According to a source close to the development, the investment advisory committee of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority has suggested far-reaching changes to make the investment norms more flexible, while adhering to the existing prudential investment guidelines.
In a move to check wild swings in the share prices of newly listed small-cap companies, the Securities and Exchange Board of India is considering a price band (circuit filter) for the first couple of days after listing.
Some sections within the government feel that it is possible to treat them as separate entities as is done in case of World Bank and its private investment arm -- the International Finance Corporation. However, RBI is of the view that there cannot be a one-off approval and Temasek and GIC cannot be considered as separate entities as they belong to the same government -- the government of Singapore.
Irda is planning credit rating for insurance companies. Such a move will enable the regulator to grade insurance companies.
RBI has come down heavily on banks and dealers that are holding government securities portfolio.
The move follows concerns raised by the Reserve Bank of India. According to sources, the central bank is concerned that most sovereign wealth funds operate in a non-transparent manner.
Foreign banks operating in India want the Reserve Bank of India to prepare a vision document on policy changes they can expect after March 2009.
The ministry of finance does not want a single entity to own more than five per cent in a CIB. This view is backed by the Reserve Bank of India.
The Reserve Bank of India has finally cleared the long-pending transfer of Thailand-based Surachan Chawla's 38 per cent stake in Catholic Syrian Bank.
About 35,000 credit card customers of Citibank received free tickets worth Rs 23 crore (Rs 230 million) in early 2007 under the 'Fly for Sure' promotional campaign undertaken by the bank in 2005. The customers became lucky after the bank was cautioned by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) about consequences if customer complaints were not redressed and commitments made under the promotional scheme not honoured, banking sources said.
The money mule scam has reached Indian shores. Banks have noticed instances of fraudsters based overseas, posing as global payment companies, luring gullible people into joining them as "money transfer agents" and using their bank accounts to route ill-gotten money.
Reserve Bank of India set to bring transparency in credit card operations.
Companies hit by the sudden appreciation of foreign currencies such as Swiss franc and yen are finding it difficult to restructure their currency options as banks have become cautious in extending fresh credit limits to them.
These measures, under preliminary discussion with the central bank, come soon after Hexaware Technologies, an IT services company, recently said it was providing Rs 80-100 crore due to losses allegedly on account of foreign exchange transactions fradulently entered into by one of its officials with banks.
RBI, govt concerned over inflationary impact of rising capital inflows.
Reliance Power's exemption demands prompt move.
According to sources close to the development, the IPO will provide an easy exit route to the banks and FIs to bring down their respective stakeholding to 5 per cent as required under the new demutualisation guidelines of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).
According to sources close to the development, major domestic banks and institutions such as State Bank of India (SBI), Bank of India (BoI) and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) have sought the permission of their respective regulators - the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) to participate in the equity derivatives market (F&O segment) as traders.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to reiterate its view that it would be comfortable only with holding companies at the top in financial services groups when it releases final guidelines on setting up bank holding companies or financial holding companies by November 15.
ICICI Bank, the country's second-largest bank, has stopped lending to borrowers from the sub-prime segment, while the biggest player in small loans, Citigroup, has made its processes more stringent.