Last fortnight, State Bank of India Chairman C S Setty lifted the veil on a subject long spoken of in corporate corridors: Why can't our banks finance mergers and acquisitions (M&As)? Change is in the air: Indian Banks' Association (of which Setty is the chairman) is to "make a formal request" to Mint Road to make way for it. Thus far the exclusive turf of foreign banks even though its funding remains offshore - as in, it's not on these entities rupee-book (and a few select shadow banks) - a most lucrative segment in the investment banking suite, M&As, will be homeward-bound.
The Election Commission has directed enforcement agencies and security forces to take proactive measures during the Bihar elections to prevent the use of drugs, liquor, and cash to influence voters.
The Bombay high court has upheld a decision by the State Bank of India (SBI) to classify accounts of industrialist Anil Ambani and his company, Reliance Communications (RCom), as "fraudulent" noting that there was no legal flaw in it.
'Other sectors that manage the savings pools of Indians are giving tough competition to life insurance companies.'
Reserve Bank on Tuesday cautioned public against "deepfake" videos of the governor being circulated on social media that claim the launch of or support to some investment schemes by the central bank. In a statement, the RBI cautioned public on "deepfake videos of Top Management" circulated over social media giving financial advice.
High frequency indicators, like vehicles sales, air traffic, steel consumption and GST E-way bills, point towards a sequential pickup in momentum of economic activity during the second half of the fiscal 2024-25 and sustain moving forward, RBI Bulletin said on Wednesday. However, a strong dollar, driven by US economic resilience and trade policy pivots, could exacerbate capital outflows from emerging economies, push risk premiums higher, and intensify external vulnerabilities, said an article on 'State of the Economy' published in RBI's February bulletin.
Retail inflation slipped to 1.54 per cent in September from 2.07 per cent in the preceding month mainly due to subdued prices of food items, including vegetables and pulses, according to government data released on Monday. The consumer price index (CPI) based inflation was 5.49 per cent in September 2024.
Private sector bank board members have urged the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) top brass to consider workload management of the boards as they feel there are too many issues that go to the boards for approval and the situation becomes unmanageable at times. The views were conveyed to the regulator on Monday in a conference of directors of private sector bank boards on the theme "Transformative Governance Through Sound Boards". RBI governor Shaktikanta Das, deputy governors Swaminathan J and M Rajeshwar Rao, and other senior officials of the central bank participated in the conference.
In a first, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that it will conduct daily variable rate repo (VRR) auctions on all working days in Mumbai, until further notice. The daily auctions, aimed at easing the current liquidity tightness in the banking system, will begin on Friday, with a notified amount of Rs 50,000 crore.
Amid the ongoing global tariff war, Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra on Wednesday said he is more worried about its impact on growth than inflation. Speaking to the media after presentation of the first bi-monthly monetary policy for the current financial year, Malhotra said, RBI has reduced the growth forecast for 2025-26 by 20 basis points to 6.5 per cent.
The country's largest lender State Bank of India on Wednesday announced the completion of the divestment of about 13.18 per cent stake in Yes Bank to Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation of Japan for Rs 8,888.97 crore. State Bank of India (SBI) has received Rs 8,888.97 crore from the acquirer Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), a Japanese multinational financial services company belonging to the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG), the bank said in a regulatory filing.
A retired banker in Delhi lost his entire life savings, amounting to Rs 23 crore, to cyber fraudsters who posed as ED and CBI officers. The victim was kept under 'digital arrest' for over a month and forced to transfer funds under duress.
IPOs have been the flavour of the season for some time. But the coming together of three mega IPOs, from diverse businesses and historic relevance, could tell a story that's still in the making, points out Nivedita Mookerji.
Retail inflation slipped to seven-month low of 3.61 per cent in February mainly due to easing prices of vegetables, eggs, and other protein-rich items, creating space for the RBI to go for another cut in interest rate next month.
The RBI on Wednesday slashed key interest rate by 25 basis points, for the second time in a row, to support a shuttering economy hit by reciprocal tariffs imposed by the US. Following the rate cut, the key policy rate eased to 6 per cent providing relief to home, auto and corporate loan borrowers.
Earlier, such entities were only permitted to invest their rupee surplus balance in accounts in central government securities, including treasury bills. "It has now been decided to also permit investment of these balances in non-convertible debentures/bonds and commercial papers issued by an Indian company," the RBI said.
Ask rediffGURU Naveenn Kummar your insurance mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
India's forex reserves jumped $4.7 billion to $702.97 billion for the week ended September 12, the Reserve Bank of India said on Friday. In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had increased $4.04 billion to $698.27 billion.
The government on Monday appointed Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra as the 26th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet cleared Malhotra's name, who has been appointed as the RBI Governor for three years, starting Wednesday. Malhotra, a 1990 Batch Rajasthan Cadre IAS Officer, will replace Shaktikanta Das, whose tenure ends on Tuesday (December 10, 2024).
Reserve Bank on Wednesday cut India's growth forecast to 6.5 per cent from 6.7 per cent estimated earlier for the current financial year on account of impact of global trade and policy uncertainties. Prospects of agriculture sector remain bright on the back of healthy reservoir levels and robust crop production in 2025-26, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said while unveiling the outcome of the first bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee meeting for the current financial year.
India's forex reserves rose by $2.7 billion to $698.19 billion during the week ended July 25, the RBI said on Friday. In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had dropped $1.183 billion to $695.489 billion.
'The RBI's MPC will maintain the current policy rates (6.50%) at the policy meeting, given ongoing inflationary pressures.'
The initial public offering of non-banking financial company Tata Capital Ltd got fully subscribed on the final day of bidding on Wednesday. The company's Rs 15,512 crore share sale received bids for 45,84,78,044 shares against 33,34,36,996 shares on offer, translating into 1.38 times subscription, according to NSE data till 13:36 hours.
Towards the end of February, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) restored the risk weighting on banks loans to non-banking financial companies (NBFCs; including to microfinance institutions, or MFIs) to 100 - back to its November 2023 position - from 125. It is only a partial relief though. "Higher risk weighting on unsecured lending continues to be in place while the same on bank funding to NBFCs has been done away with. "This is a positive step by RBI," says Rajiv Sabharwal, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO), Tata Capital.
State Bank of India, Adani Ports, Tata Consultancy Services, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries and PowerGrid were also among the laggards.
The ratio of MF assets under management to total bank deposits has more than doubled in 10 years.
Ahead of the key meeting called by the steel ministry with the industry captains on Monday to discuss the impact of rising steel imports, companies have raised the issue of cheaper 'substandard' inflows from China, Vietnam, and South Korea, saying they are setting the benchmark for domestic prices and squeezing the profitability of Indian producers.
Among Sensex firms, Maruti, Axis Bank, Larsen & Toubro, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, Adani Ports and Hindustan Unilever were the laggards. However, Titan, State Bank of India, Eternal and Trent were among the major gainers.
Widespread use of crypto assets, including stablecoins, can have a negative impact on the macroeconomic and financial stability of a country, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Monday. In its Financial Stability Report (FSR), the banking regulator highlighted that excessive use of crypto assets can reduce effectiveness of monetary policy, worsen fiscal risks, circumvent capital flow management measures, divert resources available for financing the real economy and threaten global financial stability.
Indian corporate are increasingly shifting away from bank funding towards alternative sources, such as equity and bond markets, as their deleveraged balance sheets have improved their ability to raise equity at better valuations. Moreover, the 100 basis points (bps) rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has enabled them to access long-term funds from the debt capital market at cheaper rates.
India's forex reserves jumped $4.04 billion to $698.27 billion during the week ended September 5 on the back of a sizeable increase in value of gold reserves, the RBI data said on Friday.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a case against Reliance Communications and its promoter-director Anil Ambani, for an alleged bank fraud that caused a loss of over Rs 2,000 crore to State Bank of India, officials said on Saturday. The agency is carrying out searches at the residence of Anil Ambani and premises linked to RCOM in connection with the case, they said.
Private sector banks slipped in market capitalisation (mcap) during the July-September quarter, underperforming their government-owned peers as trade uncertainties dragged market sentiment, said S&P Global Market Intelligence. According to its analysis, HDFC Bank shed 4.8 per cent in mcap during the third quarter, while ICICI Bank's dropped 6.7 per cent.
Shaktikanta Das will demit the office on Tuesday after completing six years as the 25th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra will replace him as the 26th Governor. He was appointed as the Governor on December 12, 2018, after the abrupt exit of Urjit Patel.
JM Financial on Friday said the Reserve Bank of India has lifted restrictions imposed on its subsidiary JM Financial Products Ltd with regard to financing against shares and debentures. "We wish to inform you that the RBI, vide its letter dated October 18, 2024, has lifted the restrictions imposed by it on the company (JM Financial Products Ltd) through its order dated March 5, 2024," JM Financial said in a regulatory filing.
Sanjay Malhotra on Wednesday took charge as the 26th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. Malhotra, a career bureaucrat, arrived at the central bank's headquarter this morning, where he was welcomed by senior RBI staffers. The central bank confirmed Malhotra's appointment through a post on the microblogging site "X" and also shared a few pictures.
Titan, Nestle, Hindustan Unilever, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, ITC, Zomato and Bajaj Finserv were also among the laggards. Adani Ports, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors and HDFC Bank were among the major gainers.
Outgoing Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Tuesday that restoring inflation-growth balance is the most important task ahead of the central bank. Addressing a press conference on his last day as the central bank chief, Das said his successor will have to navigate the changing world order, effectively deal with cyber threats, and focus on harnessing new technologies.
The Reserve Bank of India on Friday decided to keep the policy rate unchanged for the 11th time in a row but sharply lowered the GDP growth forecast to 6.6 per cent for the current fiscal, as against earlier projection of 7.2 per cent. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) maintained the status quo on interest rate despite July-September quarter GDP growth falling to 7-quarter low of 5.4 per cent, as against its own projection of 7 per cent.
Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra on Saturday said that the market forces decide the value of rupee with respect to the US dollar and the central bank is not worried about day-to-day movement of the currency value.
