Page 2 - Banking System

Banks renew AT-1 sales after two-month gap, PSUs lead pack to raise credit

Public sector lenders would end up issuing around Rs 13,500 cr worth of such bonds in coming weeks

Bank of Canada hikes policy interest rate by 50 basis points to 4.25%

The Bank of Canada has increased its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to 4.25 per cent

ICICI Bank adopting a 360-degree approach in corporate banking business

Analysts see risk of attrition due to the shift in culture its implementation

Core activities of a bank should not be outsourced, says RBI's AK Choudhary

"While outsourcing it is very important that adequate safeguards are established to seal the situation as well as the financial stability of the banking system," Choudhary added

Credit Suisse shares set to end losing streak on halted outflows

Credit Suisse rose as much as 6.9% in Zurich trading, putting the stock on course to end a record 13-day losing streak, as the comments calmed investors

RBI authorises Tamilnad Mercantile Bank to undertake government business

Private sector lender Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) on Wednesday said it has been authorised by the Reserve Bank of India to undertake government business on behalf of the banking regulator. An agreement in this connection was signed by the bank with RBI in Mumbai for appointing TMB as an 'agency bank' of RBI to undertake government agency business. "On getting listed in the stock exchanges, Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Ltd is back to enrich our vision in expanding the network pan India with added features in the products and services," the bank's managing director and CEO S Krishnan said in a press release. "It gives me immense pleasure in sharing this appointment by RBI to all our stakeholders," he added. TMB is one of the oldest private sector banks with a history of over 100 years, having been established in 1921 as Nadar Bank. The bank offers a wide range of services primarily to micro, small and medium enterprises, agricultural and retail customers. The bank had reported 37.1 p

Merger with home loan major HDFC to take 8-10 months more: HDFC Bank

HDFC Bank expects to amalgamate its home loan major parent HDFC into itself by September next year, a top official said on Friday. Both HDFC and HDFC Bank held general meetings on Friday to seek shareholder approvals for what is billed as the largest merger in Indian corporate history at over USD 40 billion. At the time of announcing the merger on April 4 this year, the entities had said the merger will take 12-18 months. "We believe going by the past practice and going by past trends, it will take about 8-10 months time before an effective date is announced," HDFC Bank's chief executive and managing director Sashidharan Jagdishan said at the meeting. The merger will help expand the capital adequacy ratio of the merged entity by 0.20-0.30 per cent, courtesy the healthy capital adequacy of HDFC Ltd, he added. Given the fact that bank deposits have to comply with mandatory cash reserve ratio and statutory liquidity ratio requirements, many shareholders at both meetings showed keenne

Banking system better placed to sustain loan growth: SBI chief Khara

Indian banking system is much better placed than the last cycle, and will be able to sustain the current round of high loan growth, State Bank of India (SBI) chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara said on Wednesday. Speaking at an economics conclave organised by the country's largest lender, Khara said learnings from the last cycle of high loan growth which ultimately led to a huge spurt in sour loans have been internalised by the banking system. Banks do not stop just at insistence on equity, but also look at the colour of the equity to ensure that hybrid debt does not masquerade as core equity, Khara said, stressing that banks are better placed from a loan underwriting and pricing of risk perspective. He said the decision making is more scientific and banks are also well capitalised now. "The banking system is much better placed growth that we are seeing is sustainable too," he said. The banking system, which had struggled to take the annual growth into double digits for multiple years, ..

Inflation makes humbled central bankers scale back their ambitions

The first step for the newly humbled monetary policymakers is getting prices back under control without creating economic havoc

Financial sector reliance on big tech cos poses major risks: Axis Bank CEO

Companies providing software and other technology support like cloud services to the financial system are trickling down to a few, which can create major systemic risks later, according to a top banker. "Companies which are providing software, platforms and cloud systems to the banking and financial system are trickling down to a few," Axix Bank managing director and chief executive Amitabh Chaudhry said addressing an event on corporate governance. It was organised by ex-Sebi chairman M Damodaran's advocacy Excellence Enablers here on Thursday. Going a step further he warned that "the country's banking system now relies on two three big companies for their software service requirements, and this can lead to emerging risks in case these companies stop investing and ensuring that those platforms are adaptable to this new world". Chaudhry said such concentration is leading to pressure on the banking system to invest in technology in order to take care of the macro requirements. "We h

Amisha Vora increases stake four fold to 96% in Prabhudas Lilladher

Acquired stakes of partners Arun Sheth, Dhiren Sheth and Dilip Bhatt. Vora will now serve as chairperson and MD of PL Group

Bank borrowings up 2x amid rush to fund credit growth, shows RBI data

As liquidity shrinks, lenders' reliance on short-term funding routes increases

India considers plan to reduce short-term borrowing as yields surge

The government may avoid incremental borrowing via the bills and only borrow to meet its previous repayment needs in the next quarter

Global banking is a bright spot

The world's financial system faces an intimidating set of challenges, but the lessons of the global financial crisis are holding banks in good stead

Pakistan govt to implement 'interest-free' banking system by 2027

In a significant move, Pakistan's Finance Minister Ishaq Dhar on Wednesday announced that the country would move towards an 'interest-free' banking system under the Islamic law by 2027. The announcement came with Finance Minister Dhar conveying the government's intention of withdrawing its appeals against the Federal Shariat Court's April decision of eliminating interest from the country in five years, the Dawn newspaper reported. According to the Federal Shariat Court (FSC), the prevailing interest-based banking system in Pakistan was against the Sharia law as interest was absolute in all its forms according to the injunctions of Islam. "With the permission of the prime minister and consultation with the State Bank of Pakistan governor, I'm announcing on behalf of the federal government that the SBP and National Bank of Pakistan will withdraw their appeals from the Supreme Court and our government will fully try to as quickly as possible implement an Islamic system in Pakistan," Da

Moody's downgrades Italian economy amid inflation, energy concerns

Moody's slashed its assessment of the country's banking system from "stable" to "negative", and said it expects conditions for the banking sector to deteriorate further over the coming 12 to 18 months

The battle for deposits will intensify

The challenge before the banking system is how to keep the net interest margin healthy in a rising interest rate cycle

Private banks' net profit soars on healthy loan growth, higher margins

NIMs expanded as banks hiked rates on lending faster than those on deposits

Credit card spends touch record high of Rs 1.22 trillion in September

Banking system saw a net reduction of close to 290,000 cards during this period, impacted by RBI norms warranting deactivation of cards that are inactive for a year

UP gets digital banking footprint with four of the 75 DBUs on its soil

The DBU are being set up to ensure the benefits of digital banking reach the remotest of places