Barclays Global Service Centre India MD & CEO Praveen Kumar has urged Indian banks to modernise their technology architecture and build AI-based defence systems to counter emerging cyber threats posed by AI tools.
We are focusing on how to make banking affordable for the customer. The bank is bullish on retail business, says Suresh Gurumani.
Inflows into foreign currency non-resident (bank), or FCNR (B), deposits have significantly underperformed market expectations, leading to a more than 1 per cent depreciation of the rupee against the dollar this week. Analysts point to fading RBI support measures, tepid interest due to rising global bond yields, and narrowing interest rate spreads compared to 2013 as key challenges.
According to sources familiar with the developments, Barclays may review several options, including the sale of its credit card operations in India.
India's wholesale price inflation (WPI) increased to 9.87 per cent in June, up from 9.68 per cent in May, primarily due to significant price increases in non-food and food products, with food inflation alone rising to 5.49 per cent.
The Indian rupee is highly vulnerable among Asian currencies, with Barclays and MUFG warning of a potential depreciation towards 100/$ if the West Asia conflict persists, driven by widening current account deficits and elevated crude oil prices.
State-owned enterprises in India are projected to significantly increase their overseas borrowings, potentially exceeding $15 billion in FY27, driven by the Reserve Bank of India's new concessional forex swap facility which offers a 3 per cent funding-cost advantage.
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) cap on banks' forex positions provided only a temporary boost to the rupee, with the currency quickly reversing gains and breaching the 95-per-dollar mark due to persistent underlying pressures.
The 25 per cent US tariffs, plus a penalty for Russian imports, could dent India's GDP growth by 30 basis points in the current fiscal, but the higher duty is unlikely to significantly affect India's domestic demand-driven economy, Barclays said on Thursday. If the 25 per cent tariff, announced by US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, is implemented from August 1, the effective average US import tariff on Indian goods will rise to 20.6 per cent in trade-weighted terms, as per Barclays estimates.
Ashok Vaswani, a banker with more than three-and-half decades experience in building and scaling up businesses across consumer and corporate banking and payments, will be the next managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of Kotak Mahindra Bank. Last week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had given its approval to Vaswani's appointment. Vaswani is currently President of Pagaya Technologies, a US-Israeli artificial intelligence (AI) fintech firm, which he joined in June 2022.
The rupee plunged to a fresh low of 93.72 against the dollar on Friday, falling 1.15 per cent in a single session - its sharpest one-day decline since February 24, 2022 - as elevated crude oil prices and strong dollar demand from oil-marketing companies and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) weighed on the currency.
The consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation hitting an all-time low in October would encourage the six-member monetary policy committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to cut the policy repo rate in its upcoming December 3-5 meeting. However, the July-September GDP growth, expected to be above 7 per cent, may act as a deterrent.
Barclays customers would now be able to access all the information about the bank and its products and services besides downloading account opening forms in seven languages -- English, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. Barclays Bank Plc's Global Retail and Commercial Banking, managing director, India and Indian Ocean, Samir Bhatia, said: "Barclays is committed to offering services that make banking easy and accessible to all."
Sanjay Malhotra has made structural changes to banking regulation to bring down costs and increase efficiency. Plus, he kicked off a benign interest regime. But there are challenges ahead.
Barclays Bank on Thursday launched its retail and commercial banking service in India. So far, the bank operated in the country through Barclays Capital, its investment division.
Bars FII from issuing offshore derivative instruments on grounds of rules violation.
As part of its expansion drive in the high-potential Indian financial services market, Barclays Bank plans to pick up a 10 per cent stake in asset reconstruction company, ARCIL, from domestic banking major ICICI Bank.\n\n
The move would result in around 25-30 job cuts.
HDFC and Barclays Bank on Monday announced they will exit their joint venture Intelenet Global Services by selling stakes to SKR BPO Services, co-owned by Blackstone GVP Capital and Intelenet management, for an undisclosed amount.
Standard Chartered Bank appears to lead the race to acquire Barclays Bank's credit card business in India, six months after the British lender decided to sell it, three people familiar with the development said.
Kotak Mahindra Bank has acquired the non-performing portfolio of Barclays Bank's credit card business in India. The deal, experts said, gives momentum to the sale of stressed loan market in the country which has been having a dry run following stringent regulatory norms introduced in 2007.
According to sources familiar with the developments, the bank may sell more than Rs 3,000-crore (Rs 30-billion) worth of retail assets in India comprising mortgage loans, personal loans and loans to small businesses.
Barclays, a global financial services provider, announced the launch of 'Hello Money', a mobile banking service for its customers. The service will enable Barclays' customers access banking services anytime/anywhere on-the-move through mobile phones.Barclays customers can now perform account enquiries and financial transactions by simply dialling *598*1#. They can carry out secure banking transactions like fund transfers, bill payments, requests and other banking services.
Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd has sold its 50 per cent stake in Intelenet Global Services Ltd, a business process outsourcing company, to Barclays Bank Plc for Rs 164 crore (Rs 1.64 billion).
Wholesale price inflation (WPI) softened to 0.13 per cent in September on easing in prices of food articles and manufactured items, government data showed on Tuesday. WPI-based inflation was 0.52 per cent in August and 1.91 per cent in September last year.
The Ambani family, headed by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, possesses a wealth of Rs 28 lakh crore, more than double that of the Adani family at Rs 14.01 lakh crore, a report said on Tuesday. The 300 most valuable Indian families have a wealth of over $1.6 trillion (over Rs 140 lakh crore), or more than 40 per cent of the country's GDP.
Barclays is not alone in trying to decide the best size and shape of its investment bank in a changed regulatory landscape.
The group had earmarked $400-million to fund its expansion in the private banking business globally, two years back. The group has already hired 57 professionals for its Indian operations and plans to enhance the staff strength to nearly 100 within the next six months.
'Don was declared a flop because not many people turned up.' 'Luckily, Khaike Paan Banaraswala became a big hit.' 'Word of mouth publicity led to the film becoming a big hit from the second week on.'
MeitY is in discussions with global Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies, mid-tier firms, and state government officials on a three-pronged approach to setting up new GCCs in India.
Wholesale price inflation dropped to 0.85 per cent in April as prices of food articles, manufactured products, and fuel eased, government data showed on Wednesday. WPI-based inflation was 2.05 per cent in March. It was 1.19 per cent in April last year.
The total number of staff to be cut has not been finalised but could be as high as 90 people, the sources said, declining to be identified because the matter is confidential.
Iterating its commitment to India operations, Barclays India said: "We continue to be fully committed to our long term plans in the country. Barclays India, which is part of British banking giant Barclays Plc, has six entities operating in India employing more than 5,000 people.
Leading global bank Barclays on Thursday said it has laid off around 250 staff in India in the last three days, predominantly from its collection team.
The Hinduja group is learnt to be looking at alternative means of financing, including private credit, to fund its Rs 9,661 crore all-cash offer to acquire Reliance Capital. The regulator, Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority of India (Irdai), had earlier rejected the collateral offered by the group to raise funds. The Hinduja group was in talks with Barclays, JPMorgan, Cerberus Capital Management and Apollo Global Management to raise up to $850 million.
Major recruiters, with double-digit offers at IIT campuses this year so far, include American Express, Barclays, BCG, Cars24, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Google, Intel India, Meesho, Micron Technology, Microsoft, OLA, Oracle, Reliance, and Qualcomm.
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone will prepay $195 million of debt due in 2024 as the conglomerate helmed by Gautam Adani looks to boost investors' confidence post being targeted by a US short-seller. In a stock exchange filing, APSEZ said it will buy back $195 million of bonds due in 2024 using its cash reserves. Out of the $520 million principal outstanding, $325 million will be left after the buyback, it said.
