18.10.2020: Today's Banking / Financial News

18.10.2020: Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 RBI imposes Rs 4.5-cr penalty on IndusInd Bank for non-compliance with its directions : The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 4.5 crore on IndusInd Bank Ltd for non-compliance with certain provisions of directions issued by it. In a statement, the central bank said the non-compliance was with respect to certain provisions of directions issued by it on ‘Exposure Norms’, ‘Prudential Norms on Income Recognition, Asset Classification and Provisioning pertaining to Advances’, among others. RBI also flagged non-compliance of its directions on ‘SPARC (Supervisory Programme for Assessment of Risk and Capital) – Monitoring of Information Submission by bank’, ‘Creation of a Central Repository of Large Common Exposures - Across Banks’ read with directions on ‘Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC) – Revision in Reporting’, and ‘Disclosure in Financial Statements - Notes to Accounts’. According to the central bank, the statutory inspection of IndusInd Bank with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2019, and the Risk Assessment Report (RAR) revealed, inter-alia, non-compliance with the directions issued by RBI. - Business Line

🍒 SBI warns customers against making these 5 mistakes or risk emptying bank account : State Bank of India (SBI) has issued a warning for its customers. Amid rising fraud incidents, customers need to be careful. Through ATMs fraud is being done apart from online transactions. To keep bank accounts safe and secure, SBI has given some advice to its customers. Customers should not make such a mistake during the festive season that their bank account should be empty, SBI warned its customers. Here are 5 mistakes SBI has advised its customers not to do: - *OTP, PIN, CVV, UPI PIN* should not be shared. Do not share OTP (one time password), PIN number, debit or credit card CVV number with any one, according to the State Bank. Most of the frauds are on phone calls, by asking you to change password, OTP or CVV number written on the back of your card and also warn you to block your card. - Business Line

🍒 Bank of Baroda inks pact with Mahindra & Mahindra for tractor finance biz : To push agriculture finance, state-owned Bank of Baroda (BoB) on Friday said it has entered into a pact with Mahindra and Mahindra for tractor finance business. The lender, through its over 5,000 rural and semi-urban branch network, will provide tractor loan facility to customers of Mahindra and Mahindra. This memorandum of understanding (MoU) will give a boost to agri business and will help farmers in availing hassle-free credit facilities for buying tractors, BoB Executive Director Vikramaditya Singh Khichi said. The tractor financing scheme was first piloted in the UP zone for a year and it has been successful, he said adding that this is being expanded into 11 zones of the bank. The bank has tied up with Gromax under the Mahindra stable as the preferred brand, he added. - Business Standard

🍒 HDFC Bank reports 18.4 per cent increase in Q2 net profit : Private sector lender HDFC Bank reported an 18.4 per cent increase in its standalone net profit for the second quarter of the fiscal at ₹7,513.11 crore as against ₹6,344.99 crore a year ago. For the quarter ended September 30, 2020, the bank’s total income grew by 6.9 per cent at ₹36,069.42 crore compared to ₹33,755 crore a year ago. Net interest income for the second quarter this fiscal grew by 16.7 per cent to ₹ 15,776.4 crore from ₹13,515.0 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2019. In a statement on Saturday, HDFC Bank said this was “driven by asset growth of 21.5 per cent and a core net interest margin for the quarter of 4.1 per cent”. Other income grew by nine per cent to ₹6,092.45 crore in the quarter under review. - Business Line

🍒 HDFC Bank board appoints Sashidhar Jagdishan as its MD & CEO : The board of directors of HDFC Bank on Saturday approved appointment of Sashidhar Jagdishan (Sashi) as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of bank for three-year term from October 27, 2020. The Reserve Bank of India has already approved Jagdishan’s appointment. The appointment shall be placed before the shareholders of the Bank for their approval, by way of postal ballot (through remote e-voting), bank said in filing with BSE. Sashi joined the Bank in 1996 as Manager in the Finance function. He became business Head (Finance) in 1999 and was appointed as Chief Financial Officer in the year 2008. He played a pivotal role in aligning the organisation in achieving the strategic objectives over the years. Prior to his appointment as Managing Director & CEO of the Bank, he was the Strategic Change Agent of the Bank in addition to overseeing the functions including Finance, Human Resources, Legal & Secretarial, Administration. He has completed his graduation in Science with specialisation in Physics. He is a Chartered Accountant by profession and also holds a Master’s degree in Economics of Money, Banking & Finance from the University of Sheffield, UK. - Business Standard

🍒 Paytm users to pay 2% charge on using credit cards to top up wallets : Paytm users will have to pay a 2 per cent fee on the amount added to their e-wallet using a credit card. Until now, users had to pay 2 per cent fee if they loaded more than ₹10,000 in their e-wallets via credit card in a month. A message saying “Nominal charge of 2 per cent is applicable on adding money using a credit card. A nominal fee is applicable since we pay high charges to your bank/payment network when you add money using a credit card. Please use UPI or debit card to add money for free” is displayed when customers attempt to add money to their Paytm wallet via a credit card. - Business Line

🍒 NHB levies penalty on CanFin Homes for non-compliance of SLR norms : National Housing Bank (NHB) has levied a penalty of ₹5,000 plus GST on CanFin Homes Limited for non-compliance concerning the provisions of its policy circular No 21. CanFin Homes Limited, on Saturday, in a regulatory filing to exchanges, said “The company is supposed to maintain SLR investments to the extent of 13 per cent of its outstanding public deposits and create floating charges on the same. The company has maintained SLR investment to the extent of 14.65 per cent. However, there was a shortfall of 0.59 per cent in the charge created. Hence, the company has represented the matter before NHB.” - Business Line

🍒 Franklin Templeton’s six debt mutual fund schemes generate Rs 8,302 cr since closure : Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund has said its six shut schemes have received ₹8,302 crore from maturities, pre-payments and coupon payments since closing down in April. Franklin Templeton MF shut six debt mutual fund schemes on April 23, citing redemption pressures and lack of liquidity in the bond market. “The six schemes have received total cash flows of ₹8,302 crore as of October 15, 2020 from maturities, pre-payments and coupon payments since April 24, 2020,” Franklin Templeton MF said in a statement. - Business Line.

17.10.2020: Today's Banking / Financial News

17.10.2020: Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 RBI to conduct auction of State Development Loans on October 22 : The Reserve Bank of India on Friday said it will conduct the first ever purchase auction of State Development Loans (SDLs) under Open Market Operations (OMOs) for an aggregate amount of ₹10,000 crore on October 22. The central bank said the purchase auction amount has been kept at ₹10,000 crore, keeping in view that this is the first ever OMO purchase of SDLs. Depending on market response, the size of the auctions may be enhanced in the subsequent auctions, it added. - Business Line

🍒 Rajkiran Rai elected IBA chief : The Managing Committee of the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), at its meeting held on Friday, elected Rajkiran Rai G, Managing Director and CEO, Union Bank of India, as the Chairman of the Association for the term 2020-21. Dinesh Kumar Khara, Chairman, State Bank of India, was elected as Deputy Chairman of the Association for the year 2020-21, IBA said in a statement. Rai was earlier the Deputy Chairman of IBA. - Business Line

🍒 BOB Fin wants to emerge among top-five credit card players in two years : BOB Financial Solutions Limited (BFSL), which recently entered into a strategic partnership with Mastercard, is eyeing entry into the top-five league in credit cards industry in terms of cards in force (CIF) in the next two years, Shailendra Singh, Managing Director and CEO has said. This wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank of Baroda, which has about 5 lakh CIF, is currently ranked 14th in the credit cards industry pecking order. “I don’t think this (aspiration of getting into top five in 2 years) is going to be very challenging. We are now very aggressive on credit cards, and will leverage our recent strategic alignment with Mastercard to build great customer experience and product innovation and technology use,” Singh said. - Business Line

🍒 Valuation gap between HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank narrowest after correction : The correction in banking stocks since March has helped reduce the valuation premium that HDFC Bank commands over ICICI Bank. From 4.2 times FY19 book, HDFC Bank’s asking rate has currently dipped to 2.8 times FY21 estimated earnings. ICICI Bank’s valuations, on the other hand, has improved from 1.8 times FY19 to 1.9 times FY21 estimated book. The number for ICICI Bank is expected to remain stable or marginally improve going ahead. In other words, HDFC Bank’s valuation premium which was twice more than that of ICICI Bank for most years between FY10 - FY19 is fast melting. At about 37 per cent premium to ICICI Bank, the valuation gap with HDFC Bank is at a decadal low (see table). Even on FY20 basis, the figure is the lowest in a decade. The difference between the two stocks now is just about mirroring their balance sheet size. HDFC Bank’s balance sheet at Rs 10.03 trillion in FY20 is 36 per cent larger than ICICI Bank's Rs 6.45 trillion. - Business Standard

🍒 HDFC Bank Q2 preview: May post over 16% profit growth; asset quality trends key monitorable : HDFC Bank is expected to report over 16 percent growth in profit as well as net interest income (NII) in Q2 FY21. Asset quality may weaken a bit sequentially. Profitability of the country's largest private sector lender may be hit by higher provisioning on expected restructured accounts (COVID-19 related), but lower tax rate may support earnings growth. The bank had earlier reported a 16 percent year-on-year growth in Q2 advances at Rs 10.37 lakh crore, while deposits grew 20 percent to Rs 12.29 lakh crore. "NII is expected to be moderate to 16 percent YoY on account of lower NIM, with the bank carrying excess liquidity. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the same is seen around 3 percent on account of the lockdown imposed in certain states and conservative approach of banks," Narnolia Financial Services said. - Moneycontrol

🍒 Federal Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank launch festive campaigns : Ahead of the upcoming festive season, Federal Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank have also launched special campaigns for their customers with cheaper loans and discounts. As part of the 2020 Edition of Khushi Ka Season, Kotak Mahindra Bank is offering home loans starting at seven per cent per annum and savings of up to Rs 20 lakh on balance transfer cases. It is also offering 50 per cent waiver on processing fee on car loans and two wheeler loans as well as a similar waiver on agri business, commercial vehicle and construction equipment finance. Federal Bank has launched Fed Fiesta which provides a range of discounts, cashbacks and offers on shopping. - Business Line

🍒 IDBI Bank launches banking services on WhatsApp : IDBI Bank on Friday announced the launch of banking services on WhatsApp. The WhatsApp Banking service is being offered through a dedicated WhatsApp verified number ensuring end-to-end encryption, the Bank said in a statement. The facility will enable IDBI Bank customers to avail various essential services such as account balance information, last five transactions, request for a cheque book and an email statement, interest rates, as well as details of IDBI Bank branches/ATMs in the vicinity, to begin with. - Business Line

🍒 Kotak Mahindra Bank launches festive offers to woo borrowers : Kotak Mahindra Group on Friday flagged-off this year’s festive season celebrations by announcing the launch of the 2020 edition of Khushi Ka Season. Kotak is offering customers attractive loan rates, loan processing fee waivers and quick online loan approvals on a range of retail and agri loan segments.Customers can avail special offers on other banking products including savings accounts, debit & credit cards and no-cost EMI payments. Further, Kotak is partnering leading ecommerce players such as Amazon.in and Flipkart with exciting offers for Kotak debit and credit cardholders. - economic times

🍒 Federal Bank Q2 net profit falls 26% on sharp rise in provisions : Private sector lender Federal Bank registered a 26.2 per cent drop in its net profits in the second quarter of the fiscal with a sharp rise in its provisions. The bank reported a net profit of ₹307.62 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 as against ₹416.70 crore a year ago. Its net profit was ₹400.77 crore in the first quarter this fiscal. Its total income increased by 8.8 per cent to ₹3,997.23 crore in the July to September quarter this fiscal versus ₹3,675.17 crore a year ago. Its net interest income rose by 22.8 per cent to ₹1,379.87 crore in the second quarter this fiscal as against ₹1,123.77 crore a year ago. Net interest margin stood at 3.13 per cent as on September 30, 2020. “The bank could deliver the highest ever operating profit, which crossed ₹1,000 crore for the first time in its history. Low risk and a high yielding product like gold loan registered handsome growth,” said Shyam Srinivasan, Managing Director and CEO, Federal Bank, adding that it continues to weather the turbulence in the external environment by returning strong numbers for CASA and asset quality. - Business Line

🍒 Covid impact: South Indian Bank’s Q2 profit dips to ₹65.09 crore : The Covid pandemic seems to have taken a toll on South Indian Bank’s net profit in Q2 of the current fiscal, which was down at ₹65.09 crore against ₹84.48 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. The net profit in Q1 of the current fiscal was ₹81.65 crore. However, the operating profit for the second quarter has grown marginally from ₹411.45 crore to ₹413.97 crore. Murali Ramakrishnan, who recently took over as Managing Director and CEO, said the bank has conservatively provided ₹24 crore of extra provisioning towards accounts which has technically become NPA due to government direction. This is one of the reason for a reduction in net profit. - Business Line

🍒 Now, PMC depositors seek bank merger to access cash : After literally moving heaven and earth for the last 13 months to find a resolution to scam-hit Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank, the PMC Depositors Forum has now approached its Administrator with a proposal to get the bank merged with either a public sector bank (PSB) or a strong private sector bank in a bid to get access to their hard-earned money. The forum has liaised with the central bank, Finance Ministry and politicians cutting across party lines, among others, and its members, including many senior citizens, even took to the streets amid the raging Covid-19 pandemic to draw the attention of the authorities to their struggle for survival but to no avail. - Business Line

🍒 Micro-credit collections in East, N-E lagging national average : Repayments by microcredit borrowers in the eastern and north-eastern regions, who have been hit by the dual impact of pandemic and natural calamities,is currently lower than the national average. As per estimates available, the collection efficiency in the eastern and north-eastern region, is lower by 5-6 percentage points when compared to the national average. “After the end of the moratorium (in August), the performance (of this region) has been encouraging, but due to several reasons it is not at par with some of the other well-performing States. There are also some local-level disturbances (which is impacting collections). September was the first month after moratorium, so we still don’t have the data ready. But based on what we are hearing from institutions, it is currently lower by about 5-6 percentage points,” Alok Misra, CEO, Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN), told BusinessLine. - Business Line

🍒 Bank loan fraud: ED attaches over Rs 122-crore assets of DCHL, ex promoters : Assets worth over Rs 122 crore belonging to Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited (DCHL) and its former promoters have been attached under the anti-money laundering law in connection with an alleged bank loan fraud case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Friday. A total of 14 properties located in New Delhi, Hyderabad, Gurgaon, Chennai, Bangalore and a few other places that belong to DCHL, its former promoters T Venkatram Reddy and T Vinayakravi Reddy and that of a benami company “floated by them” have been attached, the central probe agency said in a statement. The company at present is under corporate insolvency resolution process but the attached properties are not covered under the process being adjudicated by the national company law tribunal (NCLT), the agency claimed. A resolution plan for only Rs 400 crore has been approved by the NCLT. The total loan fraud committed by DCHL and its promoters is estimated to be at Rs 8,180 crore, it claimed. - financial express

🍒 Demand for home loans on the rise ahead of the festival season : Leading financial institutions are seeing demand picking up for home loans and expect the momentum to gather pace in the festival season aided by the RBI’s latest announcement on rationalising the risk weights for all new housing advances until March 31, 2022 and linking them to the loan-to-value (LTV). The new-home-loan market is showing some signs of recovery in the run-up to the festival season, though the commercial realty market is likely to remain subdued for some more time. “For the quarter ended September 30, individual loan disbursements were at 95 per cent of the level in the corresponding previous period. Even our individual loan approvals grew sharply by 31 per cent year-on-year, which shows that new and fresh decisions are being taken by home buyers, thus reflecting their confidence,” said Renu Sud Karnad, Managing Director, HDFC Ltd.- Business Line

🍒 Jana Bank to be sponsor bank for Ashoknagar Co-operative Bank : Jana Small Finance Bank, a Bengaluru-based small finance bank (SFB), has partnered with Ashoknagar Co-operative Bank Limited under the bank sponsorship programme. With this, Jana Bank has become the first SFB to go live under the sponsorship programme. Recently, the RBI permitted co-operative banks that are Core Banking Solution (CBS)-enabled, to issue ATM cards/ATM-cum-debit cards in a tie-up with a sponsor bank. Ashoknagar Co-operative Bank Limited, in association with Jana Small Finance Bank, can extend ATM, POS and e-commerce services to its customers. This association marks the fulfilment of Jana Bank’s endeavour to promote a full suite of services to co-operative banks. - Business Line

🍒 Thanks to RBI’s policy moves, the ₹20,000-crore OMO sails through : The slew of liquidity measures announced by the RBI in its recent October policy, it appears, are already easing bond market concerns. Not only has the 10-year government bond yield moved lower notably to 5.89 per cent levels, but the RBI’s ₹20,000-crore outright OMO (open market operations) purchase auction also sailed through, after the last auction had failed. The RBI received bids to the tune of ₹1.13-lakh crore against the notified OMO purchase of ₹20,000 crore on October 15. It accepted ₹6,600 crore amount for the six-year bond at a cut-off yield of 5.56 per cent, ₹5,177 crore for eight-year bond at 5.89 per cent, ₹3,475 crore for the 10-year bond at 5.86 per cent and ₹4,748 crore for 13-year bond at 6.3 per cent. The cut-off for the 10-year bond yield coming in lower than 6 per cent levels at 5.86 per cent, is indicative of the comfort that bond market is drawing from the RBI’s recent policy moves.- Business Line

🍒 Uday Kotak says now’s best time to invest in India : Overseas investors should look to invest in Indian digital to consumer sector companies now as the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic makes valuations of businesses attractive, Asia’s richest banker said. “I have always believed you have to invest in India when things look more challenging,” Uday Kotak, the managing director of Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd said in a conversation with David Rubenstein, the co-founder of Carlye Group Inc at the Bloomberg India Economic Summit on Thursday. “That’s the best time to put your money to work.” - Business Line

🍒 LIC IPO: RFP soon to appoint actuary to determine shareholder value : The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) will soon issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) to appoint an actuary for determining the Indian Embedded Value (IEV) for Life Insurance Corporation of India. The IEV is a measure of the consolidated value of shareholders’ interest in the life insurance business within the meaning of the Insurance Act, 1938, and applicable IRDAI regulations. “IEV is one of pre-condition of the IPO for LIC and that needs to be determined by an independent actuary,” a top Finance Ministry official told BusinessLine. - Business Line

🍒 SC refuses to entertain plea against writing down of AT-1 bonds by Yes Bank : The Supreme Court has refused to entertain a plea of over 340 persons challenging the writing down of additional tier-1 (AT-1) bondholders’ Rs 8,419 crore investment in Yes Bank in March 2020 as part of a plan to revive the cash-strapped private bank. The apex court said the issue can be raised before the concerned high court. We decline to entertain the petition under Article 32 of the Constitution since the petitioners are at liberty to adopt appropriate remedies available in law, including by virtue of a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution (before the High Court), a bench comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud, Indu Malhotra and Indira Banerjee said. - financial express

🍒 Labour Ministry dismisses reports of new CPI-IW series leading to pay hike of employees : The labour ministry on October 16 dismissed media reports that the launch of new series of Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) would lead to a hike in salaries of government employees and industrial workers. The CPI-IW is used primarily for measuring Dearness Allowance (DA) payable to workers in the organized sector including PSUs, Banks and Insurance companies besides government employees. - moneycontrol.

🍒 Forex reserves rise by $5.867 billion to lifetime high of $551.505 billion : The country’s foreign exchange reserves surged by $5.867 billion to touch a record high of $551.505 billion in the week to October 9, according to the RBI data. In the previous week ended October 2, 2020, the reserves had increased by $3.618 billion to $545.638 billion. During the reporting week, the increase in forex kitty was on account of rise in foreign currency assets (FCA), a major component of the overall reserves. FCA rose by $5.737 billion to $508.783 billion. - moneycontrol.

🍒 Rupee close: INR ends flat at 73.35 against USD : The rupee on Friday settled almost flat at 73.35 against the US dollar in the absence of any fresh trigger. At the interbank forex market, the rupee opened at 73.41 against the greenback, and after witnessing a volatile trading session closed at 73.35, higher by just 1 paisa from its previous close of 73.36.

🍒 Sensex jumps 254 points led by metals, banking stocks : quity benchmark BSE Sensex held on to its early gains and ended 254.57 points higher at 39,982.98 on Friday, led by intense buying mainly in metals, banking and IT counters. Likewise, the broader NSE Nifty surged 82.10 points or 0.70 per cent to close at 11,762.45. On the Sensex chart, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, Infosys, ONGC, Kotak Bank, NTPC and Bharti Airtel were among prominent gainers. Of the 30 Sensex constituents, 24 stocks have advanced in the green, while six stocks have declined. Gold prices rise Rs 242 to Rs 50,905/10 gm, silver up Rs 1,399/kg : Gold prices rose by Rs 242 to Rs 50,905 per 10 gram in the Mumbai retail market on a weaker dollar and lacklustre global cues. The precious metal is up Rs 27, or 0.05 percent, this week. The rate of 10 gram 18, 22 and 24-carat gold in Mumbai was Rs 38,179, Rs 46,629 and Rs 50,905, respectively, plus 3 percent GST. Silver prices jumped Rs 1,399 to Rs 61,558 per kg from its closing on

16.10.2020: Today's Banking / Financial News

16.10.2020: Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 5% of total bank loans could be restructured due to Covid: CARE Ratings : CARE Ratings has estimated that 5% of banking systems loans could be recast under the one-time restructuring (OTR) scheme available to companies impacted by the pandemic. An earlier estimate by India Ratings had estimated that up to 7.7% or Rs 8.4 lakh crore of the total bank credit could get restructured or if they do not qualify for restructuring, may slip into bad loans. CARE also said that the OTR scheme is expected to dilute Covid-19’s impact on the asset quality of banks. “As per trends in reduction of moratorium over Phase I & II, moratorium levels could reduce even further and a few companies would not need to have their debt restructured as they would be able to service their debt obligations due to the opening up of the economy,” the rating agency noted in a report. “Approximately, 4% - 5% of overall bank credit outstanding would be restructured under the OTR scheme.” The impact of restructuring could be lesser also because specific segments like NBFCs have been kept out the ambit of scheme along with not allowing loans classified as SMA 1 and SMA 2 under this bracket. - economic times

🍒 Banks need Artificial Intelligence for corporate lending: Krishnamurthy Subramanian, Chief Economic Advisor : Indian banking sector needs to use emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning for corporate loans for quality lending, Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian said on Thursday. Speaking at a virtual summit organised by Intel and Indian School of Business, he said lending to MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) in the country has remained stagnant for the last 15 years indicating that banks have not developed models to actively lend to the sector. "So, the Indian banking sector can really benefit from implementing this (AI and machine learning) especially in the context of corporate lending...And evidence shows that when the better models are employed, banks that employ such models are able to grow their balance-sheets in a very robust manner without suffering quality issues. This is a very important opportunity," he said.- economic times

🍒 Disbursed Rs 5,500-crore retail credit via YONO in Sept quarter: SBI chief : State Bank of India (SBI) witnessed an 83% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth in disbursement of retail credit through its digital platform YONO (you only need one) during the September quarter. In an interview with CNBC TV18, SBI chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara said the lender disbursed Rs 5,500-crore retail credit through YONO during the September quarter, compared with Rs 3,000 crore disbursed in the same period last year. Khara also said SBI was not looking to help Lakshmi Vilas Bank in any manner. The Chennai-based private sector bank was jolted on September 25 when its shareholders voted out seven directors on its board, including chief executive officer S Sundar and promoters KR Pradeep and N Saiprasad. Following this, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) appointed a three-member team to run the bank under Meeta Makhan as chairperson and Shakti Sinha and Satish Kumar Kalra as members. - Financial Express

🍒 No recast for accounts that cured 30-day default after March 1: RBI : Loan accounts that were in default for over 30 days as on March 1 will not be eligible for restructuring under the Covid resolution scheme even if they cleared their dues thereafter, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs). Sectors for which no eligibility ratios have been laid out by the central bank will be able to avail of recast in accordance with banks’ assessments, the FAQs said. Also, the actual debt that may be considered for resolution will be the outstanding as on the date of invocation. “Such accounts (which were more than 30 DPD on March 1, 2020, but subsequently got regularised through receipt of overdue) are ineligible for resolution under the Resolution Frame work as the Resolution Framework is applicable only for eligible borrowers which were classified as standard, but not in default for more than 30 days as on March 1, 2020. However, such accounts may still be resolved under the Prudential Framework dated June 7, 2019,” the RBI said. - financial express

🍒 Indian Bank inks MoU with Ministry, SIDBI for street vendors : Public sector Indian Bank has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and with Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for payment of subsidy to street vendors under the Centre's SVANidhi Scheme. Indian Bank MD and CEO Padmaja Chunduru said it is a privilege for the bank to associate with the scheme which is the flagship scheme of the government in line with Atmanirbhar Bharat. The Centre introduced the Prime Minister Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (SVANidhi Scheme) to provide loans to the vendors and hawkers, among others. "Indian Bank has developed an integrated online system to make payments of interest subvention and cash incentives to all street vendor-beneficiaries across the country through the Direct Benefit Transfer," Chunduru said.- economic times

🍒 Indian Bank follows SBI, sets up portal to restructure retail loans : Indian Bank has put in place a digital platform for restructuring all retail loans, allowing the borrowers to submit recast requests on the portal and check eligibility criteria. The portal which became active from October 5 allows borrowers to submit the requests for restructuring their personal loans like home loans, education and vehicle loans among others. “The requests will be registered with a unique reference number and through SMS, customers will be informed to visit their respective Indian Bank Branches with required documents for completion of restructuring process,” the public sector lender said in a statement. Country’s largest lender State Bank of India had last month announced a similar online portal to restructure retail loans.- economic times

🍒 Indian Bank to pay subsidy, cash back to street vendors under PM SVANidhi : Indian Bank on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), and Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) for payment of subsidy and cash incentives to street vendors under PM SVANidhi Scheme. Padmaja Chunduru, MD & CEO, Indian Bank said street vendors are a very important constituent in the urban economy and offer varied services to the public. They are engaged in productive activities for their livelihood. - Business Standard

🍒 Indian Bank launches e-facility for restructuring of personal loans : State-run Indian Bank on Thursday said it has launched a facility on its website for its personal loan borrowers to submit the requests for restructuring of their loans under the Reserve Bank of India's one-time loan recast norms. In August this year, the RBI had announced a one-time restructuring scheme for personal loan and corporate borrowers affected by COVID-19 stress. The bank said the requests for restructuring from retail borrowers be registered with a unique reference number. The lender will inform customers through SMS to visit their respective branches with required documents for completion of restructuring process, the release said. Retail borrowers who have not applied online can also visit their branch along with the required documents for considering the restructuring of their personal loan accounts, the lender said. Last month, State Bank of India (SBI) had launched a facility on its website to help retail customers check their eligibility for one-time loan restructuring. - Business Standard

🍒 ICICI Bank customers can create FD, pay utility bills on WhatsApp : Private sector lender ICICI Bank on Thursday announced the launch of services that would enable its customers to create fixed deposits, pay utility bills and access details of trade finance instantly on WhatsApp. “Services like opening FDs and paying utility bills are available for customers. The trade finance services are being piloted with some select corporates; they will be available for all in next few days,” it said in a statement, adding that the service for recharge of prepaid mobile phones will also be available shortly on WhatsApp. Retail customers will be able to create FDs, pay bills for electricity, cooking gas and postpaid mobile phones through WhatsApp while corporates and owners of MSMEs can check trade finance related services like customer ID, Import Export (IE) code, limit availability of all credit facilities availed from the bank, status of pending inward remittances and history of inward remittances. - Business Line

🍒 Pension assets under management cross ₹5 lakh crore mark: PFRDA chief : Pension assets under management (AUM) have crossed the ₹5-lakh crore mark to touch ₹5.05-lakh crore now, PFRDA Chairman Supratim Bandyopadhyay said on Thursday. “This is a small milestone we have achieved. We have to cross many such milestones before we can really provide old age security to people at large. Pension as a concept is still at a nascent stage in India,” Bandyopadhyay told a virtual press conference. He also said that the overall AUM could touch close to ₹6-lakh crore by end March next year. For the current fiscal, Bandyopadhyay expects the AUM to continue clocking at least 30 per cent compounded growth as was seen in recent years. Bandyopadhyay said there has been steady inflows into NPS across all segments including government, private corporates, retail. The returns generated over long period of time besides the income tax benefits has made NPS an “unbeatable” product. - Business Line

🍒 Lakshmi Vilas Bank gets board's nod to raise Rs 500 crore via rights issue : Cash-strapped Lakshmi Vilas Bank on Thursday said its board has approved plans to raise up to Rs 500 crore through a rights issue. The board at its meeting held on October 15, 2020, has considered and approved the raising of funds by issuance and allotment of equity shares or such other eligible securities for an aggregate amount of up to Rs 500 crore by way of a rights issue, LVB said in a regulatory filing. Last week, the private sector lender had informed about receiving a non-binding offer from Aion-backed non-banking finance firm Clix Group for a merger. The old-generation Chennai-based private sector bank, which has been on the lookout for an investor and capital for long, had to face a blow in late September when its shareholders voted out seven directors of its board, including CEO S Sundar and promoters K R Pradeep and N Saiprasad. Business Standard

🍒 Equitas Small Finance Bank fixes IPO price band at Rs 32-33 per share : Equitas Small Finance Bank, the subsidiary of Equitas Holdings, has fixed the price band at Rs 32-33 per shares for its forthcoming initial public offering. The IPO is going to open for subscription on October 20 and close on October 22. The issue for anchor invetors will open for a day on October 19, a day before the issue opening for public. One can bid for a minimum of 450 equity shares and in multiples of 450 shares thereafter. The public issue consists a fresh issue of Rs 280 crore and an offer for sale of 7.2 crore equity shares by Equitas Holdings (which valued at Rs 237.6 crore at upper price band), hence the total issue size stood at Rs 517.6 crore. - Financial Express

🍒 Indian banks log the worst total returns in Q3 2020; Bangladeshi lenders shine : Smaller banks from Bangladesh, Pakistan and China emerged as the best-performing banking stocks in Q3 2020, while its Indian peers logged the worst total returns, according to data by S&P Markets Intelligence. According to the analysis, 16 of the 20 largest banks in the Asia-Pacific region saw declines in their market capitalisation in Q3. "Indian bank stocks have been on a declining trend in 2020, with major lenders falling between 12 percent to more than 50 percent between January 1 and August 31," the report said. - moneycontrol.

🍒 LIC Housing Finance expects Q3 sales in high double-digits : On the back of "a much-more-than-expected recovery in demand since the past two months", India's second-largest pureplay mortgage lender LIC Housing Finance expects a bumper festival season as it eyes loan growth to be in double-digits, a top company official has said. The LIC arm reported positive numbers even in the June 2020 quarter which was a washout for the entire economy, with a net income of Rs 817.48 crore, up 34 percent y-o-y, even though its net interest income rose only 3 percent to Rs 1,220.61 crore and the loan sales grew 6 percent. - moneycontrol.

🍒 Banks can restructure loans to COVID-19-impacted real estate firms on the basis of project rather than developer : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) giving the go-ahead to banks to restructure the loans of real estate firms at the project level rather than developer level is expected to benefit both homebuyers as well as real estate developers. The move may ease liquidity and enable construction to recommence in projects that were stuck due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Both buyers and developers will stand to gain when stuck projects will eventually see the light of the day. From a buyers' standpoint, they will no longer have to wait for an indefinite period for their homes," said Anuj Puri, chairman - ANAROCK Property Consultants. - moneycontrol.com

🍒 Supreme Court's stay on NPA classification will give shocker for banks in Q3 and Q4. Here’s why : The Supreme Court’s interim stay on banks from classifying borrowal accounts that are standard as on August 31 as non-performing assets (NPAs) till a final order could mean a major bad loan shocker for the industry in the third and fourth quarters, analysts and banking sector experts said. This will have implications since banks need to set aside money for bad loans under the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) norms. The Supreme Court’s September 3 interim order has already been used by one of the banks—Karnataka Bank—which announced its second-quarter results early this week. The lender has shown a declining NPA trend presumably because it has not tagged any accounts NPA that are standard on its books as on August 31. Other banks are also likely to do this, showing lower NPA numbers in the second quarter. The next hearing of the Supreme Court is on November 2. This means, at least till that date, the interim directive of the SC will continue. "NPAs are likely to go up given the economic situation and job losses,” said RK Bansal, Managing Director and CEO of Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company. “There are two main variables here. The SC order and the one-time loan recast (OTR). Those accounts which are not eligible for OTR and are not able to pay after moratorium will reflect as bad loans on the books of banks in Q3 and Q4. In Q2, banks cannot disclose these accounts as NPAs till the SC passes final orders” said Bansal. - moneycontrol

🍒 Will exceed guidance of 15% growth in FY21: Muthoot Finance : NBFC Muthoot Finance is confident of exceeding its guidance of 15% growth for the current fiscal year with demand for gold loan appearing to be robust. Muthoot Finance managing director George Alexander Muthoot told FE that business had achieved the pre-Covid level. “First quarter business was not good, but the second quarter business is extremely good for gold loans. Last year, our total business grew by 22% and this year we will grow more than 15 %,” he added. The gold loan company with more than four thousand branches was closed till April 23 due to the Covid-induced nationwide lockdown. “Demand for credit is good because people are thinking of re-starting business. Gold loan is easy and quick funding for small traders and MSME .In the long-run they manage to get other loans from the banks. Our average ticket size of gold loan has also increased from Rs 35,000 to Rs 48,000 because gold prices have gone up,” he said. - financial express

🍒 An Odisha-based micro lender at the centre of a ₹251 crore loan fraud : A fraud of ₹251 crore unearthed at a small Odisha-based non-banking financial company (NBFC) micro-finance institution (MFI) has put the spotlight on “bogus accounts" as the modus operandi for fund diversions. Sambandh Finserve Private Limited (SFPL) has disclosed to a rating agency that it has defaulted on its repayments because of a fraud in its books. The company with debt of ₹433 crore is undergoing an internal investigation as ordered by its board. In a letter to the board on 7 October, four senior company executives detailed how the actual assets under management (AUM) is approximately ₹140 crore as against the reported figure of ₹391 crore as on 30 September. “The reported AUM is inflated and non-existent. The gap is approximately ₹251 crore," the letter alleged, a copy of which has been reviewed by Mint. - Live Mint

🍒 Saral Jeevan Bima will provide financial security to lower-income families : Saral Jeevan Bima, the upcoming new standard life insurance policy, will add to the financial security of the commoners and families with lower incomes. In addition, it also addresses the long-felt need for a simple policy without the complication of trying to understand the terminology of a policy document. Even for an educated person, the wordings of an insurance policy are difficult to understand, as there are many term products in the market with varying terms and conditions. - Business Line

🍒 All life insurers must offer standard term policy: IRDAI : Buying life cover will soon be easier as the insurance regulator has mandated all life insurers to offer a standard individual term life insurance product. The standard plan, ‘Saral Jeevan Bima’, will have to be offered by all insurers from January 1, 2021, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) said in a circular issued today. “There are many term products in the market with varying terms and conditions. Customers who cannot devote adequate time and energy to make informed choices find it difficult to select the right product and products may not be available for the intended sum assured,’’ the regulator said.- Business Line

🍒 DBS Bank India sees V-shaped recovery for Indian economy : DBS Bank India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore-headquartered DBS Bank, will continue to adopt a ‘phygital’ — a mix of physical and digital outreach — approach to expand in the Indian market even as it redoubles efforts on digitally led fulfilment mode of doing business, said a top official said. “We realise that a certain amount of physical nearness is also essential if we have to expand and address the SME client base in the country. SME is where the future is and growth will come from,” Niraj Mittal, MD and Country Head - Institutional Banking Group, DBS Bank India, told BusinessLine in an interview. - Business Line

🍒 Digital adoption will improve return on equity for Indian banks: Morgan Stanley : Increased digital adoption by Indian lenders would lead to higher return ratios in the next few years. In its forecast Morgan Stanley has said that banks could see a rise of atleast 20 basis points in their return on equity, if the digital drive continues at the current pace. The forecast reflects faster growth in retail and SME segments, increased cross-sell and faster product delivery and better risk-adjusted returns given greater data availability. Morgan Stanley believes that the stronger Indian banks are well placed to manage the increasing competition from the fintechs. “We forecast digitalisation will further add 20bps to Indian banks' ROE by 2025, with a gap of nearly 400bps between the digital leaders and the slow adopters,” Morgan Stanley said in a report. “Cost ratios for India are much higher relative to the region, and a faster pace of digitalisation can further help improve productivity.” - financial express

🍒 Gold prices steady at Rs 50,663 per 10 gram, silver declines by Rs 571 per kg : Gold prices were steady at Rs 50,663 per 10 gram in the Mumbai retail market on a weaker rupee and subdued global cues. The precious metal continues to trade lower on a firm dollar and doubts over US fiscal stimulus before November 3 election. The rate of 10 gram 22-carat gold in Mumbai was Rs 46,407 plus 3 percent GST, while 24-carat 10 gram was Rs 50,663 plus GST. The 18-carat gold quoted at Rs 37,997 plus GST in the retail market. Silver prices dropped by Rs 571 to Rs 60,159 per kg from its closing on October 14.

🍒 Cut-off time restored to 3 pm for buying/selling MF units : SEBI has restored the cut-off timing for buying and selling of mutual fund units to 3 pm, effective Monday. In a tweet Nilesh Shah, Chairman, Association of Mutual Funds in India, said cut-off timing for both subscription and redemption for all schemes other than those categorised as debt schemes and conservative hybrid fund is being restored to original cut-off timing of 3 pm, effective, October 19.

🍒 Sensex plunges over 1,000 points amid global sell-off : The US elections in November and the absence of major announcements by the government on the economic front have affected the stock market sentiment. Analysts, despite Thursday’s sharp fall in key benchmark indices , are of the view that no major fall is in the offing. The BSE Sensex fell 2.61 per cent, or 1,066 points, to close at 39,729. The NSE Nifty was down 2.43 per cent, or 290 points, at 11,680. The small- and mid-cap indices have been flat for nearly two weeks now. “Thursday’s fall in stock markets was more technical. The Nifty index touched 12,000 levels for the first time after Covid-19 fall and it was a crowded street with long positions. It is likely that Nifty may slip back to 11,500 or nearby levels if the fall continues for a day or two. But it does not seem that a market correction could go beyond that,” said Rohit Srivastava, chief strategist, Indiacharts

🍒 Rupee settles 5 paise lower at 73.36 against dollar : The rupee pared its initial gains and settled 5 paise lower at 73.36 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday tracking heavy selling in domestic equities and strengthening American currency. At the interbank forex market, the rupee opened at 73.32 against the greenback, and after witnessing a volatile trading session closed at 73.36, lower by 5 paise from its previous c

14.10.2020: Today's Banking / Financial News

14.10.2020: Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 Bank credit may grow 7% YoY in Q2; NBFC disbursals to pick up QoQ : Banks may register around 7% credit growth year on year (YoY) in the quarter ended September and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) may see a pick-up in disbursements, said analysts. Asset quality is expected to remain stable as the moratorium, in effect through much of the quarter, would have saved stressed accounts from turning bad. The Supreme Court being standstill on non-performing asset (NPA) classification will also keep a lid on lenders’ bad-loan numbers. “We expect banks/NBFCs within our coverage to report credit growth of 7.3/5.8% YoY vs. 8.2/7.1% in 1QFY21,” HDFC Securities said in a recent note, adding, “Deposit growth is likely to have exceeded credit growth for our coverage banks, and we expect large private banks within our coverage to have fared particularly well on this front.” Analysts at the broking firm said they would watch disbursals under the credit guarantee scheme, collection efficiency trends and early-bucket delinquencies. Bank-level commentary on the utilisation of the Covid-related stress resolution framework and additional provisions related to the pandemic will also be closely tracked. Besides bank announcements, the markets are waiting for judicial outcomes related to the classification of accounts as NPA and the levy of compound interest in case of accounts under moratorium. - financial express

🍒 Gross NPAs of banks may jump to 11.5% by end of this fiscal, says rating agency CARE : Indian banks are likely to restructure around 4-5 percent of the overall bank credit outstanding while the Gross NPA (non-performing assets) ratio is likely to be 11-11.5 percent by end of FY21, CARE Rating said in a note on Tuesday. Restructuring refers to relaxing the repayment terms of borrowers. This is done either by cutting interest rates, providing a loan moratorium or extending the repayment period. Banks need to set aside a higher amount as provisions for restructured loans. This will impact their profitability. “Further, the asset quality data post the Covid-19 lockdown is uncertain due to a developing regulatory scenario; multiple stakeholder objectives and moratorium computation with various firms have varying ways of computing moratorium,” said the rating agency in the note. The GNPA ratio of SCBs stood at 8.2 percent in Q1FY21 against 9.5 percent in Q1FY20. Scheduled Commercial Banks’ asset quality has seen some improvement (GNPA reduction) due to recoveries and higher write-offs.-moneycontrol

🍒 BoB may consider 50:50 split between staff at branches, WFH employees : State-owned Bank of Baroda (BoB) may consider adopting a model in the next few years where it will deploy 50 per cent of its employees at the branches and the balance would work from home, its Managing Director and CEO Sanjiv Chadha said. "I think it is quite possible that over the next 4-5 years, BoB is looking at having a workforce, only 50 per cent of which may be fully full-time employed at branches and the balance would be working from home," Chadha said at an HR conclave organised by the Indian Banks' Association (IBA). Currently, 80 per cent of the bank's staff is deployed at the branches. In July, State Bank of India's then chairman Rajnish Kumar said the lender would institute 'work-from-anywhere (WFA)' at the bank. The bank expects to save Rs 1,000 crore from it. Chadha further said that currently, not all customers are coming to the bank branches. - Business standard

🍒 SBI Card kick-starts festive season offers with cashback, discounts across various brands : SBI Card on Tuesday said it has kick-started festive season offers in line with the changing shopping trends and customers will be offered discounts as well as cashback across a host of brands. With over 1,000 offers across 2,000 cities, SBI Card endeavors to bring customers a rewarding shopping experience on their festive season purchases, it said in a release. The festive offers that star

ted from October 1, will run till November 15, 2020. "This year we have curated over 1,000 offers, with national and local merchants, both in store and online, across 2,000 cities, to enable our cardholders great benefits across all the categories. "In addition, to make festive purchases more affordable, SBI Card customers can avail EMI purchase facility at over 1.3 lakh stores," said Ashwini Kumar Tewari, MD & CEO, SBI Card.. - economic times

🍒 SBI’s core banking operations hit by connectivity issues : State Bank of India (SBI) on Tuesday said all delivery channels (except ATMs and POS machines) will be affected as intermittent connectivity issues have delayed making its Core Banking System (CBS) available to its customers. SBI has a multi-channel delivery model, which includes digital, mobile, ATM, internet, branches and business correspondent (BC) outlets. CBS is an IT platform that networks all the operations of a bank, including branches, ATMs, POS, etc., enabling a customer to transact from any branch of the bank or seamlessly transact digitally. “We regret the inconvenience caused and request you to bear with us. Normal service will resume soon,” SBI said. - Business Line

🍒 Karnataka Bank Q2 net rises to ?119 crore : Karnataka Bank registered a net profit of ?119.35 crore in the second quarter of FY21 against a profit of ?105.91 crore in the corresponding period of FY20, recording a growth of 12.69 per cent during the period. The net interest income of the bank increased to ?574.87 crore in the second quarter of FY21 against ?498.72 in Q2 of FY20. The fee-based income of the bank stood at ?174.63 crore (?233.45 crore) during the period. Speaking to BusinessLine after the meeting of the board of directors of the bank, which was conducted through videoconferencing to approve the financial results for Q2 on Tuesday, Mahabaleshwara MS, Managing Director and CEOof the bank, said the lender was able to effectively navigate the Covid-affected first half of FY21 by mainly focusing on containing the interest expenses - Business Line

🍒 RBI’s ?1-lakh crore long-term repo operation will push credit growth, say analysts : The ‘on-tap’ targeted long-term repo operation (TLTRO), which the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will conduct, for a total amount of up to ?1-lakh crore can help push up credit growth, according to experts. As exposure under the scheme is exempt from LEF (large exposure framework) norms, this will open up more investment opportunities for banks, according to State Bank of India’s research report “Ecowrap”. “The ?1-lakh crore on-tap TLTRO window is a good measure by RBI, especially ahead of festival season...The previous TLTROs were intended to remove mismatches in liquidity or their (non-banking finance companies and microfinance institutions) asset liability, whereas this window will open avenues for lending and help create demand in the festival season,” said CH SS Mallikarjuna Rao, MD & CEO, Punjab National Bank. - Business Line

🍒 Deepak Kochhar produced before PMLA court, remanded to ED's custody till Oct 17 : Seeking further custody of businessman Deepak Kochhar in a money laundering case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) Tuesday produced him before the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court here. The couple- Deepak and wife Chanda, the former ICICI Bank chief executive and Videocon Group chairman, Venugopal Dhoot are accused in a money-laundering case registered more than a year and half ago by the ED. Defence counsel, Vijay Aggarwal, argued that the federal agency cannot seek Kochhar's custody as he still requires post-discharge care after being hospitalised for Covid-19. - economic times

🍒 Mastercard partners Indian start-up Signzy for global rollout of Video KYC : Mastercard, a global technology company in the payments industry, has partnered with Signzy, a RegTech startup based in India, for global rollout of Signzy’s video-based KYC (Know Your Customer) solution for its banking customers. With this partnership, Mastercard customers will benefit from a completely paperless, remote and secure onboarding solution for end-users. It maybe recalled that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had in January this year amended its KYC norms allowing banks and other lending institutions regulated by it to use Video based Customer Identification Process (V-CIP), a move which will help them onboard customers. Signzy’s Video KYC solution will enable end-users to complete and submit their KYC application from the safety and security of their homes. This would be 99 per cent faster than the traditional paper-based KYC process. Signzy is an Artificial Intelligence-powered Robotic Process Automation platform for financial services.. - Business Line

🍒 With more innovations, ATM networks may see rebound in FY22 : Amid rise in digital payments, the number of ATMs in the country may continue to decline until the end of this fiscal due to the consolidation of public sector banks and macro factors, including the economic slowdown, but could resurface with more functionalities in FY22. ATM operators also remain hopeful of an increase in interchange fees, which, they believe, will be a boost to the sector. “If the government and RBI want ATM infrastructure, especially in the rural areas, they will have to consider a hike in interchange fees,” noted a spokesperson of industry body Confederation of ATM Industry (CATMi), adding that there is sufficient infrastructure in urban areas, along with digital payments. Anurag Nigam, Head of ATM-managed services, India and Philippines, FIS, also said an increase in interchange fee will act as natural incentive for some banks to deploy ATMs and will also help white-label ATM operators. “Bank amalgamation cameinto effect this year and there are economies of scale, which will lead to some reduction in the number of ATMs. Also, there is some amount of pure play involved as many industries have closed down, so there will be some impact,” he noted. - Business Line

🍒 With PMFBY scheme being optional for farmers, crop insurance premium de-grows in Sept : Crop insurance premium declined in September this year after recording positive growth in the previous months, possibly due to the lesser number of States participating in PMFBY, the scheme being optional for farmers, and a long delay in claims. The gross direct premium for Agricultural Insurance Corporation of India de-grew by 19.3 per cent in September when compared to a year ago.Data from IRDAI revealed that gross direct premium for AIC stood at ?2,569.64 crore in September 2020against ?3,187.57 crore in September 2019. However, between April and September 2020, AIC registered a 10.63 per cent growth in gross direct premium to ?7,250.80 crore against ?6,554.36 crore in the same period a year ago. - Business Line

🍒 Karnataka Bank appoints new Additional Director : Karnataka Bank has appointed Uma Shankar as Additional Director (non-executive, independent) at its board meeting on October 13. The appointment will be effective from November 1. A press release by the bank said on Tuesday that Uma Shankar is a former Executive Director of Reserve Bank of India (RBI). She was with the RBI for over 37 years in different capacities. Her core competence is in the financial sector supervision, but she has also been responsible for currency management, foreign exchange and internal accounting and administration. - Business Line

🍒 ‘Small-ticket advances to go fully digital’ : The pandemic has led to the evolution of straight through processing (STP) of loans, with banks pushing pre-approved loans to the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) segment and small-ticket advances going fully digital, according to Rajkiran Rai G, Deputy Chairman, Indian Banks’ Association (IBA). “For example, in the case of MSMEs, we have a back-office for processing loans. We pushed SMS to the customer that he has a pre-approved loan. “So, the number of visits he is required to make to the branch, which would otherwise have been 5 to 6, has come down to only one visit for documentation. And in some of the cases, even that is being done away with,” said Rai at IBA’s 3rd Annual Banking HR Conclave. - Business Line

🍒 Covid-specific insurance can be renewed till March 2021 with portability: IRDAI : The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has permitted renewability, migration and portability of Covid-specific standard health policies, Corona Kavach and Corona Rakshak.In a circular issued on Tuesday, the insurance regulator said these policies of any tenure may be renewed for further terms of three and half months, six and half months or nine and a half months as per the option exercised by the policyholder.orona Kavach and Corona Rakshak polices are permitted to be renewed till March 31, 2021. “Renewal, if any, may be done before the expiry of the existing policy contract. There will be no imposition of any additional waiting period of 15 days and the coverage should be continued seamlessly,” the IRDAI said. The change in sum insurance can be opted by the policyholder during the renewal period.- Business Line

🍒 Capital Float reaches 1 million customers; Rs 9,000 cr loans disbursed : Digital financial services provider Capital Float on Tuesday said it has crossed the one million customers milestone and has disbursed over USD 1.2 billion (Rs 9,000 crore) till date to small businesses and retail borrowers. Capital Float has crossed 'one million lifetime customers' as more Indians find value in the company's credit services, it said in a release. Since the onset of COVID-19, the company has seen demand surge for its small-ticket digital credit facilities, particularly for making purchases online. It is now adding approximately 150,000 new customers per month, and is on track to double its existing customer base by the end of the year, it added. The company has disbursed over USD 1.2 billion (Rs 9,000 crore) till date to its MSME and retail customers spread across 300 cities in India. - Business Standard

🍒 How City Union Bank, Federal Bank have sustained investor interest : The underpinning similarity between Federal Bank and City Union Bank (CUB) is their years of establishment as banks which span over several decades. Despite their regulatory classification as old private sector banks, despite the disagreement between bank chiefs over it, the other similarity lies in their ability to chart a strong trajectory and to harvest their deep rooted connection with the small and medium enterprise (SMEs). It is probably because of this that despite their regional peers such as Lakshmi Vilas Bank and Dhanlaxmi Bank running into serious trouble, stocks of Federal Bank and CUB have remained outliers with gains of 10 per cent and 7.7 per cent, respectively, since September 24, when trouble started brewing for their two peers. But the similarities end here. Whether in terms of size of business, the manner of diversification or even in terms of market capitalisation, both banks are poles apart. - Business Standard

🍒 Gold prices steady at Rs 51,147/10 gm on subdued global cues : Gold prices were steady at Rs 51,147 per 10 gram in the Mumbai retail market on a weaker rupee and lacklustre global cues. The precious metal traded flat in today’s session on rebound dollar after hitting a session low of $1,915/oz. The rate of 10 gram 22-carat gold in Mumbai was Rs 46,851 plus 3 percent GST, while 24-carat 10 gram was Rs 51,147 plus GST. The 18-carat gold quoted at Rs 38,360 plus GST in the retail market. Silver prices declined Rs 418 to Rs 62,188 per kg from its closing on October 12.

🍒 Sensex, Nifty end marginally higher after choppy trade; IT stocks shine : Rising for the ninth session in a row, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 31.71 points or 0.08 per cent higher at 40,625.51. The broader NSE Nifty inched up 3.55 points or 0.03 per cent to 11,934.50. HCL Tech was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 4 per cent, followed by Kotak Bank, Infosys, Reliance Industries, UltraTech Cement and Tech Mahindra.On the other hand, Titan, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, SBI and Bajaj Finance were among the main laggards.According to analysts, the recent recovery in the mark

et was led by expectations of fiscal stimulus from the government, which has failed to cheer investor sentiment. IT stocks continued to gain momentum ahead of crucial Q2 results and better earnings visibility, they added.

🍒 Rupee open: INR slips 13 paise to 73.41 against USD : The rupee depreciated 13 paise to 73.41 against the US dollar in opening trade on Tuesday tracking strengthening American currency. The Indian currency opened at 73.41 against the US dollar at the interbank forex market, down 13 paise over its previous close.

13.10.2020: Today's Banking / Financial News

13.10.2020: Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 Central Bank of India too Writes Off Rs17,239 Crore Bad Loans of Big Defaulters and Recovers Just 7% in 8 Years : Following the footsteps of other large banks from the public sector, Central Bank of India too wrote off Rs17239.74 crore and recovered a paltry 7% or Rs1205.92 crore over the past eight financial years from big defaulters. As it has become a norm with public sector banks (PSBs), Central Bank too denied sharing names of big defaulters under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Information shared by the bank to Pune-based RTI activist Vivek Velankar shows that the Central Bank has written off Rs17,239.74 crore as technical write-offs in the eight-year period from FY12-13 to FY19-20. As against these write-offs, the recovery was just 7% or Rs1205.92 crore. This applies only to loan defaults of Rs100 crore and more. In its reply, the bank says, "Year-wise recovery in particular accounts of Rs100 crore and above is not available with us. However, total recovery in those accounts till FY2019-20 is Rs1,205.92 crore." - moneylife.

🍒 New Deputy Governor to oversee 6 departments at RBI : Newly-appointed Deputy Governor M Rajeshwar Rao will oversee six departments at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The six departments that Rao will manage are: Regulation; Communication; Enforcement Department; Inspection; Legal ; and Risk Monitoring.The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet had approved the appointment of Rao, Executive Director, RBI, to the post of Deputy Governor on October 7.The fourth Deputy Governor’s position was vacant since NS Vishwanathan quit his position in March, about three months ahead of the completion of his term. Following the elevation of Rao, the RBI now has four Deputy Governors. The other three Deputy Governors are – BP Kanungo, MK Jain and MD Patra. - Business Line

🍒 Lakshmi Vilas Bank board meeting on Oct 15 to consider rights issue : A meeting of the Board of directors of Lakshmi Vilas Bank Limited will be held on Thursday, October 15, to consider and approve the issue of Securities of the bank to existing shareholders on a rights basis. The issue will be subject to necessary regulatory and statutory approvals, LVB informed the exchange. It may be recalled that the Board and shareholder meetings of LVB held on August 26 and September 25, respectively, approved the raising of funds by way of issuance of equity shares or other eligible security. These included global depository receipts, American depository receipts, foreign currency convertible bonds, fully/partly convertible debentures and other instruments, aggregating to not more than Rs l,000 crore. Sources said the lender plans to raise Rs 500-700 crore via rights issue. Many of the existing institutional investors are expected to participate and subscribe to it in order to protect the investments they have already made. - Business Standard

🍒 Exim Bank extends $400 mn soft loan to Maldives for connectivity project : India has extended a USD 400 million (about Rs 2,932 crore) soft loan to Maldives through the Exim Bank to finance a connectivity project in the nation of islands, a statement said on Monday. The Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) on behalf of the Government of India has extended a Line of Credit (LoC) of USD 400 million for undertaking Greater Male's connectivity project in Maldives, the bank said. The loan agreement was inked in Male on Monday between Exim Bank General Manager Nirmit Ved and Maldives' Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer. With the signing of the above agreement, Exim Bank has till date extended three LoCs worth a cumulative USD 1.2 billion to Maldives, on behalf of India. Exim Bank said the soft loans to Maldives have funded connectivity, water, sewerage projects, Addu Development Project, an international cricket stadium, Gulhifalhu port, Hanimaadhoo airport and road construction work. - Business Standard

🍒 Kotak Sec less optimistic on linkages between changes to risk weight and loan growth : Kotak Securities Ltd (KSL) said it is less optimistic on the linkages between changes to risk weight and loan growth, interest rates or credit flow. “It is most likely that there is lack of confidence between lenders to take risk, while borrowers may be less certain of the near-term outlook on their financials leading to a lower off take,” said the wholly-owned subsidiary of Kotak Mahindra Bank in a report. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in its bi-monthly monetary policy on October 9, had announced two primary measures for the banking system to provide liquidity and improve credit flow by modifying the definition pertaining to retail/SME loans. - Business Line

🍒 Axis Bank collaborates with Google Pay, Visa to launch a new ACE Credit card : Axis Bank on Monday announced the launch of its ACE Credit Card in India in collaboration with Google Pay and Visa. The card meant to help with digital payments. From application to issuance, with the entire user journey for the credit card application will be done digitally. For essential use cases, including mobile recharges and bill payments made via Google Pay, users can earn a cashback.of 5 per cent. The company is also offering 4 per cent-5 per cent cashback for expenses on food ordering, online grocery delivery, cab rides for transactions made on partner merchant platforms such as Swiggy, Zomato, BigBasket, Grofers and Ola. There is also an unlimited 2 per cent cashback on other transactions (terms and conditions applied). - Business Line

🍒 FDI routed through Mauritius: RBI move will create transparency and accountability on the source of funding : The Reserve Bank of India’s stance that financial firms can not be set up with funds from Mauritius or other non-FATF-compliant jurisdictions is likely to bring more transparency and accountability into funding in the sector, according to players. But experts have also said the government must clarify on foreign direct investments from Mauritius into the sector. Industry watchers point out that the last few months have seen a surge in investments from China, which is routed from countries such as Mauritius and Cayman Islands. - Business Line

🍒 Rs 11.1 trillion: Amount RBI pumped into banking system to boost liquidity : Measures taken by the Reserve Bank of India during the Covid crisis were driven by the need to expand liquidity in the system sizeably, in order to ensure that financial markets and institutions function normally in the face of Covid-related dislocations, consistent with the monetary policy stance. The liquidity measures were taken as per the revised liquidity management framework introduced on February 14, this year. The central bank reduced the policy repo rate by 40 bps on May 22, on top of a 75 bps reduction on March 27, and introduced a number of liquidity enhancing initiatives that stabilised the bond yields even on the face of a Rs 12 trillion borrowing programme. “In order to make it relatively unattractive for banks to passively park funds with the Reserve Bank and to encourage their deployment for on-lending to productive sectors of the economy, the policy interest rate corridor was widened to 90 bps through a reduction of 25 bps in the reverse repo rate on April 17, 2020,” said the RBI’s monetary policy report. - Business Standard

🍒 ₹10,000 festive advance scheme: Govt to give pre-loaded RuPay cards : In a move to boot consumer demand in the economy during the festive season, the government on Monday announced a slew of schemes such as payment of cash in lieu of LTC and ₹10,000 festival advance to government employees. Festival advance along with similar advances were abolished on the recommendation of the 7th pay commission. But to spur consumer demand in an economy hit by coronavirus pandemic, the government decided to restore it as a one-time measure. "All Central Government employees can now get an interest-free advance of Rs. 10,000, to be spent by 31st March, 2021 on the choice of festival of the employee. The interest-free advance is recoverable from the employee in maximum 10 instalments," the Finance Ministry said in a statement. - Live Mint