Current
account deficit has widened but comfortable, says RBI Governor:
At a time when the country’s current account deficit (CAD)
has widened to $10.1 billion in the quarter ended September 2014,
RBI Governor allayed concerns saying the central bank was still comfortable
with the CAD at 2.1% of GDP.
RBI
reviewing priority lending norms for foreign banks:
RBI is reviewing the
priority sector lending norms for foreign banks; after which it will “nudge”
them to convert their Indian branches into wholly-owned subsidiaries, RBI
Governor said. According to him, foreign banks have expressed their concerns
and obligations (to the central bank and the Government) that they will have if
they convert their branches into wholly-owned subsidiaries.
Separate
chairman, MDs for PSU banks:
Public Sector Banks
are set to have non executive chairman and separate managing directors from the
current financial year as Government tries to rework the structure on the lines
of private banks to improve corporate governance standards.
Govt’s
stake dilution expected to aid banks Basel–III push:
Bankers believe the
government’s move to gradually reduce its stake to 52% will
make it easier for them to prepare a roadmap to meet Basel-III capital
requirements by 2019. Some of them are hoping to hit the capital market
next year — Canara Bank, Union Bank, Central Bank of India and Vijaya Bank have
sought the government’s approval to raise capital via equity market.
Govt.
cutting stake will lead to sectoral reforms:
SBI Chief Ms
Arundhati Bhattacharya said Cabinet’s
decision to pare stake in state-owned banks will lead to a fresh round of
banking reforms, and force these financial institutions to be more competitive.
Differential
Voting rights for PSU Banks sought:
SBI is keen to issue shares with differential voting rights
(DVR) for meeting additional capital requirements under Basel-III capital
adequacy norms.
Common
account in works for all financial assets:
Financial regulators,
including RBI, SEBI and IRDA are working on creating a common account
aggregation facility, which may allow people to get details of all their financial
assets in one place.
Bank
of Maharashtra lowers base rate by 15 bps to 10.25%:
Bank of Maharashtra on Thursday cut base rate by 15
basis points to 10.25%. The Pune-based lender is the second bank to cut the
lending rate. Axis Bank had pared its base rate by 10 bps
in October to 10.15%.
Bandhan
now closes in on Grameen Bank:
Bandhan, the country’s largest microfinance company, is
competing closely with Bangladesh’s Nobel Prize-winning Grameen Bank to become
South Asia’s largest micro credit provider. It is already the largest
non-deposit taking microfinace institution (MFI) in the world.
India
Inc will reduce borrowing by refinancing debt: RBS head:
India Inc is likely
to see a significant number of refinancing transactions in calendar year 2015
to reduce its cost of borrowing by refinancing its debt, according to the Royal
Bank of Scotland (RBS).
Life
Insurance Council bats for reduction in service tax:
Life insurers have asked for parity with other financial
products such as mutual funds and fixed deposits, which do not attract service
tax on maturity.
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