Banks' bad loans might cross Rs 10 lakh crore by the end of this fiscal, mainly on account of slippages in retail and MSME sectors, a study said on Tuesday. "NPAs are expected to rise to 8.5-9 per cent by March 2022, driven by slippages in retail, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) accounts, besides some restructured assets," the study by industry body Assocham and ratings firm Crisil said. The study titled 'Reinforcing the Code' said the Gross Non-Performing Assets (GNPAs) of banks are expected to cross Rs 10 lakh crore by March 2022.
The government is considering withdrawing legal cases against telecom companies, involving disputes of about Rs 40,000 crore, a source said on Tuesday. In line with this, the Department of Telecom has already filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court in a case against Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Communications to take an informed decision whether to proceed with the present appeal or not, the source said. DoT has said the telecom sector is passing through a financial stress due to various circumstances and telecom services providers are making losses.
Shifting to floating rate deposits can work as an anaesthetic gel for some customers, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Retail investors-those investing up to Rs 200,000-lapped up all the four initial public offerings (IPOs) that opened for subscription on Wednesday. This is the first time since 2007 that four IPOs have been launched on a single day, according to information provided by Prime Database. KFC and Pizza Hut franchisee Devyani International (size Rs 1,838 crore); Diagnostic chains Krsnaa Diagnostics (Rs 1,213 crore), pharmaceutical firm Windlas Biotech (Rs 401 crore) and vitrified tiles manufacturer Exxaro Tiles (Rs 161 crore) are the four companies whose IPOs opened on Wednesday.
The rating agency revised the outlook for EXIM, SBI, Bank of Baroda, Bank of Baroda (New Zealand), Bank of India, Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank while affirming their ratings. At the same time, Fitch has affirmed IDBI Bank Ltd's (IDBI) rating, while maintaining the outlook at negative.
The unions also made a case for introduction of cluster or hub banking, identifying few branches of each bank in each locality so as to enable bank employees to work on rotation.
'Stick to FDs of shorter tenures, preferably one-two years.'
The Indian banking system's latest record on wilful defaulters shows Rs 62,970 crore, or around 10 per cent increase, in the additional amount outstanding since the pandemic began. The total outstanding amount increased to Rs 6.85 trillion in June from Rs 6.22 trillion in December 2019, shows a Business Standard analysis of numbers from the TransUnion CIBIL database. India recorded its first case of Covid-19 in January 2020.The amount outstanding to wilful defaulters had touched a post-pandemic peak of Rs.7.6 trillion in December 2020 (or Rs 1.4 trillion more than pre-pandemic levels).
Dominica high court on Thursday adjourned the hearing on a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of diamond trader Mehul Choksi, local media reported. Judge Bernie Stephenson will decide the next date of hearing after meeting both sides, Antigua News Room said. The adjournment is to allow lawyers for Choksi and the Dominica government "to agree on the language to be used with respect to the injunction filed to prevent his removal from Dominica", the media outlet reported.
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.
The annual earnings of a non-executive chairman of a PSB is capped at Rs 10 lakh, inclusive of fees for attending board meetings. This is way below the compensation of the chairman of any private bank, reveals Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The court ruled that an interim debt order in favour of SBI and other banks seeking access to funds in the Mallya's ICICI UK bank account "should remain in force" but the application to make it final should be adjourned until after the hearing of his pending bankruptcy petition.
A Dominica Magistrate Court has adjourned till June 25 the hearing into alleged illegal entry of fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi into the Caribbean island nation, local media there reported. On Monday, the Magistrate Court was to start hearing the case of Choksi's "illegal entry" into the country on May 23 but he was a "no show", a media website Natureislenews reported. His legal team submitted a medical certificate from the doctors of Dominica China Friendship Hospital, where Choksi is being held, of "mental stress" and elevated blood pressure.
The correlation between withdrawal of deposits and the Covid death rate is stark, reveals Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
'There is no point in just saying, 'hum wapas bhej denge (we will send Kashmiri Pandits back)'.'
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
This month, advertisements for managing directors and the senior management team for the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development or NaBFID, should be out, signalling the start of a financial institution (FI) like no other the country has ever had. For this and other reasons government managers associated with the NaBFID project are convinced it should remain a 100 per cent government-owned entity. This is somewhat different from what former economic affairs secretary Tarun Bajaj said when the NaBFID Bill was being tabled in Parliament earlier this year: "To begin with, it will be 100 per cent government owned.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has directed to freeze and attach assets and properties of Videocon promoters following a petition by the ministry of corporate affairs. The NCLT Mumbai bench has directed the Central Depository Services Ltd (CDSL) and National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) that securities owned or held by the Videocon promoters "in any company or society be frozen, and be prohibited from being transferred or alienation" and the details be shared with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). It directed the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to disclose information about all assets of the Videocon promoters in their knowledge or possession, for the purpose of freezing and restraining such assets.
Axis Bank's acquisition of Citibank's consumer finance business for Rs 12,325 crore - the second biggest deal in the Indian banking sector - is seen as a good deal at a good price. The acquisition enables Axis Bank to close the gap with competition in some key segments such as credit cards. At the same time, there are some key issues that are crucial for the deal's success, apart from the fact that it will take some time for Axis to reap the full harvest of its investment.
The opposition party questioned why the government took five years after the liquidation proceedings of ABG Shipyard to lodge an FIR in connection with the alleged duping of 28 banks.
Many salaried taxpayers hold the misconception that they don't need to disclose any other income since TDS is deducted from their salary.
Liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya on Friday made an urgent application before the UK High Court seeking access to millions of pounds to cover his living expenses and legal fees from funds held with the Court Funds Office as part of bankruptcy proceedings, initiated by a consortium of Indian banks led by the State Bank of India. Deputy Insolvency and Companies Court Judge Robert Schaffer declined to allow a draw down from the court-held funds of an estimated amount of around 1.5 million pounds, accrued from the sale of Mallya's French luxury property Le Grand Jardin earlier this year, until further arguments in the case. However, he did allow the release of 240,000 pounds plus VAT to cover the legal costs of a substantive hearing in the bankruptcy proceedings scheduled for next Friday.
The total value of India's top 100 brands has increased by 2 per cent, from $162.1 billion in 2020 to $164.9 billion in 2021, according to the latest Brand Finance India 100 2021 report. This uplift in brand value over the course of the first year of the pandemic is an impressive feat given the global economic crisis following the implementation of national lockdowns in March 2020, when business activity was brought to a halt, affecting both production and consumption. Among the brands that came on the top of the list include Tata Group, Reliance Industries, and Mahindra Group.
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.
The government may drop its plan to decriminalise cheque bounce offences after there were requests to continue the existing system, which can potentially make people honour their financial commitments due to fear of prosecution. It would seek directions from a Supreme Court panel formed to expedite the pendency of cheque bounce cases before taking a final call. Last year the Department of Financial Services (DFS) had proposed decriminalising minor offences, which included cheque bouncing, for improving business sentiment and unclogging court processes.
Private equity (PE) is set to play a bigger role in banks. Of 21 recommendations accepted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) out of 31 made by its Internal Working Group (IWG), its stance on non-promoter holdings in private banks is seen with excitement, though it doesn't refer to PEs explicitly. On non-promoter holdings in these banks, the RBI said this will be capped at 10 per cent of the paid-up voting equity share capital in the case "of natural persons and non-financial institutions and entities"; and "at 15 per cent for all categories of financial institutions, entities, supranational institutions, public sector undertaking, or the government." While this is a modification of the IWG's stance for the non-promoter holding in banks at up to 15 per cent, it does open up a huge window for PEs, all the same. This is because, while the RBI has remained silent on the eligibility of industrial houses for bank licences, fresh high-quality capital in large amounts can only come from PEs.
Since arraignment under money laundering is a tougher offence, the CBDT hopes it will also overcome its dismal score sheet to prove satisfactorily to the courts that these cases were genuine ones of tax evasion.
'We get to know secrets such as some of India's top-rated firms do not always make payments when due and many State-owned, listed, enterprises that borrow in bond markets default regularly.' 'Without naming the bank, he says that ever-greening of poor loans by a part of India's shadow banking lay at the doorstep of India's banking, notably 'one private bank'.' Viral Acharya's Quest for Restoring Financial Stability in India won't be music to many ears, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Foreign banks had 317 branches in 2015-16; it has reduced to 286. In the same period, employee strength came down from 26,642 to 24,766.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, research, Religare Broking, answers your stockmarket queries.
On October 31, Chaudhuri was arrested from his Delhi home by the Jaisalmer police for his alleged role in crippled Rs 200 crore Garh Rajwada hotel project in the city which was sold for Rs 25 crore to Alchemist ARC in March 2014. The project was financed by the bank in 2007.
Piramal Enterprises' bid for debt-ridden DHFL received the most votes from lenders at the close of the voting process on Friday, sources said. Piramal Enterprises' bid received 94 per cent votes as compared to 45 per cent for the US-based Oaktree Capital. Voting was done on various parameters, including qualitative and quantitative.
The Insolvencies and Companies Court of London high court on Monday declared fugitive business baron Vijay Mallya a bankrupt person as per UK laws. Legal experts explain what this means for 65-year old Mallya's personal liberties, his legal battle against extradition to India to face trial, and for the consortium of Indian lenders - at whose behest the bankruptcy proceedings were initiated in the UK courts.
The race to get a New Umbrella Entity (NUE) licence for digital payments may get crowded. As many as six consortiums are said to be in the fray to apply for an NUE licence, which would create a for-profit National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)-like body for retail payments. A consortium led by Financial Software and Systems (FSS), a leading provider of payment products and payment processor, is in talks and may file an application to the RBI for an NUE license, said sources aware of the development. The other constituents of this group include Indian Bank, Central Bank of India, India Post Payments Bank, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard), and a few small finance banks.
Public sector banks may have to bear a burden of Rs 1,800-2,000 crore arising due to a recent Supreme Court judgement on the waiver of compound interest on all loan accounts which opted for moratorium during March-August 2020, sources said. The judgement covers loans above Rs 2 crore as loans below this got blanket interest on interest waiver in November last year. Compound interest support scheme for loan moratorium cost the government Rs 5,500 crore during 2020-21 and the scheme covered all borrowers including the prompt one who did not avail moratorium.
'Mallya has offered to pay the original amount.' 'Let us say he means the principal amount and that stands at Rs 5,000 crores.' 'The Indian banks have to ask themselves if they would rather have this 5,000 crores or would have none of it at all,' asks Sudhir Bisht.
Banks are auctioning 2,362 properties in next 30 days. The foremost benefit of purchasing a property in a bank auction is that you could get it at a significant discount to the market rate.
Stressed MSME borrowers would be eligible for restructuring of debt, if their accounts were classified standard.
The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday extended the timeline by six months to comply with its guidelines related to recurring online transactions with Additional Factor of Authentication (AFA), but reprimanded players that the non-compliance is a "serious concern". RBI had directed all banks including RRBs, NBFCs, and payment gateways to comply with AFA for automatic recurring payment by March 31, 2021, in order to make digital transaction safe and protect customers from fraudulent transactions. However, some of the players failed to meet the deadline and approached the RBI seeking extension of the deadline.
