India's largest PSU bank, State Bank of India, delivered excellent results, once the impact of a big jump in employee expenses was adjusted for. The net interest income (NII) beat the Street due to a better net interest margin (NIM) and good loan growth. The credit growth at 5.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) (15 per cent year on year) was excellent for a large bank.
Banks have taken this aggressive posture even as liquidity has become comfortable on the back of increased government spending.
The creditors of the grounded carrier Jet Airways on Wednesday raised questions over the source of Rs 200 crore deposited by the Jalan-Kalrock Consortium before the insolvency appellate tribunal NCLAT and said it does not align with the resolution plan. Additional Solicitor General N Venkataraman, representing lenders including SBI and other banks, told the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) that there are apprehensions about the source of funds, which deposited money for Jalan-Kalrock Consortium's (JKC). "The payment is not compliant with the resolution plan as it mandates that the money is to be paid through JKC," ASG submitted before a three-member NCLAT bench headed by chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan.
As per the advisory of cyber-security agency CERT-In, a digital arrest is the one in which victims receive a phone call, an e-mail or a message claiming they are under investigation for illegal activities, such as identity theft or money laundering.
It won't be easy for the banking sector to better its performance every quarter, predicts Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The government's stake in Vodafone Idea will more than double to 48.99 per cent as it is set to acquire shares worth Rs 36,950 crore in lieu of outstanding spectrum auction dues, the company said in a regulatory filing on Sunday.
Despite similar tax treatment, debt MFs enjoy certain advantages over FDs.
'We plan to launch new initiatives, including cash flow-based lending, to ensure borrowers are not burdened and can access funds more quickly.'
The Reserve Bank on Friday superseded the board of the city-based Abhyudaya Cooperative Bank on concerns emanating from "poor governance" and appointed an administrator to manage the affairs of the lender. In what can be seen as a step that should allay depositors' concerns, the central bank did not put any restrictions or moratorium on deposit withdrawals because of the comfort it gets on the bank's finances, according to people in the know. "(The) action is necessitated due to certain material concerns emanating from poor governance standards observed in the bank.
'There has been a change in the advances mix, with the share of corporate loans decreasing.'
Be wary of co-operative banks which have historically been most vulnerable.
Bank of Baroda has hiked interest rates for non-resident external term deposits across various maturities with effect from April 4.
Under the PMGKY scheme, black money holders can deposit unaccounted cash in account which will be subject to 50 per cent tax and 4-year interest free lock-in for the remaining 25 per cent of the amount
Indian Bank expects recoveries to be more than slippages in this financial year, which will result in improved asset quality.
The ministry of finance on Tuesday clarified that public sector banks (PSBs) have intimated they are not going to raise bank charges in the near future in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. The ministry's statement comes after several media reports citing steep increase in service charges by certain PSBs surfaced. No service charge is applicable on the 60.04 crore Basic Savings Bank Deposit (BSBD) accounts, including 41.13 crore Jan Dhan accounts opened by the poor segments of the society, as per the statement.
Tax evaders, BEWARE! The Income Tax department is using AI data analytics to bust fake deductions, flag HRA fraud, and trace digital footprints.
Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND) has imposed a Rs 5.49 crore penalty on Paytm Payments Bank for violating anti-money laundering rules, the Finance Ministry said on Friday. FIU-IND initiated a review of Paytm Payments Bank on receipt of specific information from law enforcement agencies in respect of few entities and their network of businesses engaged in a number of illegal acts, including organising and facilitating online gambling.
Public sector banks (PSBs) have delivered significant outperformance over the past three years and the sector has been re-rated. Given the growth and profitability expectations of an 18 per cent return on equity (RoE) over FY24-26, there is still a case for buying at the current levels. While the net interest margins or NIMs may remain range-bound or have a downward bias, there's optimism about possibly better opex ratios and lower non-performing assets (NPAs), plus scope for further credit cost reduction, and healthy treasury performances as interest rates trend down.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's call for making lending rates affordable may not resonate anytime soon as banks still struggle with margin compression, and await clues from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on liquidity and rate action. Hinting that any lending rate cut was some time away, State Bank of India (SBI) managing director Vinay M Tonse said there was still some aggression in the market regarding deposit pricing.
"A time has perhaps come when we can now think of only allowing banks to acquire public deposits," Reserve Bank Deputy-Governor V Leeladhar told reporters on the sidelines of an Indian Merchants Chamber organised banking conference in Mumbai on Thursday. The number of deposit-taking NBFCs is sharply declining as also the amount of deposits with them, Leeladhar said.
Soon after the lifting of the 13-day moratorium at 6 pm, some customers took to social media complaining that they were not able to access certain services, including internet and mobile banking.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday reviewed the performance of public sector banks (PSBs) on various financial health parameters and their resilience in the wake of the current global financial scenario emanating from the failure of some international banks in the US and Europe.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das kept the red flag on cryptocurrencies flying, warning that the next financial crisis can be triggered by private cryptocurrencies if such speculative instruments are allowed to grow.
Banks are preferring instruments with higher premium over government securities for their held-till-maturity (HTM) portfolio, following the new investment norms, which came into effect from April 1. They are stocking up on corporate bonds and state government securities to boost yield on their portfolio, according to market participants. "Definitely, if there is a good spread available and without lower credit risk, those instruments will be favoured to boost the yield on the portfolio.
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has launched a preliminary investigation or a pre-open inquiry into alleged violations related to the Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema) in the Paytm Payments Bank case, according to sources in the know. The probe follows serious concerns raised by the Reserve Bank of India on multiple violations by the Paytm bank, which is a joint venture between One97 Communications, which is the parent company of Paytm, and the group's founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma.
Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das will hold a meeting with CEOs of public sector banks on Wednesday to discuss issues concerning slow deposit growth and sustainability of high credit demand. As per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, deposits rose by 9.6 per cent as compared to 10.2 per cent on a year-on-year basis, while credit offtake witnessed a jump of 17.9 per cent as against 6.5 per cent a year ago. According to an agenda circulated for the meeting, sources said, sustainability, including pricing and slow growth of deposits, would be discussed.
Lending rates in certain segments may be increased; fixed depositors may lock into existing rates.
State Bank of India, Adani Ports, Tata Consultancy Services, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries and PowerGrid were also among the laggards.
'We have seen something do very well when the times are good but maybe not as well when the times are bad.'
They belong to fans who booked their World Cup travel and tickets through a Brazilian tour operator.
Yes Bank on Saturday reported over two-fold jump in standalone net profit at Rs 452 crore for March quarter 2023-24, primarily due to benefits on the provision front. In the year-ago quarter, the bank logged a profit of Rs 202.43 crore. The private sector lender benefitted from write-back on income tax and interest on income tax returns, but the profits were limited by its inability to comply with the mandatory priority sector lending (PSL) requirements, its management said.
ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank have effected a cut of up to 0.50 per cent in term deposit rates following tepid credit growth and ease in money market rates.
'The banks cannot pass on the hike in premiums to its customers, according to the norms. The premium won't go up substantially in any case and may be hiked to 12-13 paise (per deposit of Rs 100 a year),' Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar said.
Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) reported a 25 per cent rise in net profit attributable to the owners of the company for the January-March quarter of 2024-25, owing to higher revenues and an exceptional gain. For the quarter under review, L&T posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 5,497.3 crore, while revenue rose 10.9 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 74,392.28 crore.
RBI cuts GDP growth projection to 6.6 per cent for current financial year, from earlier forecast of 7.2 per cent.
The central bank gave 11 entities licences to start payments banks.
Interest rates on fixed rate home loans have been increased by 0.75 per cent to 8.50 per cent from the current level of 7.75 per cent with effect from November 17, 2004.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday asked banks and other financial institutions to ensure that their customers must update nominees to help resolve the problem of unclaimed money in future. "I want the banking system, the financial ecosystem including the mutual funds, stock markets to keep in mind that when someone deals with his (customer's) money, the organisations will have to think about the future and ensure that customers nominate their heirs, give the name and address," Sitharaman said speaking at the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) in Mumbai. According to a report, the banking system alone has more than Rs 35,000 crore of unclaimed deposits, while the overall quantum of the unclaimed money is said to be more than Rs 1 lakh crore.
