Gurumani have been roundly criticised for booking eye-popping profits on share sales of exercised options.
The government on Wednesday said the ordinance seeking to empower Reserve Bank to cut Statutory Liquidity Ratio below 25 per cent is expected to be brought in by this month-end or early February.
Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus today filed an appeal against the Bangladesh High Court verdict upholding his dismissal from the Grameen Bank, in a final bid to retain his position as head of the pioneering micro-finance agency he founded nearly three decades ago.
"The company plans to come up with internet-based services for the rural market soon," Nokia Corporation President and CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo told reporters in New Delhi. The company would also introduce these services in its mid-level mobile devices as well. The Finland-based company is looking at micro finance as a major initiative to increase mobile penetration in India from the current 26 per cent.
A week after SKS Microfinance was listed on BSE, many of the employees are finding themselves in the league of millionaires.
The Institute of Rural Management, Anand, invites applications for its Fellow Programme in Rural Management.
"We will raise Rs 300 crore via bonds of two-, three- and five-year tenures. This will be our maiden bond issuance and is part of our effort to widen funding sources," says Vimal Bhandari, executive vice-chairman and chief executive officer (CEO), Arka Fincap. The firm, a subsidiary of Kirloskar Oil, is only five years old and small (assets of around Rs 5,000 crore with an "AA" rating), but the response to this float will be closely watched: It would be the first by a non-banking finance company (NBFC) after Mint Road upped the risk weights on bank exposures to them by 25 percentage points. The move by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has caught NBFCs off guard even though the issue had been flagged by Governor Shaktikanta Das with their corner-room occupants (and that of banks) in July and August 2023 - on consumer credit and the dependency on bank borrowings.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday ruled out changes in tax laws for micro-finance institutions and allowing foreign equity in the sector, but kept options open for a separate fund for them.
At the end of the day what counts is that Nabard has been rewarded with the management of another Rs 500 crore
Interacting with farmers in Gadak district of Karnataka, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi said he is opposed to blanket waiver on farm loans, as it could prove 'destructive for the system'. He called for strengthening micro-finance and credit lending systems as a remedy to farmers' problems. Gandhi stressed on rural excellence and indigenous knowledge to guide the country to a better agrarian situation. He stressed on micro-finance systems & grass-root political units.
In an effort to boost commodity trading in the country, the much-awaited amendments to the Forward Contract and Regulations Act of 1952 will happen during the Budget session of the Parliament.
Nobel Laureate and chief architect of Grameen Bank Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh had 45-minute meeting with Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Wednesday during which the two discussed micro-financing activity in Bangladesh and India.
Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus asked the Indian industry on Tuesday to get into micro-finance activities and the government to enable a legal framework for promotion of 'social business' in the country.
The World Gold Council initiates micro-finance scheme to promote investments by low-income groups.
Pharmaceutical major Pfizer and World Vision India on Thursday announced a grant of Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million) under an economic rehabilitation programme for Tsunami affected communities, which WVI will extend as micro-finance development loans.
The Adani group has exited the financial services business by selling its entire 90 per cent stake in Adani Capital and Adani Housing to private equity (PE) firm Bain Capital for Rs 1,440 crore. The total valuation of the Adani financial services business stands at Rs 1,600 crore. Gaurav Gupta, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Adani firms will hold the rest of the stake.
The two entities' combined distribution network would comprise 4,182 banking outlets and 476 ATMs across 34 states and Union territories of India, with more than 31,000 employees serving about 15 million customers across the country.
Stanchart's plan for 100 rural branches stuck.
Union Bank of India will bring banking services to the doorsteps of over 2.5 lakh hawkers in Mumbai by partnering with their association and FINO Fintec, a micro finance institution.
'Steven MacQueen, who was working for the [Afghan] Ministry of Rural Development and Rehabilitation, was killed last night,' British embassy press officer Colin Ball said.
World Bank on Monday said it expects Indian economy to grow by 8 per cent this fiscal but asked the government to open up more sectors for foreign direct investment, encourage private sector participation and improve infrastructure.
Mutual funds (MFs) are lining up distinguished new fund offerings (NFOs) for the next financial year to win over investors after a lukewarm response to product launches in the 2022-23 financial year (FY23). NFOs drew a lukewarm response in FY23 as launches were mostly in the passive debt space, which has a comparatively lower popularity among retail investors. The limited launches in equity space also failed to rake in huge sums due to subdued investor sentiments in a volatile market.
Bandhan has got fresh equity infusion of Rs 1,020 crore.
'On the road, you see only youth in Swiggy, Big Basket and Zomato uniforms.' 'Just now, I had a delivery from Amazon, and do you know what his qualification was? He was an engineering graduate!' 'The Ola driver who took me to the airport had an MCom degree. 'Where is the match between education and employment?'
False and acrimonious debates such as Modi versus Manmohan might allow for victories that are political and partisan. But the real loser is the nation, India and Bharat, notes Arvind Subramanian, former chief economic advisor to the Modi government in its first term.
Fintech companies believe that the impact of Reserve Bank of India's order last week on unsecured loans will be visible in six to 12 months and prompt them to diversify and strengthen their secured portfolio. Fintechs which source funds through banks or non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) are looking at quickly building their secured portfolio options to at least 40 per cent of their total portfolio. "Over the medium to long term, as part of our product strategy, we are evaluating secured products which can be enabled over a digital platform" said Yogi Sadana, the founder of Zype, a lending-focussed fintech.
While the corporate sector has benefited from massive capital expenditure, leading to sky-rocketing stock prices, investors would do well to keep an eye on the macroeconomic picture and government finances, not just corporate profits, for signs of trouble, alerts Debashis Basu.
Collection dived to 75-80% in November-December from 99% after demonetisation.
Finance firms in these SEZs likely to get tax breaks.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will retain DoPT, Atomic Energy as well as all important policy issues and portfolios not allocated.
'To the believers of crypto regulations, I have only one question to ask, how will you regulate it?'
For the time being, digital lending remains a grey area, notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Credit card payments for foreign travel will be brought under the purview of the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) of the Reserve Bank, to ensure that such expenses do not escape TCS (Tax Collection at Source). While moving the Finance Bill 2023 for consideration and passage in the Lok Sabha on Friday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Reserve Bank has been asked to look into ways to bring credit card payments on foreign tours under the LRS. "It has been represented that payments for foreign tours through a credit card are not being captured under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) and such payments escape tax collection at source (TCS)," she said.
Debit card payments remained sluggish due to the surge in digital transactions after the pandemic, and the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has emerged as the most popular mode of money transfer, particularly for small value transactions, according to RBI data. In July 2020, the total debit card spends stood at Rs 2.81 trillion, as compared to Rs 3.15 trillion in July 2023, reflecting a growth of 11.96 per cent. UPI spends have seen a whopping growth of 428 per cent, zooming from Rs 2.90 trillion to Rs 15.33 trillion during the same period, the data revealed.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given HDFC Bank six months to migrate HDFC's home loan customers to external benchmark linked lending rate (EBLR), top sources in the bank told Business Standard. Almost half of HDFC's 5.4 million customers are home loan customers. It is mandatory for banks to link retail loans and loans to micro, medium and small enterprises to an external benchmark. Non-banking financial companies do not have such a mandate.
A critical step in this direction would be the abolishment of service tax on micro-insurance in order to encourage and increase penetration of insurance.
The Indian startup ecosystem has lauded the inclusion of startups in the New Delhi Leaders' Declaration for the first time ever in the history of G20. Industry stakeholders say that the move will lead to easier access to capital, reduce regulatory hurdles, and may revive funding activity. The Declaration, through the Startup20 initiative, recognised startups as "natural engines of growth" and key to socio-economic transformation by driving innovation and creating employment.
Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor M Rajeshwar Rao on Wednesday said while the central bank will foster growth in the microfinance (MFI) sector, the lenders in the space should not throw caution to the wind to achieve higher asset growth and returns. MFIs should not try to mimic the strategies of mainstream finance, as those serving the microfinance borrowers have a greater need to balance the social objectives with their lending operations, he said.