The finance ministry's plan to offer basic banking licences may find few takers because of doubts over the commercial viability of the proposed business model.
The eighth Budget of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman continued to focus on 'GYAN' (Garib, Youth, Annadata, Nari) to maintain a consistent and coherent strategy initiated over the years in pursuing the government's vision for Viksit Bharat. The approach, characterised by incremental yet impactful steps, aims to create a compounding effect over time.
The new guideline aims at mitigating currency risk attached with the rupee borrowings.
The GST Council on Saturday postponed a decision on cutting tax rate on life and health insurance premiums, officials said. The 55th meeting of the GST Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprising state counterparts, decided that some more technicalities needed to be ironed out and tasked the GoM for further deliberations.
On November 12, 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to ring in uniformity in asset classification and income recognition across all lending institutions. Shadow banks, or non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), like commercial banks, are to test non-performing assets (NPAs) on a daily basis and upgrade them to "standard assets" only when interest and principal arrears are settled by borrowers. This is going to create all manner of headaches for shadow banks and their clientele. Says Y S Chakravarti, managing director and chief executive officer (CEO), Shriram City Union Finance: "NPA levels will go up, especially of small borrowers.
'Real estate loans are given in the garb of retail loans, sourcing money cheap from the NHB refinance window.' 'This loophole is being plugged,' notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The Reserve Bank on Wednesday imposed business restrictions on Edelweiss Group's lending and asset reconstruction arms on concerns over evergreening of loans. The central bank has asked ECL Finance Ltd (ECL) to cease and desist from undertaking any structured transactions in respect of its wholesale exposures, other than repayment and/or closure of accounts, an official statement said.
The much awaited Credit Information Bureau (India) Ltd was launched on Wednesday with a database of 55 consumer credit records which would help creditors to evaluate risks, reduce incidence of defaults and non-performing assets.
The Reserve Bank on Thursday said it is considering the possibility of allowing Islamic financial institutions to function as NBFCs since Islamic banks are not permitted under the present laws.
Sahara and Peerless are classified as residuary non-banking finance companies (RNBCs), which are now required to invest 100 per cent of their deposits in approved securities, including government bonds, fixed deposits with banks and mutual funds.The RBI has also asked the two RNBCs to submit alternative business plans.
Banks will also consider requests from MSMEs for restructuring their stressed standard assets. So far, only 25 per cent of the around 1 million eligible MSMEs have taken benefit of the RBI's special dispensation.
After mutual funds and banks, the Reserve Bank of India on Friday stepped in to help cash-strapped non-banking financing companies by allowing a majority of them to raise up to $10 million through short-term foreign currency loans.
The Reserve Bank on Tuesday allowed infrastructure finance companies (IFCs) to raise money from overseas markets through the automatic route to increase fund flow into the resource-starved core sector.
The Reserve Bank on Monday cautioned people against money schemes offering assured high returns and asked them not to have deposits with unauthorised non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), which falsely claim to have approval from the central bank to conduct business.
The biggest risk in under-construction projects is delay and non-completion.
The RBI is fully aware that the high-cost loans and high indebtedness of the borrowers could pose financial stability risks, if not addressed by these NBFCs. Governor Shaktikanta Das has issued a stern warning, saying the RBI is closely monitoring these areas and will not hesitate to take appropriate action, if necessary, if the culprits don't opt for self-correction. Watch out for some action, soon, notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
'One of the aspects for transparency and fair governance is to give the industry being represented the chance of lobbying with the regulator.'
HDFC Bank has reshuffled the portfolios of its senior management team. This is the first major rejig after the amalgamation of HDFC Ltd on July 1. "The runway for our growth is large. This change is being done to bring in a very sharp focus on leveraging what we have built and for enhanced execution," said Sashidhar Jagdishan, managing director and chief executive of HDFC Bank, explaining the reason for this overhaul.
YES Bank, Bank of Baroda, SBI, IndusInd Bank, and RBL Bank are amongst the banks, Jefferies says, are most prune to "high risk" emanating from ADAG, Cox & Kings, CG Power, DHFL and Essar Shipping.
While public sector banks have managed to maintain a growth of over 25 per cent during the year up to February, private and foreign banks have seen their growth in loan books shrink to single-digit rates on a year-on-year basis, as against over 20 per cent at the end of September, when the credit crisis intensified.
Banks have started refunding borrowers the compound interest charged on specified loan accounts during the moratorium period. Last week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had asked all lending institutions, including non-banking financial companies, to ensure that the scheme of waiver of interest on interest for loans up to Rs 2 crore for the six-month moratorium period is implemented by November 5.
SBI keeps IDBI waiting for proposal to set up infra development fund
The new category would also help NBFCs raise more money from overseas markets, for which the government has raised the cap to $500 million from earlier $100 million under the approval route.
The RBI under former governor Shaktikanta Das resisted pressures to cut interest rates through 2024 as it kept its 'Arjuna's eye' trained on inflation, but the central bank under a new detail-oriented head will soon have to take a call if it can continue sacrificing growth. Das, a career bureaucrat who in 2016 oversaw Prime Minister Narendra Modi's highly disruptive demonetisation move, left a lasting legacy as he demitted office towards the end of 2024 after expertly navigating monetary policy for six years, the highlight of which was steering India's recovery through the pandemic.
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has rejected a proposal by Tata Investment Corporation (TIC) to issue zero coupon convertible bonds (ZCCBs) with detachable warrants to its shareholders.
The debt-ridden IL&FS group has discharged Rs 45,281 crore to its creditors as of March 2025, completing the resolution of its 197 entities, according to the latest status report affidavit filed before the insolvency appellate tribunal NCLAT. This is 18.9 per cent higher than Rs 38,082 crore, the amount of debt that stood resolved from the last status report filed by IL&FS six months before on October 28, 2024.
the three investors that have submitted their final bids are not commercial banks. Among the three, one is a non-banking financial company. Another distinctive feature of the revival is that PMC may lose its cooperative bank characteristic after its reconstruction.
Banks enjoyed an expansion in Net Interest Margins (or NIMs) as well as in credit demand through the 2022-23 financial year (FY23). The credit expansion was because economic growth continued to recover from the Covid-19 years, and indeed, second half GDP growth surprised on the upside. The NIM expansion was because banks raised lending rates immediately (in many cases automatically due to floaters) as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked policy rates, and only started raising deposit rates late into the fiscal.
By acting now, you can step into 2025 with your finances in order and without unnecessary penalties.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has permitted housing finance companies (HFCs) to raise up to $10 million through short-term foreign currency loans, like non-bank finance companies (NBFCs).
For customers who want to know their individual credit rating scores, buying a credit information bureau's (CIB) report will take just a few minutes. However, trying to clear any lapses in that report could take a month. Besides, almost always, the onus of getting the lapses rectified will remain with the customer.
'We expect the bull-market phase to still persist, but now led by large-caps which offer better valuation and benefit from FII inflows.'
'We expect continued pressure on midcaps, but any sharp correction looks unlikely from here on.'
The Standard Chartered Bank is set to ask three of its executives to go on leave following complaints made by a few high net worth clients on mis-selling of products.
After declining to a three-year low in FY24, the private sector investment is expected to fall further in the current financial year, India Ratings said in a research note.. The investments in the private sector are likely to plummet to below 11 per cent of the GDP in FY25, based on the trends from the latest national accounts data and company fillings, it noted.
Now, non-banking finance companies can give a loan up to 75 per cent of the gold value; the previous limit was 60 per cent.
The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday allowed for-profit companies with large and widespread retail outlets to act as business correspondents. The move will both deepen and broaden financial inclusion. Non-banking finance companies, however, have been excluded from the list.
Regulator wants to change NPA classification and hike capital requirement.
