A jeweller has been arrested in Haryana in connection with a Rs 590 crore fraud at IDFC First Bank. The investigation revealed that over Rs 250 crore was routed to the jeweller's firm from companies linked to the accused.
Haryana State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau arrests 11 individuals, including bank employees and a government official, in connection with a fraud case involving IDFC First Bank and the illegal diversion of government funds.
The Enforcement Directorate has frozen 90 bank accounts following searches related to the alleged siphoning of Rs 590 crore of Haryana government funds through IDFC First Bank, involving shell companies and bogus billing for gold purchases.
The asymmetry in deposit and credit growth is the biggest challenge before the Indian banking industry. For every 100 deposit that a bank mobilises, it needs to keep 3 with the banking regulator in the form of cash reserve ratio on which it doesn't earn any interest. Another 18 is used for buying government bonds (statutory liquidity ratio). This means, a bank is left with 79 for giving credit. Add to this, its capital which can be used for giving loans. Most banks are facing a fund crunch. They need to find ways to attract deposits if they want to sustain credit growth, explains Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The CBI has conducted searches across Chandigarh, Panchkula, and Delhi-NCR in connection with an alleged Rs 661 crore fraud involving the siphoning of government funds from Haryana government departments and the Chandigarh administration. The probe targets public servants, bank officials, and a private consultancy, with a chargesheet already filed against some accused.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested a real estate businessman in connection with the alleged embezzlement of Rs 645 crore from bank accounts linked to the Haryana government, Chandigarh administration, and private schools.
But selectively, with regulatory scrutiny and special approval, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The CBI has registered an FIR to investigate the alleged embezzlement of 550 crore from Haryana government accounts held with IDFC First Bank, following a referral from the state government.
Net NPAs increased to Rs 36,260 crore in the December quarter from Rs 34,843 crore in September and Rs 33,116 crore in December 2023, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
As the fight for deposits intensifies, the cost of money will rise and the margin will be under further pressure, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Privately, many bankers admit their immediate goal is not growth but slowing the erosion of Casa deposits, reveals Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Private-sector lender Federal Bank on Friday announced that New York-based Blackstone will invest Rs 6,196.51 crore in the bank through its affiliate Asia II Topco XIII Pte Ltd via a preferential issue on a private placement basis.
The previous largest weekly decline was recorded in the week ended November 15, 2024.
>It's not easy to predict the market. But there are at least two positive factors to back the PSU banks, explains Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The cost of deposits is on the rise, but banks can't raise interest rate on close to 60% of their loan books, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
It won't be easy for the banking sector to better its performance every quarter, predicts Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
What connects P S Jayakumar of Bank of Baroda, V Vaidyanathan of Capital First Ltd and Chandra Shekhar Ghosh of Bandhan?
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.
The drop in net interest margin will separate the men from the boys, explains 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.
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.
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.
Private sector lender Bandhan Bank on Friday said its founder, managing director and CEO Chandra Shekhar Ghosh has tendered his resignation. Ghosh would retire from the services of the bank as MD and CEO upon completion of his current tenure on July 9, 2024, the bank said in a regulatory filing. "After leading the bank for almost a decade, including three consecutive tenures as MD & CEO, I feel that the time has now come for me to assume a larger strategic role at Bandhan group level," Ghosh said in a letter addressed to the board.
Unlike any other business, banking is a turf where the captain's role is the most critical. Often a bank is defined by the personality of the CEO who runs it. Both HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank are the creation of their CEOs, notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The company will transfer its wallet business, which has over 218 million mobile wallet users, to the newly incorporated entity -- PPBL -- under the payments bank licence awarded to Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the founder of One97 Communications that owns Paytm.
It is difficult to say if the banking sector will see the worst behind it by March 2020, warns Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Most adult Indians should have access to bank deposits, credit and remittance facilities as well as insurance and mutual fund products in the next decade, and technology will play a big role in this transformation, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Vodafone m-pesa was one of the 11 firms that was given payments bank licence by the Reserve Bank of India in 2015.
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.
India's five leading wilful defaulters are Winsome Diamonds & Jewellery Ltd and associate Forever Precious Jewellery & Diamonds, Zoom Developers, Kingfisher Airlines, Beta Naphthol and Raza Textiles
Gautam Adani-owned Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) will replace IT major Wipro in the 30-share BSE Sensex from June 24, according to an official announcement on Friday. This marks the first inclusion of any Adani Group firm in Sensex. The group has 10 listed firms with a combined market valuation surpassing Rs 17 lakh crore.
NHAI to pay only Rs 175-200 cr as it takes over from concessionaire
Ajit Mishra, vice president, research, Religare Broking, answers your stockmarket queries.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
It may be a 'no-go' for banking licences to large industrial houses.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
'The snakes and ladders game will continue till the consolidation process is complete simply because we don't know how bad the scene is, with some of the banks being merged,' says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Conversion of debt of the stressed telecom player Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) into equity could be an option to emerge out of the crisis, lenders led by State Bank of India (SBI) have suggested to Department of Telecommunications (DoT). DoT had called senior bank officials on Friday to discuss the stress in the telecom sector arising out of the Supreme Court order last month on the adjusted gross revenue (AGR)-related dues payable by telecom majors, including Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel, sources said. The top court has given a time period of 10 years to telecom service providers struggling to pay Rs 93,520 crore of AGR-related dues to clear their outstanding amount to the government.
