Tuesday 15 December 2020

15.12.2020: Today's Banking / Financial News

15.12.2020: Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 RBI eases some conditions for banks to open current accounts : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has exempted some services such as advance payments for home purchases, IPO and FPO applications and accounts used for settlement of credit, debit or ATM dues from the restrictions on opening current accounts without much lending exposure. In a notification on its website, the central bank mentioned eight specific services which have been exempt from its circular in August. Besides the three mentioned above, escrow accounts of payment aggregators or pre paid payment companies, payment settlement accounts, current accounts permitted under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), accounts used for payment of taxes, duties a d statutory dues and accounts of white label ATM operators and their agents for sourcing currency have alao been exempt from the RBI regulations. - economic times

🍒 Fearing vacuum in key posts, SBI shelves VRS plan : State Bank of India (SBI) seems to have shelved its plan to offer a golden handshake to its employees. The proposal, floated in early September, appears to have been put on the back burner as no circular has been issued so far on the opening/implementation of the scheme. The reason: The Finance Ministry is apparently concerned that if many experienced employees and officers opt for the ‘Second Innings Tap – Voluntary Retirement Scheme–2020 (SITVRS-2020)’, there would be a vacuum in key positions. This could have an impact on the functioning of the country’s largest bank. The Government is the promoter of SBI with majority shareholding of 57.63 per cent. The VRS scheme was to open on December 1 and close on February 26, 2021. - Business Line

🍒 Private lender HDFC Bank appoints Sanmoy Chakrabarti as Chief Risk Officer : HDFC Bank on Monday said it has approved the appointment of Sanmoy Chakrabarti as the Chief Risk Officer (CRO) for three years. The bank's board of directors on Monday cleared the appointment of Chakrabarti, Head- Risk Management, as the CRO of the bank for a period of three years, with effect from December 14. He replaces Jimmy Tata, as part of an internal reorganization, according to the regulatory filing.Tata will be the new Chief Credit Officer of the bank.Chakrabarti is a Master's degree holder from the Indian Statistical Institute.HDFC Bank said he has been with the bank for the last decade in the risk management department. Previously, he has been in-charge of market risk, treasury mid-office, operational risk management and Basel credit risk functions of the bank. - economic times

🍒 RBI, DBS move Supreme Court, want all LVB merger cases transferred : The Reserve Bank of India and DBS Bank have moved the Supreme Court asking it to transfer all matters related to the LVB-DBS merger to the apex court. The Supreme Court is likely to hear the matter before it closes for the winter holidays. The amalgamation scheme of Lakshmi Vilas Bank and DBS Limited is under challenge before Bombay High Court, Karnataka High Court, Madras High Court and Delhi High Court. In a hearing before the Madras High Court on Monday senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi appearing for DBS Bank submitted that the matter of transfer of all cases will be mentioned before the Supreme Court during this week itself and it is likely to be taken up before the Supreme Court closes for Winter Holidays on December 18.- economic times

🍒 RBI approves reappointment of Uday Kotak as chief of Kotak Mahindra Bank : The Reserve Bank of India has approved the reappointment of Uday Kotak as the managing director and chief executive officer of Kotak Mahindra Bank, the lender said in an exchange filing on Monday. Kotak who has already served as the chief of the bank for over 17 years will continue at the position of MD & CEO for another three years. Speculation was rife about Kotak’s reappointment after RBI released a discussion paper in June this year on governance at commercial banks. The paper had proposed capping the tenure of bank CEOs who are promoters or large shareholders at 10 years. Since then several brokerage houses had anticipated a leadership change at Kotak Mahindra Bank. - economic times

🍒 Bank of Maharashtra raises Rs 200 crore under tier II bond programme : State-run Bank of Maharashtra on Monday said it has raised over Rs 200 crore through private placement of Basel III-compliant tier II bonds. The fund raise is part of the lender's Rs 1,000 crore tier II bond programme."The bank has successfully raised a capital of Rs 200.70 crore through private placement of Basel III compliant tier II bonds, the lender said in a filing to exchanges.The coupon offered on the bond was 7.75 per cent.Last week, Brickwork Ratings had reaffirmed AA rating of the lender's tier II bonds worth Rs 1,000 crore. The outlook was also reaffirmed as stable. The domestic rating agency had also assigned AA- rating to Bank of Maharashtra's Rs 1,000 crore of Basel III compliant additional tier I bonds with a stable outlook. - Business Standard

🍒 SBI, PNB, ICICI, HDFC among 8 top banks witnessing wilful defaults surge : Eight of India’s biggest banks have seen a significant jump in wilful defaults in the six months to September, with such loans rising by over ₹37,000 crore to ₹1.5 trillion, shows data on suit-filed accounts from credit bureau TransUnion Cibil. These banks—State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Union Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank—account for 75% of all loans reported as wilful defaults as of 30 September. Also read: Why your health plan premium is suddenly spiking. In the same period last year, the increase was about ₹10,000 crore. - Live Mint

🍒 Shriram City Union Finance to raise up to Rs 200 crore via bonds : Shriram City Union Finance on Monday said it will raise up to Rs 200 crore by issuing bonds on private placement basis. The banking and securities management committee of the company at its meeting held on Monday approved issue of non-convertible debentures for an amount of Rs 100 crore with green shoe option up to Rs 100 crore, aggregating up to 2,000 NCDs amounting to Rs 200 crore, Shriram City Union Finance said in a regulatory filing. - moneycontrol.

🍒 Premature withdrawal of liquidity will hurt growth: Shaktikanta Das : Rolling back loose monetary policies prematurely can adversely affect economic revival which is still fragile and narrow and, at least for now, inflationary pressures are not going to weigh on the central bank’s policy formulation as they are more due to supply-side factors and not because of low interest rates or surplus liquidity, Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das said. The RBI is, however, conscious of the risks posed by ultra-low interest rates and flooding the market with excess liquidity. “We are very much aware that a premature withdrawal will be detrimental to growth,” Das, who just completed two years at RBI told ET in an interview. “A delayed withdrawal will also have its own negative effects. We are fully aware and conscious of both the ends of the situation. Therefore, we have to take a balanced call and at the right time. Let me reiterate that our forward guidance to markets stands and we shall adhere to it.” - economic times

🍒 Uday Shankar takes over as FICCI President : Media executive Uday Shankar has taken over as Ficci President for 2020-2021, the industry body said on Monday. Currently, Shankar is President, The Walt Disney Company APAC & Chairman, Star & Disney India. He has taken over from Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group. The Walt Disney Company had recently said Shankar will step down as President of its Asia Pacific business and Chairman of Star and Disney India with effect from December 31, 2020. - economic times

🍒 DHFL: Worsening retail assets can complicate resolution : Even as lenders to distressed Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd are expecting higher bids from Oaktree and Piramal, the deteriorating portfolio of the housing finance company could be a cause of worry. According to updated business figures for October and November, available at the data centre, DHFL’s retail book is said to have shown a further deterioration as also the performing portfolio. - Business Line

🍒 Bharti AXA General nets ₹95 cr profit in H1 : Bharti AXA General Insurance, a private general insurer, has recorded a net profit of ₹95 crore in the first six months of the current fiscal. The company had recorded a net loss of ₹90 crore in the same period last fiscal. However, gross written premium for April-September 2020 slipped to ₹1,574 crore (₹1,586 crore). The marginal drop in the premium income could be attributed to the impact of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, which resulted in flat growth in line with the non-life insurance industry, this general insurer said. - Business Line

🍒 To provide health and life cover, insurers offer ‘unique’ facilities for medical tests : Insurers are coming up with unique solutions for customers who wish to purchase high-ticket health and life insurance policies but are worried about getting medical tests amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. “People want to buy insurance policies with higher sum insured, given the uncertainties of the pandemic and high medical costs, but often the need for medical tests proves to be a dampener,” said an insurance executive who did not wish to be named. - Business Line

🍒 Despite five-fold increase, India’s deposit insurance cover among lowest globally : The Budget 2020-21 had brought some respite to depositors by increasing the deposit insurance cover to ₹5 lakh (effective February 4) from ₹1 lakh earlier. Yet the latest annual survey by the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI) reveals that India ranks in the bottom 20 among the 110-odd countriesin terms of insurance cover. The coverage limits range from below $1,000 to $300,000; India’s ₹5-lakh cover works out to about $7,000, according to the IADI Survey (around $6,800 as per current exchange rate). Countries such as Philippines ($9,875), Mexico ($1,35,222), Argentina ($25,130) Russian Federation ($22,615), Turkey ($25,253), Malaysia ($61,080) and Brazil ($62,033) rank way higher than India, according to the latest IADI Survey. - Business Line

🍒 Aided by two-wheeler loans, Shriram City sees strong growth in Q3 disbursements : Shriram City Union Finance Ltd, a leading NBFC in the retail financing space, will see its disbursements doubling in Q3 when compared to the preceding quarter, aided by strong growth in two-wheeler loans and return of business to pre-Covid levels in most of the other loan segments. For the company, disbursement levels are slowly coming back to pre-Covid-19 levels, barring the SME (small and medium enterprises) segment, which is expected to take at least another quarter to reach normal levels. - Business Line

🍒 Glitter online: Increased digitisation is remoulding India's gold loan biz : The gold financing business in India is undergoing a major transformation, whose main driver is increased use of technology for faster loan processing, accurate gold valuation, safekeeping, auctions and cost-cutting. According to a report by the World Gold Council, several leading gold loan non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) such as Muthoot Finance, Manappuram Finance and others have witnessed a significant rise in online transactions in recent months. The report states that 19.2 per cent of Muthoot Finance’s gold transactions now takes place online. - Business Standard

🍒 NBFCs expect higher credit loss on Covid-19 woes, says study : Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) are expecting higher credit loss as well as an increase in provision coverage rates, mainly due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a study. The study by leading consultancy EY is based on an analysis of the standalone financial statements of 42 NBFCs, including 14 Housing Finance Companies (HFCs), for the year ended March 31, 2020. The companies have reported an "increase in Expected Credit Loss (ECL) allowance by 33 per cent and an overall increase in provision coverage rate by 26 per cent as at 31 March 2020 compared to the year ended 31 March 2019". Further, COVID-19 impact accounted for 19 per cent of the ECL allowance as on March 31 this year. - Business Standard

🍒 Gold prices drop Rs 187 to Rs 48,859/10 gm as investors chase riskier assets : Gold prices slumped by Rs 187 to Rs 48,859 per 10 gram in the Mumbai retail market on a stronger rupee and a rally in the equity market. The precious metal traded lower on the hope of improvement in the global economic outlook as nations rollout COVID vaccine and investors’ appetite for riskier assets. The rate of 10 gram 22-carat gold in Mumbai was Rs 44,755 plus 3 percent GST, while 24-carat 10 gram was Rs 48,859 plus GST. The 18-carat gold quoted at Rs 36,644 plus GST in the retail market. Silver prices rose Rs 368 to Rs 62,600 per kg from its closing on December 11.

🍒 Sensex jumps 154 points to fresh record; Nifty tops 13,550 : After touching its record intra-day peak of 46,373.34 during the day, the 30-share BSE index ended 154.45 points or 0.34 per cent higher at 46,253.46. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose 44.30 points or 0.33 per cent to close at a record 13,558.15. It hit a lifetime high of 13,597.50 during the session. ONGC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying around 5 per cent, followed by L&T, NTPC, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma, HCL Tech, Titan and Kotak Bank. On the other hand, M&M, Bajaj Auto, Tech Mahindra and Bajaj Finserv were among the laggards.

🍒 Rupee gains 9 paise to 73.55 against US dollar : The rupee advanced by 9 paise to settle at 73.55 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday, buoyed by sustained foreign fund inflows and heavy buying in domestic equities. t the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened at 73.62 against the US dollar, then gained ground and touched an intra-day high of 73.48 against the greenback. The local unit finally closed at 73.55 against the American currency, registering a rise of 9 paise over its previous close.

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