Two leading banks, State Bank of India and HDFC Bank, have sought permission from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to buy gold from retail investors.
Canara Bank has put on hold its plan to sell non-performing assets with realisation value of around Rs 250 crore (Rs 2.5 billion) after lukewarm response from asset reconstruction companies (ARCs).
As part of wage settlement, new recruits will be asked to shift to the New Pension Scheme.
ICICI Bank, the country's largest private sector bank, has scaled down its overseas operations, especially in the United States and Sri Lanka. It has also recalled some employees from its international offices now that the businesses of fund-raising and merger and acquisitions have shrunk.
Card protection through insurance is a good idea, but stringent guidelines make it quite unattractive.
Failed attempt to acquire stake in Kolhapur-based bank seen as trigger.
While the level of non-performing assets for banks is on the rise, despite the Reserve Bank of India's push for debt restructuring, cases referred to the corporate debt restructuring cell increased to 34 at the end of March 2009, as against 10 at the end of 2007-08. CDR, which was set up in 2002-03, is a mechanism for faster disposal of restructuring cases involving multiple lenders, though foreign banks are yet to join the platform.
Rising delinquencies and non-performing assets in the credit card business are forcing banks to reorient their outlook, from an aggressive sales strategy to inducting people who will focus on recovery and cleaning up the portfolio.
"Cards that are not active have a cost attached to them," said the head of the cards business with a foreign bank. The cost of each statement generated and posted is around Rs 10. In isolation, this cost may look negligible. But a bank with two million customers spends Rs 2 crore (Rs 20 million) a month on this communication and Rs 24 crore (Rs 240 million) annually. Then, there are card replacement charges that a bank has to bear when the validity expires.
Within 15 days of opening the registration process for Nano, its Rs 1 lakh car, Tata Motors has sold nearly 5,00,000 application forms, raking in Rs 15 crore (at Rs 300 each). Distributors associated with the Nano bookings said most of the forms were likely to translate into bookings.
Based on the current scenario, he classifies real estate as the highest in the risk grade, followed by infrastructure companies involved in construction, hotels, commodities and auto.
Deposit a minimum 500 grams of gold to a selected SBI branch, specify the tenure and deposit the metal. The interest rate for a 3-year deposit is 1 per cent, for four years it is 1.25 per cent and for a five-year tenure it is 1.5 per cent. And, on top of it, the income from this deposit is tax-free. "This is possible because when you deposit the gold, SBI gives you a gold bond. And there is no wealth tax on gold held in paper or electronic form," said CA Kanu Doshi.
ICICI Bank, the biggest credit card issuer, has made it conditional for some of the credit card applicants, who do not meet the bank's eligibility criteria, to open FDs under a scheme called Fixed Deposit Instant Credit Card.
Investment advisers believe that it makes little sense to swap assets (shares) accumulated over time for an expense (holiday). "Selling shares of a blue-chip company only reflects that you don't believe in it," said Gaurav Mashruwala, a certified financial planner.
Loans at a discount to the benchmark prime lending rates of banks are back with a majority of the fresh loans being disbursed at sub-PLR rates.
Over the past few quarters, the auto industry's sales had been badly hit due to the recession. As a result, auto companies, distributors as well as direct selling agents are doing their best now to sweeten the deal for prospective customers.
Ensure maximum payout from the insurer when opting for a non-network hospital.
Chances are that some so-called investment consultant will confuse you with so many permutations and combinations that you will resign yourself to buying something that is not needed.
With fixed deposit rates coming down, bonds are once again proving to be an attractive investment.
With interest rates softening, banks are slowly re-pricing the cost of short-term credit extended to the corporate sector.
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