted for 86% of UPI transactions in Oct: NPCI : Google Pay and PhonePe together accounted for more than 80 percent of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) market. The two apps make up about 81 percent of the market, and accounted for 86 percent of the UPI transactions value in October, Mint reported, citing NPCI data. UPI transactions worth Rs 1,65,654.71 crore were done through Google Pay in October, the report said. Rs 1,68,085.06 crore worth of transactions were carried through PhonePe. - moneycontrol.
🍒 Market update: Sensex jumps 182 points to close at new high of 45,608 : After touching a record intra-day high of 45,742.23, the 30-share BSE index climbed 181.54 points or 0.40 per cent to finish at 45,608.51. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose for the sixth consecutive day, up 37.20 points or 0.28 per cent to 13,392.95 -- its new lifetime closing high. It touched an intra-day record of 13,435.45 in early trade.UltraTech Cement was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 3 per cent, followed by TCS, Reliance Industries, HCL Tech, Infosys and Kotak Bank. On the other hand, Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank, NTPC, Tech Mahindra, ONGC and Asian Paints were among the laggards.
🍒 Rupee settles 10 paise lower at 73.90 against US dollar : The rupee dropped by 10 paise to settle at 73.90 (provisional) against the US currency on Monday due to a stronger dollar in overseas markets. At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit witnessed a volatile trading session. It opened at 73.79 and rose to an intra-day high of 73.70 and dropped to a low of 73.96.
🍒 Gold prices today fall, a day after big gains; silver rates drop : Gold prices and silver prices dropped in Indian markets amid a strong rally in equity markets. On MCX, gold futures edged 0.15% lower to ₹49,879 per 10 gram, after rising to ₹50,175 earlier in the session. Silver futures fell 0.6% to ₹65,057 per kg. In the previous session, gold futures had jumped 1.5% or ₹750 per 10 gram while silver had surged 2.5% or ₹1,600 per kg..
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