Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance 19.12.2020

 🙏 Good Morning All.... 

☕ 19.12.2020: Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 Bank credit grows by 5.73%, deposits by 11.34% : Bank credit grew by 5.73 per cent to Rs 105.04 lakh crore while deposits increased by 11.34 per cent to Rs 145.92 lakh crore in the fortnight ended December 4, the RBI data showed. In the fortnight ended December 6, 2019, bank credit had stood at Rs 99.35 lakh crore and deposits at Rs 131.06 lakh crore. In the previous fortnight ended November 20, credit grew by 5.82 per cent to Rs 104.34 lakh crore and deposits by 10.89 per cent to Rs to Rs 143.70 lakh crore.In October, non-food credit growth decelerated to 5.6 per cent compared to a growth of 8.3 per cent in the same month of the previous year.Growth in loans to agriculture and allied activities accelerated to 7.4 per cent in the month from a growth rate of 7.1 per cent last year.Credit to industry contracted by 1.7 per cent in October 2020 as compared with 3.4 per cent growth in October 2019.Growth in loans to the services sector accelerated to 9.5 per cent in October 2020 from 6.5 per cent in the same month of the previous year. - economic times

🍒 PNB QIP issue falls short of target by 46 per cent : State-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) has raised a little over 54 per cent of the targeted fund mop-up through QIP, which closed on Friday with Rs 3,788.04 crore in the kitty.  Private sector IDBI Bank too closed its QIP without disclosing the amount raised. PNB had planned to raise up to Rs 7,000 crore through qualified institutional placement (QIP) that had opened on Tuesday (December 15).  The capital raising committee of the board of directors of the bank has its meeting held on December 18, 2020, passed the resolution to declare the closure of the QIP today (December 18) pursuant to the receipt of applications from eligible qualified institutional buyers, PNB said in a regulatory filing. - Business Line

🍒 Govt exploring setting up bad bank, all other options: DEA Secretary : The government is exploring all options, including setting up of a bad bank, to improve the health of the country's banking sector, Economic Affairs Secretary Tarun Bajaj said on Friday. He also said the government has recapitalised public sector banks and continue to pump in c apital as per requirements. "We are looking at various options, including the option you mentioned (of bad bank), and it is still in the works... The RBI has been asking us, and we ourselves also feel that we need to recapitalise. We have recapitalised to a large extent and this year too, we have kept some money for recapitalisation so that commitment is there...," he said. - Business Standard

🍒 PMC Bank gets four investment proposals, says RBI : Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank has received four investment proposals, the RBI said on Friday while extending the restrictions imposed on the crisis-hit lender to March 31 to enable it to finalise the reconstruction plan.  In September 2019, the RBI had imposed restrictions on the fraud-hit multi-state urban cooperative bank, including on withdrawals by customers, following a scam. Depositors had held several protests demanding their money back. Last month, PMC had invited expression of interest (EoI) from potential investors for investment or equity participation in the bank for its reconstruction. The last date for submission of EoIs by potential investors was kept as December 15. - economic times

🍒 Bad loans set to rise in H2 of FY21 despite improving outlook: Axis Bank : Despite improving economic conditions, private sector lender Axis Bank sees bad loans rising and said it will continue to be conservative. “Collection efficiency has been in the range of 95-97 per cent. We saw payments bouncing in September (when the EMI moratorium came to an end) but since then, we have seen improvement month-on-month,” said Sumit Bali, president, retail lending and payments, Axis Bank. “While the stress is lower than projections, it would be higher than what we saw last year because of the pandemic. But it is getting better for us. However, Q3 and Q4 will see some slippages (in the retail book).” He said the bank has surpassed pre-Covid levels in secured loans. “The unsecured part of the business continues to at 60-70 per cent of pre-pandemic level. We are conservative on the unsecured part and would want to see some more series of data points before we start going back to the pre-pandemic level,” he added.  - Business Standard

🍒 Too much fall in short term rates poses threat to financial stability: RBI minutes :  The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) that voted unanimously to keep interest rates to ensure economic revival has raised red flags on short-term interest rates falling below the desired levels raising the risk of financial instability. The MPC members also warned that rising pricing power of oligopolistic businesses and commodity prices could narrow the room available to continue with accommodative monetary policy even as concerns over the fragility of economic revival remain.  “Liquidity, credit and monetary aggregates will need to be closely monitored with an eye on macro-financial stability that can be enervated when short-term borrowing costs fall below the operational policy rate. If this results in persistence of negative real rates for too long, it can adversely affect savings, lend support to mispricing of financial asset prices and encourage excessive leveraging,” said Mridul K Saggar.- economic times

🍒 Rising inflation is of concern: HDFC Chief Economist : ur Bureau Inflation has been rising and is at over 7 per cent as against the RBI mandated 6 per cent. This is a matter of concern as it has gone up substantially over the past three months, said Abheek Barua, Chief Economist, HDFC Bank.  This means that if one is expecting more help from the RBI, it may become difficult to come by as there will be liquidity pressure, he said. “The fiscal deficit has gone for a toss. The government had set a target of 3.5 per cent of GDP for Centre and 3 per cent for the States. This is now at 6.5 per cent for the Centre and 4.5 per cent for States. Together it is at 11 per cent, which will be dangerous if not brought down,” he stated. - Business Line

🍒 PayU to offer Google Pay tokenised payment flow for merchants : PayU, an online payments solutions provider, has collaborated with Google Pay, a leading digital payments app, to introduce tokenised payments flow for merchants. With this collaboration, PayU’s merchants can offer Google Pay users the option to use their debit cards, credit cards, or Google Pay UPI to make repeated payments without having to physically share their card details. According to the joint official release, the card information is tokenised, and the digital token is linked to the phone, allowing Google Pay users to make repeat payments seamlessly and securely. It also added that during checkout, users can avail one-click payment experience as they do not have to re-enter the payment data. The OTP is read automatically, and the payment is processed instantaneously, without redirections to third party sites (3D secure). - Business Line

🍒 RBI central board reviews current economic situation : The central board of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on Friday, reviewed the current economic situation in the backdrop of global and domestic challenges and various areas of operations of the RBI, including the customer education initiatives and resolution of customer complaints.  The board meeting, chaired by Governor Shaktikanta Das, noted the change in the bank’s Financial Year from July-June to April-March, and the changes in the unit of presentation from millions / billions to lakh / crore, the central bank said in a statement. - Business Line

🍒 CBI registers cases against Transstroy for alleged bank fraud, conducts raids : The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a case against Hyderabad-based infrastructure company Transstroy (India) Ltd and its directors for alleged bank fraud estimated at more than ₹7,926 crore. Following a complaint by Canara Bank, which along with its consortium partners had extended credit facilities to the infra firm, the investigating agency has registered a case against the company and named its Chairman and MD, Cherukuri Sridhar, and additional directors, Rayapati Sambasiva Rao, former MP, and Akkineni Satish, in the case. - Business Line

🍒 Sipadan Investments (Mauritius) sells 2.17% stake in IDFC : After selling the shares in the open market, Sipadan holds 7.30 per cent stake in IDFC, as per the company’s regulatory filing.  IDFC is registered with the Reserve Bank of India as an ‘non-banking finance company — investment company’. It mainly holds investment in IDFC Financial Holding Company Ltd, which is a non-operative financial holding company. IDFC FHCL in turn holds investments in IDFC FIRST Bank Ltd and IDFC Asset Management Company Ltd.  As at September-end 2020, the government was the single largest shareholder in IDFC, with 16.37 per cent stake.- Business Line

🍒 Bids for DHFL still under evaluation : The Committee of Creditors (CoC) for the troubled Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL) on Friday evaluated the bids by Oaktree Capital, Piramal Capital and Housing Finance Ltd (PCHFL) and the Adani Group for buying the company.  There was no word yet on the fate of the bids as the CoC meeting was in progress at the time of going to press. Voting on the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) is expected to take place next week. Lenders are evaluating the bids based on four quantitative parameters — upfront cash recovery; net present value of the cash recovery; equity allotment; and infusion of funds in the corporate debtor; and two qualitative parameters — track record of the resolution applicant and key managerial personnel. Lenders are keen on ensuring a smooth resolution of the debt-ridden housing finance company. They want to iron out all wrinkles to ensure that the CIRP does not face last minute legal challenges like it did previously. - Business Line

🍒 Premature rollback of RBI policies could derail nascent growth: RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das : RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das voted for status quo at the last bi-monthly monetary policy review arguing that premature rollback of policies undertaken to mitigate the impact of the pandemic would be detrimental to nascent growth and recovery, minutes of the meeting showed on Friday. All members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) — Shashanka Bhide, Ashima Goyal, Jayanth R Varma, Mridul K Saggar, Michael Debabrata Patra and Shaktikanta Das — had voted for maintaining status quo in the policy review announced on December 4. - financial express

🍒 Markets extend winning run to 6th session; Sensex ends at record high : After opening at its lifetime intra-day high of 47,026.02, the 30-share BSE index pared some gains to finish at 46,960.69, up 70.35 points or 0.15 per cent. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose 19.85 points or 0.14 per cent to 13,760.55 -- its new closing record. Infosys was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 3 per cent, followed by Bajaj Auto, SBI, ICICI Bank, HCL Tech, Titan and Asian Paints. On the other hand, IndusInd Bank, ONGC, HDFC Bank, Maruti and Bajaj Finserv were among the laggards.

🍒 Rupee ends 3 paise up at 73.56 against US dollar : The rupee appreciated by 3 paise to close at 73.56 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday amid sustained foreign fund inflows and positive domestic equities. Traders said weakness in the American currency in the overseas market supported the domestic unit. At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 73.55 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 73.49 and a low of 73.57.

🍒 India's forex reserves down by $778 million to $578.568 billion : The country's foreign exchange reserves declined by $778 million to $578.568 billion in the week to December 11, RBI data showed on December 18. In the previous week, the reserves had touched a lifetime high of $579.346 billion after increasing by $4.525 billion. In the reporting week, the reserves declined due to a fall in foreign currency assets (FCAs), a major component of the overall reserves. FCAs dropped by $1.042 billion to $536.344 billion, as per the weekly data by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). 

🍒 Gold price rises for fourth day in a row to Rs 50,108 per 10 gram; silver up by Rs 50 a kg : Gold prices jumped for the fourth straight day by Rs 101 to Rs 50,108 per 10 gram in the Mumbai retail market on subdued global cues and a flat rupee. The precious metal price was supported by the weakness in dollar and expectation of a stimulus package for the US economy. The bullion metal ended the week with a gain of Rs 1,062 or 2.17 percent for the week. The rate of 10 gram 22-carat gold in Mumbai was Rs 45,899 plus 3 percent GST, while 24-carat 10 gram was Rs 50,108 plus GST. The 18-carat gold quoted at Rs 37,581 plus GST in the retail market. Silver prices gained Rs 50 to Rs 66,519 per kg from its closing on December 17..

 🙏 “All the Best… Have a Good day "

Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance 13.02.2020

 🙏 Good Morning 

☕ 13.12.2020: Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 RBI elevates 3 CGMs : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has elevated three Chief General Managers (CGMs) as Executive Directors (EDs) with effect from December 11. R. Subramanian, Rohit Jain and R.S. Ratho are the new EDs. Following the aforementioned appointment, the central bank now has 13 EDs. As ED, Subramanian will look after Foreign Exchange Department, Financial Markets Regulation Department, Internal Debt Management and International Department. Prior to being promoted, he was CGM-in-Charge, Enforcement Department, the central bank said in a statement. Jain will look after Department of Supervision (Risk, Analytics and Vulnerability Assessment). Prior to this, he was CGM-in-Charge, Department of Supervision. Ratho will look after Financial Markets Operations Department, Department of External Investments and Operations, Legal Department and Secretary’s Department. He was CGM, Financial Markets Operations Department. - Business Line

🍒 SBI will prefer co-origination models of lending to MSMEs: Chairman : State Bank of India (SBI) will prefer the co-origination model to cater to the financing needs of MSMEs and collaboration with fintechs is a good idea as it helps in assessing the risk profile of the borrower in a better manner, its chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara said on Saturday. Pointing out that the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are constrained today in terms of cash flows, time gap in realising receivables, among others and also the level of lenders' confidence in funding them, Khara said collaborating is a better model than lending directly to MSMEs. "The fact of the matter is that today not many NBFCs have come in this space. And of late, when it comes to finding solutions, we feel that apart from lending directly to the MSMEs, there is a way forward in terms of collaborating with these NBFCs along with the biggest fintechs who have the ability to process the structured and unstructured (financial) data to have a better sense in terms of assessment of risk," Khara said. Based on that assessment, he said, bankers feel very comfortable in lending to the MSMEs. He was speaking at a webinar on financing the unfinanced organised by the Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME). - Business Standard

🍒 Central Bank of India to raise up to ₹500 crore by issuing bonds : Central Bank of India on Friday said it will raise up to ₹500 crore by issuing Basel III compliant bonds. "The capital raising committee of the board of directors of the bank at its meeting held today i.e., December 11, 2020, considered and approved the proposal for raising of capital funds up to ₹500 crore," the bank said in a regulatory filing. Central Bank of India reported over 20% rise in its net profit at ₹161 crore for the second quarter ended 30 September. The bank had posted a net profit of ₹134 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year. Its total income grew nearly 2% to ₹6,833.94 crore during July-September 2020, against ₹6,703.71 crore in the year-ago period, Central Bank of India said in a regulatory filing. - Live Mint

🍒 Big private lenders see their coffers swell : A wider network, better capital position and stronger market perception are helping larger private sector banks expand their deposit base much quicker than their smaller peers, especially the vintage private banks, showed data from Capitaline. Events at some banks and non-banks in the past one year that attracted regulatory interventions could have led to greater faith in bigger banks. For instance, deposits at HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank as on 30 September were 20% higher from a year ago, despite the two banks already having large outstanding deposits. On an absolute basis, HDFC Bank saw a growth of ₹2.07 trillion, while rival ICICI Bank’s deposits rose ₹1.36 trillion in the 12 months to September 2020, showed data from Capitaline. Other private lenders like Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank also saw their deposits rise by ₹51,496 crore and ₹28,493 crore, respectively, as on 30 September from a year earlier, the data showed. - Live Mint

🍒 YES BANK unveils premium credit card for affluent, HNIs. Features, benefits : YES BANK has recently launched Yes Private Prime Credit Card for India’s affluent and ultra High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNIs). The product will offer global privileges and experiences across travel, lifestyle, hospitality, dining, entertainment and wellness, the lender said. The credit card is available on the Mastercard World Elite platform. It is focused on ultra HNI consumers, offering exclusive concierge service, features and benefits that uniquely appeal to affluent cardholders. This by-invitation-only credit card provides unique customer value proposition along with a host of experiences. - Live Mint

🍒 No specific plan needed for invoking Resolution Framework: RBI :  The Reserve Bank on Saturday said that borrowers opting for resolution of COVID-related stressed loans are not required to submit any specific plans. In FAQs on Resolution Framework for COVID-19 related stress, the RBI said that borrowers can invoke the resolution framework by merely submitting a request to the lending institutions. The Reserve Bank had announced a resolution framework to help the entities facing financial stress on account of disruption in normal business activity on account of coronavirus pandemic."The Resolution Framework does not require any resolution plan in any form to be submitted to the lending institutions at the time of request for invocation. Rather, for invocation, the borrowers are required to merely submit a request to the lending institutions for being considered under the Resolution Framework," the RBI said. On submission of the request, the lending institutions will take an in-principle decision - as per their Board-approved policy - on invoking the Resolution Framework, it said. - economic times

🍒 Lenders look to revive restructuring of JP Associates outside IBC : Lenders to Jaiprakash Associates Ltd are looking at a possible resolution outside the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. Sources close to the development confirmed that the consortium of lenders, led by ICICI Bank, are working on a proposal for restructuring under the RBI’s June 7 circular. The objective is to go in for timely restructuring so that lenders can get back some of their dues.  Lenders are expected to submit the proposal to the RBI in the coming months as discussions are still on. “There have been previous instances also when similar discussions were started but did not fructify. Banks are now hoping that this will go through,” said a person familiar with the development, adding that public sector lenders are taking a keen interest. - Business Line

🍒 Retail loans showing some stress, but no alarm bells yet: Experts : Retail loans, the mainstay of banks, have started showing some cracks but the stress is not alarming, said executives and analysts. While a Macquarie report had pegged nonperforming assets (NPAs) in this category to double to 4 per cent from 2 per cent levels, financial institutions have stepped up their collection efficiency efforts to improve bounce rates in retail segments.  The National Automated Clearing House (NACH), a clearing service for interbank transactions run by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), shows that bounce rates by volume have gone up to 40.5 per cent, and 31.1 per cent by value. These were 31 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively, in February. NACH is indicative of only a quarter of the total retail payments segment and does not reflect intrabank transactions, or those made by cash or cheque. - economic times

🍒 To cope with Covid blues, borrowers must ask lenders to invoke Resolution Framework: RBI : Borrowers are required to merely submit a request to the lending institutions for invocation of resolution under the Resolution Framework for Covid-19-related stress, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).  In its frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the Resolution Framework, the central bank said the Framework does not require any resolution plan in any form to be submitted to the lending institutions at the time of request for invocation. Rather, for invocation, the borrowers are required to merely submit a request to the lending institutions for being considered under the Resolution Framework. - Business Line

🍒 Borrowers seeking debt resolution can make a request by December 31: RBI : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Saturday clarified that borrowers, seeking resolution of their bad debt under the Covid-19 stress scheme as suggested by the KV Kamath committee, need not submit a resolution plan that the lenders would evaluate, rather, they can simply request by December 31. “The Resolution Framework does not require any resolution plan in any form to be submitted to the lending institutions at the time of request for invocation," the central bank said in an update of its frequently asked question (FAQ) section on resolution framework for Covid-19 related stress. “Rather, for invocation, the borrowers are required to merely submit a request to the lending institutions for being considered under the resolution framework," After the request is submitted, the lending institutions will take an in-principle decision on invoking the resolution framework. - Business Standard

🍒 AP CM Jagan asks bankers to support welfare schemes : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has urged bankers to extend support in implementing government welfare schemes and strengthen the rural economy. Addressing the 213th State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) meeting on Friday, the Chief Minister asked the bankers to focus on doubling farmers’ income, reducing investment costs, providing proper market facilities for produce, and to support farmers at the time of natural disasters. He said the government has started various initiatives to reduce the investment cost to farmers. It has been providing financial assistance of ₹13,500 per annum through Rythu Bharosa Scheme. Fifty per cent of farmers in the State have less than half a hectare and 80 percent of investment cost to those farmers would be covered through this scheme. - Business Line

🍒 Bharti AXA Life ties up with Primero Skills to support healthcare workers amid Covid-19 pandemic : ‘GotYouCovered’ campaign, a special initiative to appreciate frontline healthcare workers who are striving to protect people from the Covid-19 pandemic.  Observing the Universal Health Coverage Day promoted by the World Health Organisation, that urges all nations to provide affordable and quality healthcare to citizens, the company aims at spreading awareness of the importance of protecting life and health against all uncertainties. Bharti AXA Life Insurance has joined hands with Primero Skills & Training, a skill development organisation imparting free skills and training programmes to youth under the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, to support its healthcare workers by masking them against life and health risks during the ongoing Covid pandemic. - Business Line

🍒 EXIM Bank extends LOC of $448 million to Uzbekistan : Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank), on behalf of the Government of India, has extended a Line of Credit (LOC) of $448 million to the Government of Republic of Uzbekistan.  This LOC is for financing various projects in the Roads & Transport, Water and Technology & Communication sectors in Uzbekistan, Exim Bank said in a statement. With the signing of this LOC Agreement, Exim Bank has now in place 266 Lines of Credit, covering 62 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, CIS and the Oceania, with credit commitments of around $26.59 billion, available for financing exports from India. - Business Line

🍒 AIFs can leverage without limits in IFSC : GIFT City regulator IFSCA has removed several restrictions in current regulations on Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) operating in International Financial Service Centre (IFSC), providing more flexibility to offshore fund managers looking to set up funds in such centres in the country.  Restrictions on leverage, creation of co-investment pools and diversification norms have been done away with by the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA). - Business Line

🍒 Non-banks will see asset growth only in FY22, says Crisil : Assets of India’s non-bank financiers are expected to shrink for the first time in two decades in the current financial year, rating agency Crisil said, adding an expansion is likely only in FY22. “Assuming that the current green shoots gain momentum, we expect growth to be positive for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) in the next fiscal," Gurpreet Chhatwal, president, Crisil Ratings told reporters on Friday. Crisil expects loan growth for NBFCs in FY22 to be subdued at 5-6%. Non-bank lenders, Chhatwal said, have been facing a challenging operating environment since September 2018 right after the Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) default. He said while it was expected that the situation would normalize in the early part of the current year, the onslaught of covid-19 moved the focus to asset quality and funding challenges. - Live Mint

🍒 Exim Bank extends $448-mn line of credit to Uzbekistan : Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) on Saturday said it has extended a $448-million line of credit (LOC) for various infrastructure projects in Uzbekistan. The LOC has been extended on behalf of the Indian government, Exim Bank said in a statement. With the signing of this LOC agreement, Exim Bank has now in place 266 LOCs, covering 62 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Commonwealth of Independent States and the Oceania, with credit commitments of around $26.59 billion, available for financing exports from India, it added. The LOC of $448 million to Uzbekistan has been extended for financing various projects in the roads and transport, water and technology and communication sectors in Uzbekistan. - financial express

🍒 Demand for gold loans slows down after recording a good growth in the second quarter: CSB Bank chief : The demand for gold loans has slowed down after recording a good growth in the second quarter, CSB Bank MD and chief executive CVR Rajendran said on Friday. The Thrissur based lender said its gold loan portfolio grew by Rs 1,100 crore in the second quarter, an increase of 30% quarter-on-quarter and 47% year-on-year. The RBI’s relaxation on LTV norms has helped the bank increase its gold loan portfolio, which currently accounts for 35% of the total loan book. CSB had earlier said average LTV of the gold loan portfolio is 71% and the yield on gold loans improved from 12.22% in Q1 to 12.53% during Q2, which indicates that the growth has been achieved without compromising on the yield. - financial express

🍒 Pandemic fast-tracked India’s digitisation march, says NPCI COO; acceptance of UPI increasing : India’s march towards digitisation of its payment landscape has been fast-tracked during the coronavirus pandemic, said Praveena Rai, Chief Operating Officer, National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI) on Saturday. The COO of the umbrella body for retail payment and settlements in India said that the pace of digitisation of India has also increased due to the regulatory framework and policies of the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), new agency PTI reported. NPCI is an initiative of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) under the provisions of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.  “Digitisation has revolutionized every single aspect of life and onboarding has risen substantially. There has been gradual migration from cash to digital payments both offline and online”, Praveena Rai said. The COO of NPCI was speaking at a seminar organised by Xavier School of Management. She added that digitisation has cut across all sections of the society. Praveen Rai further added that there has been a rise in digital engagements by giving reward programmes to customers. According to her, digitisation is also driving a habit of savings among the customers which is also leading to financial inclusion in the country. The NPCI COO said that now people, consumers and merchants are preferring to go digital, adding that there also has been a big growth in UPI driven by acceptance of QR. - financial express

🍒 Investments via SIPs dive to 30-month low : Many retail investors have preferred to use Systematic Investment Plans (SIP) to invest in mutual funds over the last six years, resulting in sustained growth in monthly investments. But the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the inflow, which has declined gradually since this April. The monthly SIP investment of ₹7,302 crore in November 2020 was the lowest since May 2018.  SIPs in mutual funds are preferred by retail investors who invest a fixed sum at regular intervals, in the scheme of their choice, thus imbibing discipline in their investment process. But the monthly investments since May 2020 have been lower compared to the corresponding month in the previous year. This gap expanded to 11.74 per cent in November this year. - Business Line

🍒 Gold prices rise to Rs 49,290 per 10 gram, outlook bearish : Gold prices edged higher to settle at Rs 49,290 per 10 gram on December 11 as participants trimmed their long position as seen by the open interest. The precious metal ended the week with a marginal loss of 0.14 percent for the week. The rate of 10 gram 22-carat gold in Mumbai was Rs 44,926 plus 3 percent GST, while 24-carat 10 gram was Rs 49,046 plus GST. The 18-carat gold quoted at Rs 36,785 plus GST in the retail market. Silver prices fell Rs 368 to Rs 62,232 per kg from its closing on December 11.

🍒 Small & Midcaps underperform: Only 34 stocks in BSE 500 rose 10-40% this week : It was a historic week for Indian markets as both Sensex and Nifty50 hit fresh record highs and climbed crucial milestone levels. The S&P BSE Sensex climbed Mount 46K while the Nifty50 rose above 13,500 for the first time. As benchmark indices hit fresh record highs, small & midcaps underperformed in the week gone by but there were more than 30 stocks that rose 10-40 percent in the same period. The S&P BSE Sensex rallied 2.2 percent while the Nifty50 was up 1.9 percent for the week ended December 11. Meanwhile, there was 0.7 percent rise seen in the S&P BSE Midcap index, and about 1.3 percent growth recorded in the S&P BSE Smallcap index in the same period. There are as many as 34 stocks in the BSE 500 index that rose 10-40 percent. These include MMTC, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Vedanta, Punjab National Bank, Shoppers Stop, Wockhardt, IFCI, and PC Jeweller.

🙏 “All the Best… Have a Great day

Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance 06.12.2020

 🙏 Good Morning All.... 🌻👩‍👩‍👧‍👦

☕ 06.12.2020: Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 BBB recommends S Ramann for post of SIDBI chairman & managing director : The Banks Board Bureau (BBB), the headhunter for state-owned banks and financial institutions, on Saturday recommended S Ramann and Shivendra Tomar for the posts of CMD and MD of SIDBI and IFCI, respectively. The members of the Banks Board Bureau interviewed 20 candidates on December 4 and 5, 2020 for the vacancy of chairman and managing director (CMD) of Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), the BBB said in a statement. "Keeping in view their performance in the interview and their overall experience, the bureau recommends S Ramann for the position of chairman and managing director in SIDBI," it said. Ramann, 1991-batch Indian Audit & Accounts Service officer, is currently CEO of National E-Governance Services Limited (NeSL), India's first Information Utility. Besides, the Bureau recommended Shivendra Tomar for the post of MD and CEO of IFCI. - economic times

🍒 PNB to hold roadshow for proposed Rs 7,000 crore QIP next week : Punjab National Bank on Saturday said it will hold a roadshow for the proposed Rs 7,000 crore qualified institutional placement (QIP) issue next week. The bank will be participating again in the non-deal roadshow and meeting prospective investors on December 7-8, 2020, PNB said in a regulatory filing. The bank has taken approval for raising Rs 7,000 crore through Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) route this fiscal. In a non-deal roadshow, nothing is for sale, a bank official said, adding it is an opportunity to discuss and develop interest in an upcoming offer. The bank has already taken approval from the board for raising Rs 14,000 crore by way of Tier II, Additional Tier 1 (AT-1) bonds and QIP (Qualified Institutional Placement), PNB Managing Director S S Mallikarjuna Rao had said last month. - Business Standard

🍒 Invest more in IT infrastructure for better reach: RBI Governor : The window to banking is now as wide as the worldwide web – so vast that protecting new-gen customers transacting online could soon tell success from failure in an industry that, for centuries, thrived on networking behind closed doors. With banking taking on an increasingly digital accent each passing day, Mint Road is now buttressing standards around grievance resolution and customer protection to ensure continued confidence in the burgeoning virtual channels that are crucial for financial inclusion. “Lakhs of internet banking customers cannot be put under distress,” Das said Friday, underscoring the need to strengthen both banking technology systems — and their supervision. “The financial sector is becoming increasingly IT-dependent and requisite investments by banks and NBFCs are necessary,” Das said. “We are constantly engaging with the entities around deficiencies…as the apex regulator of the banking and payment systems, certain action becomes unavoidable.”- economic times

🍒 RBI survey revises forecast for real GDP growth upwards for FY’21, FY’22 : The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) latest Survey of Professional Forecasters (SPF) has revised the forecast for real gross domestic product (GDP) growth upwards for FY21 and FY22 vis-a-vis the last round of SPF. The 67th round of SPF has projected a lower contraction of 8.5 per cent (median forecast) in real GDP in FY21 versus the 66th SPF round’s estimate of a 9.1 per cent contraction. Real GDP is expected to recover next year (FY22), when it is expected to grow by 9.5 per cent against earlier projection of 8.2 per cent, as per the Survey. The latest Survey has revised upwards the headline consumer price index (CPI) inflation projections for all the four quarters (Q3: October-December 2020 and Q4: January-March 2021; and Q1: April-June 2021 and Q2: July-September 2021) when compared with the previous survey round - Business Line

🍒 Consumer confidence takes a beating in November: RBI survey : Consumer confidence remained very low in November 2020 compared to a year ago, as reflected in the Current Situation Index (CSI), as per Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Consumer Confidence Survey. The weak confidence is attributable to consumer sentiments on the general economic situation, employment scenario, price levels and household incomes, according to the central bank. The November 2020 CSI reading came in at 52.3 against 85.7 in November 2019. The latest CSI reading, however, showed a marginal improvement over the all-time low of 49.9 recorded in the previous (September 2020) round. Households remain optimistic of the situation one year ahead, with the Future Expectations Index (FEI) remaining in growth terrain at 115.9, against 114.5 in the November 2019 round. - Business Line

🍒 ‘Investor response to PMC Bank resolution positive’ : Potential investors’ response to the Expression of Interest (EoI) floated by the scam-hit Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank for investment/ equity participation for reconstructing the bank looks positive at this point of time, according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das. To a specific question as to why YES Bank and Lakshmi Vilas Bank could be resolved quickly but not PMC Bank, Das said the situation in PMC Bank was completely different. “The last date for submission of EoI is December 15. Let us see what is the response and after that we can take a view on this,” said the Governor. The bank, and its management, are engaged with investors who have purchased the information memorandum, he added - Business Line

🍒 In growth push, RBI continues liquidity support : The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Friday left the policy repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent, for the third time on the trot. This was widely expected given the sticky retail inflation which, in the RBI’s view, is likely to remain elevated. However, to support the nascent recovery in the economy, the six-member MPC persisted with its accommodative stance and decided to continue with it for as long as necessary to revive growth on a durable basis. The MPC forecast the retail inflation to hold above its midpoint target of 4 per cent in the second half of 2020-21. Its members unanimously voted to keep the policy rate unchanged. With the outlook for inflation turning adverse relative to expectations in the last two months, the MPC projected CPI (consumer price index) inflation at 6.8 per cent for Q3 FY 21 and 5.8 per cent for Q4 FY21. The CPI inflation for the first half of FY22 has been forecast at 4.6-5.2 per cent, with risks broadly balanced. - Business Line

🍒 KVG Bank launches OD facility for farmers : The Dharwad-headquartered regional rural bank, Karnataka Vikas Grameen Bank (KVGB), has launched an overdraft (OD) facility for farmers. Speaking at the launch of the ‘Kirishi OD’ scheme designed for farmers, P Gopi Krishna, Chairman of the bank, said that the farmers are provided with an OD facility based on the value of the land. The limit is capped to a maximum of ₹1.5 lakh per acre to irrigated lands and ₹1 lakh per acre to dry land. The facility can be used for working capital requirements such as maintenance of machinery and equipment, repair and replacement of machinery, agricultural allied activities and even for the repayment of private loans availed for personal use. He said the uncontrolled weather, escalating natural disasters, and the current Covid situation have made farmers vulnerable. “To ease the situation, KVGB has designed a special OD facility for the farmers to help them to cope with the situation,” he added. - Business Line

🍒 Satin Creditcare Network to expand in South India : Microfinance company Satin Creditcare Network Ltd plans to strengthen its presence in the South with the opening of a few more branches, said the company’s Chief Operating Officer K Thangaraju. As part of its expansion plan, the company opened four branches at Perundurai, Udumalpet, Kinnathukadavu and Dharapuram in this region about 10 days back, and a regional office in Coimbatore on Friday. With 84 branches in the South (of which 53 and 31 are in the states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka respectively), the company is looking to further strengthen its network in the South. Thangaraju said that the company has extended loans amounting to ₹360 crore to women self-help groups (SHGs) over the last two years. - Business Line

🍒 Gold Prices Decline To Rs 49,209 Per 10 Gram, Gains 2.66% For The Week : Gold prices edged lower to settle at Rs 49,209 per 10 gram on December 4 as participants trimmed their long position as seen by the open interest. The precious metal after hitting a low of Rs 47,792 on Monday ended the week with a gain of 2.66 percent for the week. In the retail market, the bullion metal settled at Rs 49,316 per gram on Friday up nearly 1 percent for the week on hopes of additional US stimulus and weakness in the dollar. The gold/silver ratio currently stands at 78.19 to 1, which means the amount of silver required to buy one ounce of gold. The retail silver prices eased Rs 54 to Rs 63,064 per kg from its closing on December 3.

🍒 Sensex, Nifty Create History: Over 60 Stocks In bse500 Index Rise 10-50% In A Week : Indian market created history as bulls pushed benchmark indices beyond crucial psychological levels in the holiday-shortened week. The S&P BSE Sensex surpassed Mount 45K while Nifty50 managed to hold 13,100-13,200 levels. The S&P BSE Sensex rose 2.1 percent while the Nifty50 climbed 2.2 percent for the week ended December 4 while the action was more prominent in the broader market space.The S&P BSE Mid-cap index rose 2.8 percent while the S&P BSE Smallcap index closed with gains of 2.6 percent for the week ended December 4. There are as many as 65 stocks in the BSE500 index that rose 10-50% in just 4 sessions that include names like KNR Construction, Tata Power, Maruti Suzuki, Sun Pharma, Adani Enterprises, Hindalco, Oberoi Realty, SAIL, SpiceJet, Tata Chemicals, and Adani Power, etc. among others. - moneycontrol..

🙏 “All the Best… Have a Good day "🌻👩‍👩‍👧‍👦

Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance 09.11.2020

 🙏 Good Morning All...

☕ 09.11.2020 : Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 Fresh investment demand from corporates is some time away, says SBI Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara : Although corporates have started utilising their working capital limits on the back of a very clear trend for demand revival in the economy, any fresh investment demand from corporates is some time away, State Bank of India chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara said on Saturday. “My sense is from the next financial year we (economy) will be nearer to the normal,” Khara said addressing the annual general meeting of The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry here. He said in October all the high-frequency indicators were portraying a very positive scenario. “I think partly it is also attributed to the fact that there is a lot of Covid fatigue. Everybody would like to get into the mainstream economic activity as soon as possible. That is also one of the reasons for the kind of enthusiasm seen in the economy. Earlier, we have felt that it is pent up demand, which is there from the consumers. But, I think now the way indicators are showing, there is a very clear trend for the demands,” the SBI chief said through video-conferencing.He said in October all the high-frequency indicators were portraying a very positive scenario. “I think partly it is also attributed to the fact that there is a lot of Covid fatigue. Everybody would like to get into the mainstream economic activity as soon as possible. That is also one of the reasons for the kind of enthusiasm seen in the economy. Earlier, we have felt that it is pent up demand, which is there from the consumers. But, I think now the way indicators are showing, there is a very clear trend for the demands,” the SBI chief said through video-conferencing. - financial express

🍒 Indian Overseas Bank seeks about Rs 1,000 cr capital support from government : Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has sought a capital support of about Rs 1,000 crore from the government in order to create buffer for any exigency, a top official of the bank said. The state-owned lender, which has posted profit for the last three consecutive quarters, expects to continue the trend in the remaining part of the current fiscal year with increased focus on recovery and business pick up.For September quarter, the bank posted a profit of Rs 148 crore as compared to a net loss of Rs 2,254 crore in the same period a year ago. Net profit in the quarter grew 22.3 per cent from Rs 121 crore in April-June."We expect the trend to continue and book profit quarter after quarter aided by prospects of better recovery. There will be no question of going back," IOB Managing Director P P Sengupta told PTI.Asked about capital needs, he said, "we want our profit to strengthen our capital. That is our internal aim and we are marching towards that goal. As a prudent measure, we have sought some capital support, let us see how much we get. We want to keep capital as buffer for any exigency or contingency." - Economic Times

🍒 Lakshmi Vilas Bank makes its stance clear to Clix group on Religare deposit case :  Lakshmi Vilas Bank has reached out to the Clix Group with “all the documents” on its contingent liability related to Religare Finvest deposits, instruments the bank had set off against unpaid loans given to private firms of the erstwhile Religare promoters Malvinder and Shivinder Singh. Clix wanted Lakshi Vilas to make full provisions against the liability amounting to Rs 794 crore ahead of the proposed merger. The bank holds a contingent provision of Rs 200 crore, which is not included in tier I/tier II capital calculations. Hence, Clix wanted it to provide the balance Rs 594 crore. “We have submitted all the documents justifying our stance as to why making full provision is not necessary. We are the rightful owner of the money,” a senior bank official told ET. The bank has taken legal opinion on the matter and believes the appropriation is lawful and tenable, requiring no further provisions. - economic times

🍒 Less than half of ₹8,000-crore Covid claims filed so far have been settled : Seventy-seven year old Asesh Prasad Ghosh died after a three-day battle with Covid at one of the premier city-based private hospitals. His total bill for three days added up to nearly ₹3 lakh, with the ICU room charges and ventilator alone costing his family a whopping ₹88,000 a day. Luckily, he was under his son’s corporate health insurance cover and got back nearly 90 per cent of the total claims. But having an insurance policy may not be enough to ensure that you get fully covered, and there have been instances where patients have received only 50-70 per cent of their claims. Insurance companies on their part have clarified that they would only be able to honour claims to the extent that they are “reasonable and customary”, indicating that they may not be able to honour claims that are “unreasonable” arising primarily due to overbilling by hospitals. - Business Line

🍒 Closely monitoring inventory, asking builders to start selling: PNB Housing : With economic activity gradually improving post lockdown, PNB Housing Finance is closely monitoring the inventory levels of builders and asking them to start selling as demand for home loans is nearly getting back to normal, its MD and CEO Hardayal Prasad said. "Economic activity is still at a low ebb, but it has started picking up. The economic activity in certain areas is obviously returning back to pre-Covid days, I would say. When we talk to the builders and our sales team and people who are on the ground, who go and talk to the consumers and prospective borrowers, there are green shoots that we are seeing everywhere," Prasad told PTI in an interview. "The kind of enquiries that we used to get at one point of time, we are already almost at about 80-85 per cent of the pre-Covid level," he added. - Business Standard

🍒 Early-stage VC firm Inflexor aims to close Rs 500-crore fund by March : Early-stage venture capital firm Inflexor Ventures aims to close its Rs 500-crore fund by March next year, and the proceeds will be invested in about 25 companies over the next few years, a top executive said. Inflexor Technology Fund, which was set up by the founders of the erstwhile Parampara Fund, had made the first close of the Rs 500 crore fund in August this year, at Rs 230 crore.Speaking to PTI, Inflexor Ventures Managing Partner Venkat Vallabhaneni said the latest fund is focussed on technologies that are making a deep impact on the society. "Mostly, we invest in early-stage companies that are making some revenue and have customers. Generally, we enter with a Rs 5-7 crore cheque and after that we stay with the company through their growth," he said adding that there is a follow-on funding of up to Rs 15-20 crore based on performance, growth and capital requirements. - - Business Standard'

🍒 M-cap of nine of top-10 most valued firms zooms over Rs 2.30 lakh crore : The combined market valuation of nine of the top-10 most valued companies zoomed by Rs 2,30,219.82 crore last week, with HDFC twins leading the pack. During the last week, Sensex soared 2,278.99 points or 5.75 per cent.Barring Reliance Industries Ltd, the country''s most valued firm, all nine companies witnessed rise in their market valuation for the trading week closed on Friday. The market capitalisation of HDFC Bank jumped by Rs 68,430.18 crore to Rs 7,19,948.29 crore, emerging as the biggest gainer among the most valued companies. - financial express

🍒 CII writes to finance ministry, suggests ECLGS scheme for stressed sectors : The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has written to the finance ministry, urging to explore an Emergency Loan Credit Guarantee Scheme to support the stressed sectors and argued that prolonged strain on employment-intensive sectors could impede economic recovery. The industry chamber on Sunday said it has recommended this intervention to assist the stressed segments, primarily in the service sectors like hospitality, tourism aviation and retail, as this would not have any impact on the fiscal deficit this year but will provide the much needed liquidity to these sectors which employ a large number of people. "CII appreciates the revenue constraints faced by the government and its impact on the widening fiscal deficit. This intervention, similar to what has been done for the MSMEs will be a win-win for all," Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General CII, said. - economic times.

Have a Good day. All the Best.

Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance 08.11.2020

 🙏 Good Morning All...

☕08.11.2020: Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 Economy expected to bounce back from next fiscal: SBI chairman : The country's economy, which has shown resilience to come out from a downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, is expected to bounce back from the next fiscal, State Bank of India chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara said on Saturday.  There will be a "paradigm shift" which will lead to a more matured economy" with economic players learning to contain costs, he said. Addressing the virtual annual general meeting of Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Khara said, "The economy is expected to bounce back from the next fiscal starting from April 2021. The next normal will see a paradigm shift and some of them will be permanent." Khara said the economy had shown "resilience to come out from the downturn" and some positive traction was witnessed towards the end of the first quarter of the current fiscal. - Economic times

🍒 Canara Bank cuts MCLRs by 0.05-0.15 pc for various tenors from Nov 7 : State-owned Canara Bank on Friday said it has cut the marginal cost of fund based lending rates (MCLR) by 0.05-0.15 per cent with effect from November 7. The one-year MCLR -- the benchmark for most of the consumer loans -- has been reduced by 0.05 per cent to 7.35 per cent from 7.40 per cent currently, Canara Bank said in a regulatory filing.The six-month MCLR too has been lowered by a similar quantum to 7.30 per cent. Among others, the overnight and one-month MCLRs are cut by 0.15 per cent each to 6.80 per cent, while the three-month MCLR stands revised to 6.95 per cent, against 7.10 per cent. The new rates will come to effect from November 7, 2020, Canara Bank said. On Thursday, Indian Overseas Bank had announced to cut the one, two and three-year MCLRs by 0.05 per cent each to 7.45 per cent. The overnight and one-month MCLR will be priced at 6.85 per cent each from 7.05 per cent and 7.35 per cent, respectively, at present. The new rates will come to effect from November 10, 2020, Indian Overseas Bank had said. -  Business Line

🍒 Bank of Maharashtra cuts Repo Linked Lending Rate to 6.90 per cent : Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has cut its Repo Linked Lending Rate (RLLR) to 6.90 per cent from 7.05 per cent earlier. The Pune-headquartered public sector bank, in a statement, said customers availing home loan, car loan, education loan, personal loan along with MSME (micro, small and medium enterprise) loan products can benefit following the 15 basis points RLLR cut, with effect from November 7. - Business Line

🍒 Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Q2 profit up marginally at Rs 96 cr : Ujjivan Small Finance Bank (SFB) on Saturday reported a marginal rise in net profit at Rs 96 crore for September quarter as provisions spiked.The bank posted a net profit of Rs 93 crore in the same quarter a year ago. In June quarter, the profit was Rs 55 crore.  Total income during July-September 2020-21 increased to Rs 818.01 crore from Rs 729.36 crore in the year-ago period on the back of healthy interest income. Core income or the interest income increased 15.2 per cent to Rs 753.61 crore from Rs 654.33 crore in the same quarter of 2019-20. Net interest income grew 21 per cent to Rs 470 crore. - Business Line

🍒 Significant progress in proposed merger with Clix Group: Lakshmi Vilas Bank :  Lakshmi Vilas Bank said that it has made "significant progress" with Clix Group for the proposed merger of the two. The bank also said that it has completed a minor incremental due diligence this week as requested by Clix Group. "Now, the respective sides are in the process of a workable and mutually acceptable framework," the bank announced Saturday. Meanwhile, the ailing private sector lender has seen its capital adequacy ratio (CAR) turning negative (-2.85%) for the first time while its tier 1 capital has been in the negative zone since March. Tier 1 capital was a negative 4.85% at the end of September against the minimum requirement of 8.875%. If the proposed merger of Clix Capital Service and Clix Finance India into the bank goes through, the issue of capital would be addressed. - Economic Times

🍒 Lakshmi Vilas Bank posts net loss of Rs 396.99 crore for Q2FY21 : The Lakshmi Vilas Bank on November 7 posted a net loss of Rs 396.99 crore during the quarter ending September 2020. The bank extended its net loss of Rs 357.17 crore from the second quarter of the previous financial year. Net interest margin shrunk to 1.37 percent for Q2FY21 against 1.47 percent for same period the previous year, the bank said in an exchange filing. Operating loss narrowed to Rs 5.66 crore against Rs 40.37 crore for Q2 the previous year. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 World Bank cautions against fake credit, debit cards with its name, logo : The World Bank on Friday cautioned the public against fraudulent issuance of debit and credit cards carrying its name and logo. The advisory came after its attention was drawn to such fraudulent issuance of debit/credit cards in India, according to the multilateral lending agency. "The World Bank Group does not issue debit/credit cards. The Bank Group has no involvement with individuals/groups who have issued these fake cards, and would like to caution the public to be wary of such fraudulent practices," it said in the advisory. "Please feel free to visit the World Bank's website www.worldbank.org to clarify about World Bank's programs and policies," it added. - Business Standard

🍒 Over 11 lakh MSMEs registered on Udyam online system since July: Govt : Over 11 lakh MSMEs have registered on the new online system of Udyam Registration launched in July, the government said on Saturday. Out of these, 3.72 lakh enterprises have registered under manufacturing category whereas 6.31 lakh enterprises under service sector. The share of micro enterprises is 93.17 per cent whereas small and medium enterprises are 5.62 per cent and 1.21 per cent, respectively. - moneycontrol.

🍒 Huge deviation in Bank Nifty and Nifty likely to narrow by December-end : Bank Nifty continues to act as a trailblazer, rallying by 12 percent during the week. The recent structure suggests that it has more room on the upside with the presence of a series of bullish anchor columns and positive follow-through. We expect, the leadership index to retrace 2/3 (i.e. 27,170) of its January-March 2020 decline. Ratio of Bank Nifty/Nifty since October month has seen the formation of bullish anchor columns followed with positive follow-through on P&F charts, implying strength & outperformance of banks against the benchmark Nifty. As per our pattern projection, the ratio can move higher towards 2.29 levels. Positive crossover is observed in XO zone. We believe a huge deviation between BankNifty and Nifty (in play for the most part of 2020), is likely to narrow down by year-end. Comparative out-performance and improved internal structure of the Indian markets are likely to attract positive traction. - Moneycontrol..

🙏 "Have a Good day...

Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

 Good Morning All....

☕ 05.11.2020: Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 SBI Q2 results: Profit surges 52% YoY to Rs 4,574 crore, beats Street estimates : Top lender State Bank of India (SBI) reported a 51.9 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in net profit for the quarter ended September at Rs 4,574.16 crore. The bank had reported a net profit of Rs 3,011.73 crore in the same quarter a year ago. An ET Now poll had projected the profit figure at Rs 4,400 crore.Its total income came in at Rs 75,341.80 crore, up 3.42 per cent from Rs 72,850.78 crore a year ago. The bank’s net interest income (NII) for the quarter rose 14.56 per cent to Rs 28,181 crore, while net interest margins (NIMs) came in at 3.34 per cent, compared with 3.22 per cent a year ago.It earned interest to the tune of Rs 66,814.11 crore compared with Rs 64,312.39 crore a year ago.The bank's gross NPAs came in at 5.28 per cent against 5.44 per cent in the preceding quarter and 7.19 per cent in the same quarter a year ago. Net NPAs for the quarter stood at 1.59 per cent against 1.86 per cent in the June quarter and 2.79 per cent a year ago. - economic times

🍒 SBI Q2: Improvement in disbursements, strong deposit traction are positive signs ; Significant improvement in retail loan disbursements, ramp-up in provisions, good traction in deposits, and strong capital ratios (about ₹20,000-crore capital was raised during the September quarter) are heartening trends from State Bank of India’s latest September quarter results. However, actual slippages (if not for the Supreme Court order on asset classification standstill) for the September quarter, persisting stress in the bank’s agriculture loan book, expected restructuring, slippages in the second half, and a sizeable SMA1 (payments overdue by 31-60 days) and SMA2 (overdue by 61-90 days) book suggest more pain ahead for the bank’s asset quality. - Business Line

🍒 SBI warns bad debt can worsen even as its profit beats estimates : State Bank of India warned that the ongoing coronavirus pandemic would lead to more bad debt, even as the nation’s largest lender reported better-than-expected profit after setting aside fewer provisions for problem loans. The bank’s net income jumped 52% to 45.7 billion rupees ($610 million) for the three months to September, beating the 36.9 billion rupee average estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. While its bad loan ratio fell slightly to 5.28%, from 5.44% at the end of June, SBI expects a further 200 billion rupees of loans to sour over the next six months as the pandemic continues to impacts borrowers. This would result in 600 billion rupees of problem loans, or 2.5% of its loan book, at the end of March 2021. “Going forward we might see some kind of stress in small and medium enterprises, and in the agriculture sector,” Chairman Dinesh Khara said during a post-earnings call. - Business Standard

🍒 Bank of Baroda rolls out well-being programme for its employees : Bank of Baroda (BoB) on Wednesday said it has introduced an ‘Employee Assistance Program’ to help its employees to deal with their personal problems and professional issues through psychological counselling and consulting. The public sector bank, in a statement, said it has taken the first step in addressing the issues and upkeeping employees’ emotional well-being by introducing this program initially as a pilot project in Mumbai Zone and its corporate office. - Business Line

🍒 RBI Guv Shaktikanta Das chaired SAARC FINANCE Governors’ Group, member nations discussed current initiatives :  Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das and other central bank governors in the South East Asian nations vowed to work in tandem to fight against the Coronavirus pandemic. At the 40th meeting of the SAARC FINANCE Governors’ Group, held Wednesday, they reaffirmed their commitment to continued co-operation and sharing of central bank experiences.Das chaired the meeting and highlighted the close partnership and co-operation among the member countries. The group took stock of the macroeconomic situation in the SAARC region; discussed the current initiatives by the member countries. - economic times

🍒 RBI imposes penalty totalling Rs 15 lakh on two co-operative banks : The RBI on Wednesday said it has imposed penalty totalling Rs 15 lakh on two co-operative banks, including Millath Co-operative Bank, Davangere (Karnataka) for non-compliance with directions issued by it. A penalty of Rs 10 lakh has been imposed on Millath Co-operative Bank for "non-adherence/violation of all inclusive directions and other directions imposed on the bank", the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a statement. In another statement, it said a monetary penalty of Rs 5 lakh has been imposed on The Thiruvaikuntam Co-operative Urban Bank Limited, Thoothukudi (Tamil Nadu) for contravention of the directions issued by RBI on prohibition of loans and advances to directors. - economic times

🍒 Interest on interest waiver: Banks start crediting accounts; FinMin issues additional FAQs : Banks have started refunding borrowers the compound interest charged on specified loan accounts during the moratorium period. Last week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had asked all lending institutions, including non-banking financial companies, to ensure that the scheme of waiver of interest on interest for loans up to Rs 2 crore for the six-month moratorium period is implemented by November 5. "Dear customer credited COVID-19 Relief ex-gratia of ... on November 3 to your account," a message from a public sector bank to a customer said.- economic times

🍒 SBI Card along with Paytm launch credit cards : SBI Cards and Payment Services (SBI Card) on Wednesday said it has launched credit cards in partnership with the digital payment platform Paytm. Available in two variants, Paytm SBI Card and Paytm SBI Card SELECT, the product has been launched on the Visa platform. This launch is in line with SBI Card's endeavour to offer customers tailored products which bring maximum value in line with spending needs and to encourage digital forms of payments for a safe and enhanced customer experience, SBI Card said in a release.- economic times

🍒 Yes Bank case: High Court rejects bail pleas of Wadhawans : The Bombay High Court on Wednesday rejected bail applications of Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan, promoters of Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL), in the Yes Bank fraud case, holding that procedures were followed when a chargesheet was filed. Justice S V Kotwal rejected the arguments made by the Wadhawan brothers' lawyers, senior advocates Amit Desai and A M Singhvi, that the CBI failed to follow procedure while filing a chargesheet in the case. The Wadhawans had sought 'default bail', claiming that the Central Bureau of Investigation, the prosecuting agency, had not complied with the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) while filing a chargesheet in a special CBI court here. A default bail is given when procedural aspects, such as filing chargesheet within the stipulated period, are not followed. - economic times

🍒 ‘Shriram Life Insurance to develop credit appraisal procedure’ : To maintain the quality of its credit portfolio amid falling interest rates and market volatility, Shriram Life Insurance is developing a credit appraisal procedure. “We are doing quite well in terms of assets under management and overall size of the book. We have focussed very much on the quality of the credit portfolio, and are also developing a credit appraisal procedure so that we scan our portfolio on a regular basis,” said Ajit Banerjee, Chief Investment Officer, Shriram Life Insurance. - Business Line

🍒 I-T refunds worth Rs 1.29 lakh cr issued to 39.49 lakh taxpayers : The Income Tax department has issued refunds worth over Rs 1.29 lakh crore to more than 39 lakh taxpayers so far this fiscal. This includes Personal Income Tax (PIT) refunds amounting to Rs 34,820 crore and corporate tax refunds aggregating to Rs 94,370 crore during this period. "CBDT issues refunds of over Rs 1,29,190 crore to more than 39.49 lakh taxpayers between 1st April, 2020 to 3rd November, 2020. Income tax refunds of Rs 34,820 crore have been issued in 37,55,428 cases & corporate tax refunds of Rs 94,370 crore have been issued in 1,93,059 cases,” Income Tax department said in a tweet.  - economic times

🍒 46% people borrowed money to run their households during Covid times, reveals Home Credit India research : With job losses and pay cuts across industries during the Covid-19 pandemic, the lower middle-income group has been affected severely, says the findings of research from Home Credit India, a local arm of the international consumer finance provider with operations spanning over Europe and Asia. Home Credit India conducted a research across 7 cities to understand the borrowing patterns of people during the Covid lockdown. The pandemic has led to a shift in perspective towards loans and borrowing preferences, the research said. - Business Line

🍒 Banks offer competitive rates to woo home buyers : Competitive home loan rates by banks could further boost the demand for home loans. Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank, which is offering one of the lowest interest rates, is keen on acquiring good quality customers in the home loan segment. “Our cost of funds has gone down apart from the policy rates. We have very competitive cost of funds. Also, home loan is one of the best asset categories. It is a relatively safer, long-term product,” said Shanti Ekambaram, Group President, Consumer Banking, Kotak Mahindra Bank. Speaking to BusinessLine, she said there is a lot of demand across the spectrum as “deals being offered by the eco-system as a whole are very interesting”. “We are seeing a lot of demand across the top five to six metros,” she said. - Business Line

🍒 Rs 1,800-cr fund infusion in pipeline; to be used to repay high-cost borrowings: PNB Housing CEO : With about Rs 1,800 crore equity fund raise in the pipeline, PNB Housing Finance plans to repay its high-cost borrowings and will ask its lenders to sweeten the lending rates as the firm is working consistently to improve profitability parameters besides enhancing the value proposition for the investors, its MD and CEO Hardayal Prasad said. PNB Housing Finance’s board has okayed to raise up to Rs 1,800 crore through a preferential or rights of shares. Of this, promoter Punjab National Bank (PNB) has already given its nod to infuse Rs 600 crore. Prasad said there is a large number of investors, of whom almost 84-85 per cent are institutional investors, who are all interested in the company. “But, we are also getting inquiries from many other players who feel that they have the ability to invest in the company directly. So, as far as the interest of our investors are concerned, it is high for the company and the franchise that has been built,” Prasad told PTI in an interview. He added that there is a strong retail book and second-highest deposit book also. “There is a massive amount of interest in the company.” - financial express

🍒 Credit cost for MFIs to rise to 6-7% in two years as loans remain unpaid : With about 12 per cent of their customers not having repaid loans till end of August, the credit costs of Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) could rise to 6-7 per cent over two years from 1.5 per cent in FY20, according to Icra. The rating agency said 12 per cent of borrowers of 21 entities with collective assets under management (AUM) of around Rs 54,213 crore availed a complete moratorium during April-August 2020.Consequently, near-term delinquencies (30+ days past due) are expected to increase to double digits. They would remain at these levels for a few months as it will be difficult for such borrowers to clear their dues. However, the rise in credit costs could be lower at 6-7 per cent (spread over two years FY2021-FY2022; 1.5 per cent in FY2020). Entities with a higher share of such borrowers may face higher credit costs, said Supreeta Nijjar, Vice President and Sector Head, Financial Sector Ratings, ICRA. - Business Standard

🍒 PMC Bank trying to use the escape hatch used by tiny cooperative banks : Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank’s (PMC) proposal to convert deposits into equity is not a novel idea, but certainly the most visible one. Although not reported anywhere, every year depositors of one or two tiny cooperative banks undergo this fate. In most cases, deposits are converted into subordinated debts, to be serviced over at least 10 years, or the banks are merged with other cooperative banks and deposits beyond a certain amount are converted into equity with a deep discount. Both the options are done after getting consent from the depositors. The harassed depositors prefer the debt route as liquidating the equity is next to impossible. Besides, if the merged entity incurs loss, which is more often than not, then the equity holders have to bear the loss too. This erodes their deposits even further. But with a deposit base of more than Rs 11,600 crore, PMC is not a small cooperative bank. And therefore, PMC’s conversion to equity has attracted public attention. - Business Standard

🍒 Indian private banks shed Covid-19 woes, net profit rises by 159% : Indian private banks seem to have weathered the severe economic shocks inflicted by the Covid-19 pandemic, at least for now. Backed by a steady rise in net interest income (NII) and contraction in provisions, private banks posted 159 per cent growth (year-on-year) in net profit at Rs 18,814 crore in the second quarter (Q2) ended July-September 2020-21 (Q2FY21). While the asset quality held up during Q2, the real picture is masked by the Supreme Court’s (SC’s) directive that accounts not declared non-performing assets (NPAs) as of August 31 should not be classified as such until further orders. The NII in the September quarter rose 15 per cent to Rs 52,101 crore in Q2FY21, while provisions and contingencies declined 4.2 per cent to Rs 18,414, according to a Business Standard analysis of 17 listed private lenders.- Business Standard

🍒 SBI’s asset quality numbers warrant a closer look : Country’s largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI) has received applications for loan restructuring to the tune of Rs 6,495 crore in October, the bank said while announcing its second quarter results. Overall restructuring numbers could go up as customers have time till December to apply for the one-time loan recast for Covid-linked stressed assets. The total estimated slippages in Q2 (July-September) is Rs 14,388 crore, the bank said. But, if one includes the loans that are not tagged as bad following a recent interim Supreme Court order, the total fresh slippages in Q2 would stand at over Rs 17,144 crore. Overall gross NPAs also have stayed at elevated levels if one takes into account the portion of bad loans excluded under Supreme Court’s interim order. - moneycontrol.com

🍒 Gold recycling hits 8-year-high on record prices : High gold prices pushed the recycling of the yellow metal to an eight-year-high of 41 tonnes in the September quarter, with both consumers and some of the distressed jewellers recycling their inventory to meet immediate cash requirements. Average gold prices jumped 37 per cent in the September quarter to ₹45,640 per 10 grams, against ₹33,329 logged in the same period last year. In fact, prices jumped 65 per cent from ₹27,861 logged in 2018, according to the World Gold Council data. - Business Line

🍒 Gold prices remain flat at Rs 51,306 per 10 gram; silver falls by Rs 1,007 a kg  : Gold prices were steady at Rs 51,306 per 10 gram in the Mumbai retail market on a sharp fall in rupee and weak global cues. The precious metal traded lower amid growing worries over the possibility of the contested US election outcome and firm dollar. The rate of 10 gram 22-carat gold in Mumbai was Rs 46,996 plus 3 percent GST, while 24-carat 10 gram was Rs 51,306 plus GST. The 18-carat gold quoted at Rs 38,480 plus GST in the retail market. The gold/silver ratio currently stands at 83.77 to 1, which means the amount of silver required to buy one ounce of gold.  Silver prices declined Rs 1,007 to Rs 61,243 per kg from its closing on November 3.

🍒 Sensex rallies 355 pts; Nifty reclaims 11,900 : Rising for the third straight session, the Sensex rallied 355 points on Wednesday following gains in Reliance Industries, Infosys and Kotak Bank amid a positive trend in global markets ahead of the outcome of the US presidential elections. After a volatile session, the 30-share BSE index ended 355.01 points or 0.88 per cent higher at 40,616.14. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty climbed 95 points or 0.80 per cent to 11,908.50. IndusInd Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging around 5 per cent, followed by Sun Pharma, Reliance Industries, Infosys, Kotak Bank and Tech Mahindra. On the other hand, HDFC, PowerGrid, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, NTPC and L&T were among the laggards.

🍒 Rupee falls to over 2-month low of 74.66 amidst tight US vote : Most emerging market shares scored small gains while currencies were broadly weaker on hints of a tight race, sparking a bout of volatility across financial markets.  The partially convertible rupee was at 74.66/67 per dollar at 0506 GMT versus its previous close of 74.40. The unit touched 74.78 earlier in the session, its weakest since August 24. Traders said they expect the rupee to weaken further with the unit having hit a low of 75.0550 in the overnight spot non-deliverable forwards market..

All the Best… Have a Good day

Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance 03.11.2020

 🙏 Good Morning All....

☕ 03.11.2020: Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 PNB posts Q2 profit of ₹621 crore : Aided by lower provisioning for bad debts, PNB, on Monday, reported a standalone net profit of ₹621 crore for the second quarter ended September 30. This was more than double the net profit of ₹308 crore recorded in first quarter of this fiscal. It may be recalled that the country’s second-largest public sector bank had, from April 1, this year amalgamated two PSBs – Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India – with itself. For the second quarter ended September 30, 2019, PNB had recorded net profit of ₹507 crore. The latest Q2 performance is not comparable with the same quarter last fiscal in view of the three-way amalgamation from April 1 this year, PNB said in a filing with the stock exchanges. - Business Line

🍒 HDFC Q2 net profit down at ₹2,870 crore : Mortgage lender HDFC Ltd reported a 27.5 per cent decline in standalone net profit in the second quarter of the current fiscal at ₹2,870.12 crore, compared with ₹3,961.53 crore in the same period a year ago. “To facilitate a like-for-like comparison, after adjusting dividend, profit on sale of investments, fair value adjustments, net gains on loans assigned, charge for employee stock options and provisioning the adjusted profit before tax for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 is ₹ 3,366 crore compared to ₹ 2,646 crore in the previous year, reflecting a growth of 27per cent,” it said in a statement on Monday, adding that the profit numbers for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 are not directly comparable with that of the previous year.  - Business Line

🍒 City Union Bank net slips to ₹158 cr in Q2 : Kumbakonam-headquartered City Union Bank’s profit after tax slipped to ₹158 crore for the quarter ended September 2020 when compared to the ₹194 crore clocked during the corresponding quarter of the earlier fiscal. The bank, in a statement, said that the profit before tax for the quarter was impacted on account of additional provision of ₹115 crore made towards Covid to meet future contingencies. The bank already made a provision of ₹225 cr for Covid-19 as on June 30, 2020; during the current quarter, with the additional provision of ₹115 crore, total provision towards Covid-19 at the end of the first half of the current fiscal has touched ₹340 crore. - Business Line

🍒 Karur Vysya Bank Q2 net profit jumps 81% to Rs 115 crore : Private sector Karur Vysya Bank (KVB) on Friday reported an 81.4 percent jump in its net profit at Rs 114.89 crore in the second quarter of FY 2020-21, helped by lower provisioning for bad loans. The south-based lender had posted a net profit of Rs 63.33 crore in the corresponding three months a year ago.Total income though fell to Rs 1,666.26 crore in the July-September period of FY21 as against Rs 1,815.24 crore in the same quarter of 2019-20, KVB said in a regulatory filing. - moneycontrol.

🍒 Centre extends Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme till the end of November : The government has extended the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) by a month till November 30 until the entire Rs 3 lakh crore made available under the scheme is sanctioned, according to a finance ministry statement on Monday. Lending institutions under the scheme have sanctioned loans amounting to Rs 2.03 lakh crore to 60.67 lakh borrowers and disbursed loans totaling Rs 1.48 lakh crore as of date, it said. The decision was taken in view of the further easing of Covid-19 restrictions on various sectors of the economy and the expected rise in demand during the festive season, it said. - economic times 

🍒 Covid stress: Banks confident provisions are good enough : Rising collection efficiencies helped by a rebound in economic activities and benign initial requests for restructuring have made banks increasingly confident that the provision they carry on their books should be good enough to deal with Covid related stress. Both private and public sector banks are confident that stress in their books will not go out of hand by the end of the fiscal as they have all increased their provision coverage ratio (PCR) to deal with any increased stress. However, analysts say that the real test for banks will come in the third and fourth quarters as the Supreme Court stay on classification of NPAs will be lifted and more clarity emerges on the restrcuturing requests to banks.- economic times

🍒 Aditya Puri appointed as a senior adviser in Asia for Carlyle Group : Global investment firm The Carlyle Group has announced that Aditya Puri, former CEO of India’s largest private sector bank, HDFC Bank, has been appointed as a senior advisor to Carlyle in Asia, said a statement issued today. Puri will advise the Carlyle team on investment opportunities across Asia. He will provide guidance on the evolving market landscape and new investment opportunities, while also advising the company’s investment professionals and portfolio management teams on building differentiated high quality businesses. - economic times

🍒 IDFC First Bank logs strong September quarter, expects restructuring at 4% of loan book : IDFC First Bank is factoring in total restructuring of about 4% of its loan book of Rs 1.06 lakh crore under the Covid-19 recast window, chief executive V Vaidyanathan told ET. The bank has received retail restructuring proposals worth Rs 200 crore through its online portal, while a few corporate restructuring requests are also under consideration, he added. “On our website, we have provided an end-to-end-restructuring journey for our retail customers, where we have received proposals worth Rs 200 crore, which is 0.4% of our customer base; some requests have come on the corporate side which are under consideration,” Vaidyanathan said. The restructuring window is open for corporates till December 31. According to a previous estimate by India Ratings, the banking system could restructure loans worth Rs 8.4 lakh crore due to the Covid-19 pandemic. - economic times

🍒 Bandhan Bank prunes Covid-related risk projections with better repayment collection : Bandhan Bank has lowered its Covid-related risk projections with repayment collection showing steady improvement over the last six months giving the lender confidence about further recovery and asset quality strength. The bank said it has made additional Covid-related provision of Rs 2100 crore covering 2.8% of its portfolio, and it might not need to top it up substantially going forward if the current repayment trend continues, bank chief executive Chandra Shekhar Ghosh told ET. During the initial days of the pandemic, the lender thought of creating an additional provision buffer of 3.5% of its loan book. At the end of September, it has Rs 76615 crore as loan outstanding including Rs 5000 crore of off-balance sheet exposure .- economic times

🍒 HSBC appoints new head of debt financing business in India : HSBC has elevated old hand Chetan Joshi as head of its debt financing business in India, according to sources. Joshi was previously managing director and head of the bank's debt capital markets business in which role he led the UK-headquartered lender to the position of the top-ranked arranger of foreign debt issuances from India. The bank is also said to have announced the appointment of Vinod Venkatesh in Joshi’s role. Joshi will also be overseeing the debt capital markets business in addition to taking added responsibilities for acquisition and leveraged finance, these sources said.. - economic times

🍒 RBI extends deadline for banks' compliance with new guidelines for existing current accounts :  The Reserve Bank of India has given more time to banks to comply with the revised current account opening norms to ease their operational glitches. The regulator changed the rules to prevent the misuse of the current account facility and fund duversions. The new deadline is December 15 instead of November 5. RBI suggested that banks should not route drawal from term loans through current accounts. Since term loans are meant for specific purposes, the funds should be remitted directly to the supplier of goods and services.- economic times

🍒 ICICI Lombard gets CCI nod to acquire Bharti AXA’s non-life insurance business : The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has given its nod for the merger of Bharti AXA’s non-life insurance business with ICICI Lombard General Insurance, paving the way for creating the country’s third-largest non-life insurance company. “Commission approves acquisition of General Insurance Business of Bharti AXA @BhartiAXAGI by ICICI Lombard @ICICILombard”, the CCI tweeted on Monday.- Business Line

🍒 RBI to increase trading hours for various markets : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to increase trading hours for various markets regulated by it by up to 90 minutes with effect from November 9. With the graded roll-back of the lockdown and easing of restrictions on movement of people and functioning of offices, it has been decided to restore trading hours for regulated markets in a phased manner, the central bank said in a statement. The timings of markets for call/notice/term money; Commercial Paper and Certificates of Deposit; Repo in Corporate Bonds; Government Securities; Foreign Currency (FCY)/Indian rupee (INR) Trades, including Forex Derivatives; and Rupee Interest Rate Derivatives, will be increased to 10 am to 3.30 pm from 10 am to 2 pm. - Business Line

🍒 ICICI Bank shares jump nearly 6 per cent as Q2 profit zooms to record high : Shares of ICICI Bank on Monday jumped nearly 6 per cent after the company reported an over four-fold jump in consolidated net profit for the September quarter. The stock gained 6.64 per cent to Rs 418.65 on the BSE. On the NSE, it jumped 6.59 per cent to Rs 418.50. . - Business Line

🍒 ‘Fresh corporate bond issuances to rise up to ₹8.2-lakh crore in FY21’ : Fresh corporate bond issuances are expected to rise to ₹8.0-8.2-lakh crore in FY21 from ₹6.55-lakh crore in FY20, as spreads on these bonds over government securities (G-Sec) of similar tenure are likely to remain narrow over the next few quarters, according to ICRA. The spreads on corporate bonds over G-Secs of similar tenure declined to pre-Covid levels by the end of Q2 (July-September) FY21, the credit rating agency said.- Business Line

🍒 PNB Housing Finance set to prune corporate loan book by Rs 1,500 cr : Mortgage lender PNB Housing Finance (PNB HFC) plans to reduce corporate loan book by Rs 1,500 crore by March 2021 and is going in for a second round of rationalisation. Hardayal Prasad, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) said the company has built a strong balance sheet and will continue to rebalance its portfolio to build a robust retail franchise. There was a sell down and accelerated pre-payment of Rs 477 crore in the corporate book. "HFC remains steadfast in its strategy to bring down share of corporate book by end of the current fiscal year," Dayal said in an analysts’ call. - Business Standard

🍒 10-year G-Sec yields will average 6.2% by March 2021: Crisil : Credit rating agency Crisil believes that 10-year Government Security (G-Sec) yields will average 6.2 per cent by March 2021 versus its previous estimate of 6.5 per cent. The agency reasoned that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has looked through the current spurt in inflation and stated its commitment to stay accommodative and provide liquidity to the system. In this regard, Crisil observed that the central bank increased purchase of G-secs by conducting Open Market Operations (OMOs), Operation Twists (OTs), introduction of OMOs for State G-secs, and increase in banks’ limits for statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) securities under held-to-maturity (HTM) to ensure that the demand for G-secs remains strong. - Business Line

🍒 Paytm Postpaid targets 15 million users by end March 2021 : Paytm, a leading digital financial services provider, on Monday said it is aiming a total of 15 million users for its Postpaid micro credit service by March 20-21. This would be more than double the current customer base of 7 million for its Postpaid service. With Paytm Postpaid, users can avail instant credit for their Paytm purchases, which they can repay next month. Paytm Postpaid is offered in partnership with two leading NBFCs with an instant credit line for various payments to Paytm App users. - Business Line

🍒 PhonePe hits 250 mn user mark, registers 925 mn transactions in October : Flipkart-owned fintech platform PhonePe on Monday said it has crossed the 250 million registered user milestone. The company reported over 100 million monthly active users (MAU) and 2.3 billion app sessions in October, a statement said. “PhonePe had a record month in October, processing 925 million transactions – its highest so far – with an annual TPV (total payment volume) run rate of USD 277 billion. PhonePe also processed 835 million UPI transactions in October, for a market leading share of over 40 per cent,” it added. Sameer Nigam, CEO and founder of PhonePe, said the company has set a target of crossing 500 million registered users by December 2022. - financial express

🍒 Four ex-RBI governors including Raghuram Rajan, YV Reddy warn of NPAs delaying recovery : Domestic banks, which have the highest bad loan pile in the world, pose a huge risk to the recovery of the pandemic-ravaged economy unless the government rescues them, four former Reserve Bank governors warn in a soon-to-be-released book. While Raghuram Rajan blames excessive investments by companies and the exuberance of bankers, coupled with inability to act fast as the prime causes for NPAs (Non-Performing Assets), Yaga Venugopal Reddy opines that the bad loans are not only a problem but a consequence of other problems. Duvvuri Subbarao sees NPAs as a big and real problem that needs to be contained, and Chakravarthy Rangarajan blames the lingering real sector problems, partly policy-driven most recently seen with demonetisation, aggravated the crisis. "Yes, the bad loan problem is big and real," says Subbarao, who was the governor for five years from September 2008 to September 2013, in the book by senior journalist Tamal Bandyopadhyay titled 'Pandemonium: The Great Indian Banking Tragedy'. - moneycontrol.

🍒 BoB, ICICI Bank announce fees for certain cash transactions; more may follow : Some of the large commercial banks have introduced or tweaked convenience fees on certain cash transactions from November 1. Two banks - Bank of Baroda (BoB) and ICICI Bank - have made announcements that essentially say that they will now levy a fee or hike existing fees that will be charged to customers for certain type of cash transactions. BoB has said it will levy a higher cash handling charges for cash transactions beyond certain limits - a minimum Rs 50 and a maximum Rs 20,000, the bank said on its website. Earlier, BoB, used to charge a minimum of Rs 10 and maximum of Rs 10,000 for certain kind of cash deposits. Similarly, ICICI Bank too has said it will charge a convenience fee of Rs 50 per transaction from customers for cash deposits at ATMs during non-business hours and bank holidays. Customers will be charged for every such transaction done on bank holidays and between 6:00 pm and 8:00 am on working days.  - moneycontrol.

🍒 Gold prices back above Rs 51,000/10 gm on safe haven buying ahead of US election, silver gains Rs 1,941/kg : Gold prices rose by Rs 197 to Rs 51,037 per 10 gram in the Mumbai retail market on the weaker rupee and positive global cues. The precious metal was trading firm on safe-haven buying ahead of the US Presidential election on November 3. The rate of 10 gram 22-carat gold in Mumbai was Rs 46,750 plus 3 percent GST, while 24-carat 10 gram was Rs 51,037 plus GST. The 18-carat gold quoted at Rs 38,278 plus GST in the retail market. Silver prices jumped Rs 1,941 to Rs 61,867 per kg from its closing on October 30.

🍒 Rupee slumps 32 paise to close at 74.42 against US dollar : The rupee depreciated 32 paise and settled at 74.42 (provisional) against the US dollar on November 2 tracking strong American currency amid global risk aversion. The local unit opened at 74.40 at the interbank forex market, then lost further ground and finally closed at 74.42 against the greenback, down 32 paise over its last close.

🍒 Sensex ends 144 pts higher; banking, financial stocks sparkle : Equity benchmark Sensex ended 144 points higher on Monday, tracking strong buying sentiment in financial stocks amid positive cues from global markets. After gyrating 633.11 points in a choppy session, the 30-share BSE index settled 143.51 points or 0.36 per cent higher at 39,757.58.Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty advanced 26.75 points or 0.23 per cent to 11,669.15.IndusInd Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying around 7 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC, Bharti Airtel, SBI, Bajaj Finance and HDFC Bank.On the other hand, Reliance Industries (RIL) was the top laggard, crashing over 8 per cent. HCL Tech, TCS, Tata Steel, Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto, Maruti and UltraTech Cement also ended in the red..

🙏 “All the Best… Have a Good day

Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance 10.10.2020

☕ 10.10.2020: Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 RBI delivers without a policy rate cut : As widely expected, the Monetary Policy Committee maintained status quo on the key policy rate, with inflation rate holding above the RBI’s comfort level. But the MPC brought pre-Diwali cheer by giving a ‘whatever it takes’ assurance to revive growth, as it looked at the “current inflation hump as transient”. The 5:1 vote of the six-member MPC in favour of a continued accommodative stance “at least during the current financial year and into the next financial year”, also offered markets an extended comfort on rates and liquidity. - Business Line

🍒 Bankers' reaction to RBI keeping status quo on rates, maintaining 'accommodative' stance : The six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Friday unanimously voted for keeping the policy repo rate unchanged as retail inflation has been above its upper tolerance level of 6 per cent for several months. The Committee decided to continue with the accommodative stance as long as necessary – at least during the current financial year and into the next financial year – to revive growth on a durable basis and mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on the economy, while ensuring that inflation remains within the target going forward. To provide impetus towards reviving the economy, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced specific additional measures to enhance liquidity support for financial markets; provide regulatory support to improve the flow of credit to specific sectors, among others.- Business Line

🍒 RBI policy overall positive, growth-oriented, say experts : Financial sector participants on Friday said RBI's decision to keep the key repo rate unchanged is an accommodative approach to manage inflation while keeping growth as target, amid the current economic conditions. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) evaluated domestic and global macroeconomic and financial conditions and voted unanimously to leave the policy repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said in his policy statement for the bi-monthly monetary policy review. "It also decided to continue with the accommodative stance of monetary policy as long as necessary - at least during the current financial year and into the next year - to revive growth on a durable basis and mitigate the impact of COVID-19, while ensuring that inflation remains within the target going forward," Das said. - economic times

🍒 SBI urges SC to dismiss plea against wind up UBHL : The State Bank of India (SBI) on Thursday urged the Supreme Court to dismiss a plea by Vijay Mallya’s firm United Breweries Holdings (UBHL) against its winding up for failure to pay admitted liabilities to creditors as per the corporate guarantees extended to the defunct Kingfisher Airlines. SBI senior counsel Mukul Rohtagi told a bench led by Justice UU Lalit that Mallya is facing bankruptcy proceedings in the UK, besides extradition proceedings. “Appeals should be dismissed as Mallya is behind all this and is playing ducks and graces,” he said, requesting the apex court to give it some more time to seek “other instructions and also find about the ongoing proceedings.” - Financial express

🍒 RBI raises retail exposure threshold for banks : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has upped the absolute threshold limit for maximum aggregated retail exposure of banks to one counterparty to ₹7.5 crore from ₹5 crore. This move is aimed at facilitating higher credit flow to the retail segment, which mainly consists of individuals and small businesses (with turnover of up to ₹50 crore). This increased exposure limit is in respect of all fresh as well as incremental qualifying exposures, and is in harmonisation with the Basel guidelines. “This measure is expected to expand credit flow to small businesses,” the RBI said.- Business Line

🍒 HDFC Bank takes festive offers to rural India to pump up credit growth : Private lender HDFC Bank has taken its “festive treats” offering to its semi-urban and rural markets in a bid to prop up credit growth. The bank will use its network of 1.2 lakh village level entrepreneurs (VLEs) and tap over 3,000 plus hyperlocal merchants and traders to offer customized deals at the regional level. According to the lender, customers will get special deals on all banking products from loans to bank accounts. This includes home loans, 2-wheeler loans, car loans, tractor loans, gold loans or business growth loans. Customers can avail of flat 5% to 15% off in various categories of products.- economic times

🍒 RBI’s move to rationalize home loan risk weightage to support higher lending : The Reserve Bank of India’s decision to rationalize the risk weights on home loans and link them to Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratio is expected to bolster the real estate sector with higher lending, property developers said. Until now, the risk was linked to both size of the home loan and loan to value and the move to link it to only the latter is likely to help lenders on the capital adequacy front enabling them to provide more loans. “The decision to rationalise the risk weights on home loans and link them to Loan to value ratios only will give a boost to the real estate sector. Particularly this step would benefit borrowers of higher value loans. It would ensure that more credit is available to borrowers,” said Niranjan Hiranandani, President (National) NAREDCO. “This move is a much appreciated step recognising the role of the real estate sector in generating employment and economic activity.” The decision, according to property developers, has come at the right time and will help projects in all segments and price points. - economic times

🍒 Relief to exporters: RBI discontinues automatic caution-listing system : The Reserve Bank of India on Friday announced discontinuing the system-based automatic caution-listing of exporters, a move aimed at providing flexibility to exporters in terms of realisation of export proceeds. Exports have been adversely impacted by the pandemic-related contraction in external demand, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said during a virtual press conference after the meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee. "In this environment, it is crucial to provide flexibility to exporters in the realisation of export proceeds and to empower them to negotiate better terms with overseas buyers," he said.- economic times

🍒 RTGS to be available 24x7x365 from Dec 2020 : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its Statement on Development and Regulatory Policies has announced that the money transfer facility, RTGS, will be available round the clock, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from December 2020. Under the current rules, the transfers can be made between 7 AM and 6 PM on all working days except for the second and fourth Saturday of the month and on Sundays. The announcement comes after the RBI made the NEFT facility available 24X7 from December 16, 2019. In its statement the central bank said, "In December 2019, the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) system was made available on a 24x7x365 basis and the system has been operating smoothly since then. The large-value RTGS system is currently available for customers from 7.00 am to 6.00 pm on all working days of a week (except 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month). - economic times

🍒 Digital Apnayen campaign gives further push to digital payment adoption : The Digital Apnayen Campaign, which was rolled out on August 15 to encourage customers to use digital banking channels, has propelled digital payment adoption with banks having on-boarded 1.58 crore customers in less than two months since launch, the Finance Ministry said on Friday. It has also resulted in deployment of 50,000 Point of Sales (PoS) terminals, over three lakh QR codes, and 18,000 BHIM Aadhaar pay devices in just 45 days, the Department of Financial Services tweeted on Friday. This campaign was launched under the aegis of the government’s Digital India initiative. .- Business Line

🍒 RBI expects real GDP to fall by 9.5% : India’s recovery is likely to be a three-speed recovery predominantly, with individual sectors showing varying paces depending on sector-specific realities, according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das. For the year 2020-21 as a whole, the central bank expects real GDP to decline by 9.5 per cent, with risks tilted to the downside: (-)9.8 per cent in Q2 (July-September) 2020-21; (-)5.6 per cent in Q3 (October-December); and 0.5 per cent in Q4 (January-March 2021). Real GDP growth for Q1 (April-June) 2021-22 will see a rebound, with the RBI placing it at 20.6 per cent. “There is currently an animated debate about the shape of the recovery. Will it be V, U, L, or W? More recently, there has also been talk of a K-shaped recovery. “In my view, it is likely to predominantly be a three-speed recovery, with individual sectors showing varying paces, depending on sector-specific realities,” said the Governor in his bi-monthly monetary policy address. - Business Line

🍒 Co-origination scheme expanded to include all NBFCs, HFCs : All non-banking financial companies, including housing finance companies, will now be included in the co-origination scheme as part of efforts for greater financial inclusion and give more operational flexibility to lending institutions. The move is also expected to give a boost to housing finance. “Based on the feedback received from the stakeholders to better leverage the respective comparative advantages of the banks and NBFCs in a collaborative effort, and to improve the flow of credit to the unserved and underserved sector of the economy, it has been decided to extend the scheme to all NBFCs (including HFCs) to make all priority sector loans eligible for the scheme and give greater operational flexibility to the lending institutions, while requiring them to conform to the regulatory guidelines on outsourcing, KYC,” said the RBI’s Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies. - Business Line

🍒 With ‘slog overs’ and ‘strike form’, RBI chief describes state of play : With the IPL season in full swing, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday chose cricketing terminologies to suggest that some of the worst-hit sectors of the economy can use “slog overs” to rescue the “innings”. “Open their accounts” and “strike form” also found a place in the Governor’s statement as he shared his views on the pandemic-hit economy after the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to leave key benchmark rate unchanged and maintain an accommodative stance. Trying to explain the process of recovery for the Covid-19-hit economy, Das said, “In my view, it is likely to predominantly be a three-speed recovery, with individual sectors showing varying paces, depending on sector-specific realities.” He added that sectors that would “open their accounts” the earliest are expected to be those that have shown resilience in the face of the pandemic and are also labour-intensive. - Business Line

🍒 CBI books HDIL promoters Wadhawans for Rs 200-crore loan fraud in YES Bank : The CBI has booked HDIL promoters Rakesh Wadhawan and Sarang Wadhawan, along with other directors and auditors in the firm, in an alleged Rs 200-crore loan fraud in Yes Bank involving Mack Star, officials said Friday. After registering the case, the CBI searched the residence of Rakesh Wadhawan and his son Sarang in Mumbai, they said. The agency also carried out searches at nine other premises in Mumbai, including two offices of HDIL, they said. It is alleged that Yes Bank had given loan to Mack Star in which HDIL was a minority shareholder. - Business Line

🍒 Cheaper big-ticket home loans to give realty sector a boost : Home loans over ₹75 lakh may get cheaper, with the RBI’s move to link risk weights for home loans with the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio. The LTV is the ratio of the loan amount to the value of the property.In a move that could reduce banks’ capital requirement and ease rates to boost demand, the RBI has rationalised risk-weights for new housing loans sanctioned up to March 31, 2022. Such loans will now attract a risk weight of 35 per cent where the LTV is less than or equal to 80 per cent, and a risk weight of 50 per cent where the LTV is more than 80 per cent but less than or equal to 90 per cent.The measure is expected to particularly give relief to big ticket loans above ₹75 lakh.According to an SBI report, these loans constitute around 12-15 per cent of the total housing loan portfolio, where the risk weight is higher.Assuming a growth of 20 per cent for the next 18 months, this could reduce the capital requirement of around ₹500 crore, which can enable banks to ease rates to boost demand, the report said. Punjab National Bank MD & CEO CH. SS Mallikarjuna Rao said that the move will give impetus for high value houses. - Business Line

🍒 PE investors, foreign banks taking majority stakes may rescue old pvt banks : For the past two weeks, old private banks — those that existed during bank nationalisation — have hit the headlines for wrong reasons. Whether Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) or Dhanlaxmi Bank, issues around corporate governance, mismanagement, differences between promoter groups and even the effectiveness of shareholder activism were being raised — which ultimately question whether the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has monitored these banks adequately. Several of these banks were placed under the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework of additional regulator scrutiny but this does not seem to have stemmed the rot (see table). “Placing banks under PCA alone would not do good; there needs to be scrutiny on what went wrong and a viable road map for the banks to exit PCA,” said Abizer Diwanji, partner and national leader-financial services, EY India. In effect, he is advocating that banks under distress be treated differently so that an effective rescue plan can be worked out. - Business Standard

🍒 CARE Ratings downgrades LVB debt instruments over plunge in net worth : CARE Ratings has downgraded Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB)'s tier-II bonds totalling Rs 618.70 crore, citing a sharp decline in net worth caused by losses in FY20 and in Q1 of FY21. The development comes two days after Brickwork Ratings downgraded the lender's debt to 'BWR B+'/ Credit Watch with negative implications for the lender's long-term bonds of Rs 50.50 crore, and a day after LVB received an indicative non-binding offer from the Clix Group. LVB has reported a capital adequacy ratio (CAR) and Tier-I CAR of 0.17 per cent and -1.83 per cent (negative), respectively, as on June 30, 2020 (1.12 per cent and -0.88 per cent as March 31, 2020) as against the regulatory requirement of 10.875 per cent and 8.875 per cent. - Business Standard

🍒 Series-VII of the sovereign gold bond opens for subscription from October 12 : The Series-VII for Sovereign Gold Bonds 2020-21 will be open for the period October 12-16 with a settlement date on October 20. The issue price of the bond during the subscription period would be ₹5,051 per gram, an official release said. The Government, in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India, has decided to allow a discount of ₹50 per gram from the issue price to those investors who apply online and the payment is made through digital mode. For such investors the issue price of Gold Bond will be ₹5,001 per gram of gold, the release added. - Business Line

🍒 Forex reserves surge to life-time high of $545.638 billion : The country’s foreign exchange reserves rose by USD 3.618 billion to reach a life-time high of USD 545.638 billion in the week ended October 2, 2020, the RBI data showed. In the previous week ended September 25, the reserves had declined by USD 3.017 billion to USD 542.021 billion. During the reporting week, the increase in forex kitty was on account of a rise in foreign currency assets (FCA), a major component of the overall reserves. FCA increased by USD 3.104 billion to USD 503.046 billion in the week ended October 2, the data showed.

🍒 Rupee settles 8 paise higher at 73.16 : The rupee has settled 8 paise higher at 73.16 against the US dollar on Friday as the Reserve Bank of India decided to keep the benchmark interest rate unchanged. At the interbank forex market, the rupee opened at 73.21 against the American currency, gained some ground to touch an intraday highe of 73.09, but gave up some of its gains towards close. On Thursday, the rupee closed at 73.24 against the US dollar.

🍒 Shares of Central Bank of India in Stock Mar8et : 64% of moneycontrol users recommend buying Central Bank of India shares.  In BSE, shares closed at Rs.12.45 against Prev Close Rs.12.65 and in NSE, shares closed at Rs.12.45 against Prev Close Rs.12.60...

All the Best… Have a Good day.