Has Vijay Shekhar Sharma given up on the bank? For now, he seems to be on a save-OCL mission. The bank will face its logical end, observes Tamal Bandopadhyay.
The case is linked to an alleged fraud of over Rs 512 crore in a Panvel-based cooperative bank.
Since March 31, 2022, the PSBs' market cap has risen 43.7 per cent, from Rs. 7.29 trillion to Rs. 10.47 trillion. It's time for the government, the majority owner of public sector banks, to reap the benefit of the rally in bank stocks, recommends Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has directed to initiate insolvency proceedings against Zee Learn, following a petition filed by private sector lender Yes Bank Ltd. Yes Bank Ltd (YBL) had claimed a default of Rs 468.99 crore by the Essel Group company. Out of the default amount of Rs 468.99 crore, the principal amount was Rs 410.67 crore and Rs 58.32 was interest.
Collectively, the pack of 12 has posted a 50 per cent rise in profits -- Rs 25,685 crore. On a quarter-on-quarter basis (that is, September over June), the rise is 68 per cent. Public sector banks have never had such a stellar performance, explains Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
If the banks throw caution to the winds for building loan books, the hydra-headed bad loans may resurface and spoil the party, warns Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
That's the only way to convince those who have money to return to the bank fold, ditching other asset classes, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Every banker loves the four-letter word Casa as it plays an important role in lowering the cost of deposits. Every bank wants to increase its Casa, as a higher portion of Casa in the overall deposit liability brings down its cost of money, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
With the rise in interest rates, bond yields have been on the rise; this will dent banks' treasury profits. Also, many retail borrowers may find it difficult to service their loans when the loan rates rise, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
We'll need to wait a couple of years to see how many restructured loans turn bad and whether some banks fall victim to their obsession for growth, explains Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
For the time being, digital lending remains a grey area, notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
While the collapse of a large financial intermediary can wreak havoc on the system because of the interconnectivity, a large business conglomerate too can play spoilsport if the banks have too much exposure to the entity, explains Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The difference between what the banks play in the US and India is not that of soccer and football but rugby and football. SVB also has a unique character. But when risks are mispriced, the fallout could be very similar, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Why did the company zero in on RBL Bank to understand the business of banking? While the M&M investors heaved a sigh of relief, one gentleman must have been all smiles after this, RBL Bank MD and CEO R Subramaniakumar, notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
We must stop stigmatising business failures. Particularly when startups are mushrooming all around, the financial system, backed by the RBI and the government, can explore ways of extending support to restart the journey of a failed entrepreneur by finance as well as counselling, recommends Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
While the economy seems to be on a firm growth path, the fight against inflation is not over yet. Shaktikanta Das seems to be in no hurry. After playing well through a five-year Test match, he doesn't want to get out hit wicket, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The governor made it clear that the RBI is aware of what's happening and acts accordingly, but doesn't make a noise about that, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The RBI on Friday asked Paytm Payments Bank to stop opening new accounts amid "material supervisory concerns" observed in the bank. "Reserve Bank of India has today, in exercise of its powers, inter alia, under section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, directed Paytm Payments Bank Ltd to stop, with immediate effect, onboarding of new customers," the central bank said in a statement. The bank has also been directed to appoint an IT audit firm to conduct a comprehensive system audit of its IT system.
In the June quarter of FY24, 51 per cent of consumers who took small-ticket personal loans already had more than four credit products at the time of accessing yet another new loan, compared with just 17 per cent in the June quarter of FY20, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
It may sound bizarre, but incidents of public sector bankers dying by suicide could probably equal the number of such bankers quitting their jobs, reveals Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Those who consider the rupee as a proxy for virility have started thumping their chests and dreaming of dethroning the dollar from its coveted position, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court has quashed the decision of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to stay the recruitment process of a co-operative bank, noting that the CM has no powers to review or modify the calls taken by the minister concerned.
One thing is for sure: It smacks of the regulator's lack of confidence in the bank's board, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The Reserve Bank on Monday said it has imposed penalties of about Rs 1 crore each on Kotak Mahindra Bank and IndusInd Bank for deficiencies in regulatory compliance. Besides, the RBI has also imposed penalties on four co-operative banks. A penalty of Rs 1.05 crore has been imposed on Kotak Mahindra Bank for contravention of certain norms related to 'The Depositor Education and Awareness Fund Scheme, 2014' and for non-compliance with the directions on 'Customer Protection - Limiting Liability of Customers in Unauthorised Electronic Banking Transactions', and 'Loans and Advances - Statutory and Other Restrictions', the banking regulator said.
If the earnings in the first quarter of the current financial year are an indication, most banks, particularly those majority-owned by the government, have fared well, reveals Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Not all public sector banks are back in the black, but their collective net profit for the year is Rs 32,346 crore against a Rs 9,013 crore loss in the previous year, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Currently, banks are closed every second and fourth Saturday of a month. Why shouldn't they be shut every Saturday? When most customers carry their banks in their pocket (the app on the mobile phone), there is no need to keep banks open on Saturdays, argues Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Education finance is a complex and dynamic sector. There are too many variables -- the course, the calibre of students, the universities, and the job prospects once the course is over, notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Since the bankcuptcy law came into effect from December 2016, with every quarter, the recovery rate has progressively been going down, notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Isn't it time to review the 'fit and proper' criteria for banking licence, particularly with reference to individuals applying for it, asks Tamal Bandyopadhyay?
'The CM kept his cool, but his adviser was liberal with filthy language.' Tamal Bandyopadhyay recreates the diary of a general manager in a public sector bank, providing a glimpse of how they balance their work and life.
For the banking system a new cycle starts in FY2024. It's fraught with fresh challenges on asset quality and profitability, warns Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Banks do extensive investigation before declaring an account fraud; they owe it to us as they deal with our money. Why would they try to fix an innocent borrower? asks Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
In Chanda's defence, one can always say, why would the Videocon Group take care of her husband as a quid pro quo to get a loan? After all, the group has taken money from the entire banking industry and ICICI Bank's share in the pie is not even 10 per cent. So, if it had a quid pro quo with Chanda to get the money, it must have had similar arrangements with other banks, too. If this is not the case, one must accept that it had got money from all banks, including ICICI, without any under-the-table conditions, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The dismissal of the five --most of whom have cases registered against them for terror activities -- was ordered under Article 311 of the Indian Constitution.
If there were an Olympics for bank frauds in India, Rishi Agarwal, founder and former chairman of ABG Shipyard Ltd, a nephew of the Ruia brothers of the Essar group, would bag the gold, pushing Nirav Modi to his right, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Believe it or not, the regulator is even stretching its arm to identify stressed borrowers and gauge the 'distance to default' as a measure of a particular bank's fragility, reveals Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Unlike any other national asset, which is typically sold to the highest bidder, the profile of the bidder is the most important criterion for a licence to bank, and even for acquiring more than 5 per cent stake, explains Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
RBL Bank is no Yes Bank. It's not fraught with fraud. It's a story of limitless ambition and greed for growth under a leader who doesn't want to give up, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
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