RBI imposes monetary penalty on four co-operative banks, one NBFC. Details here
The Reserve Bank has imposed monetary penalties on four co-operative banks and a non-banking financial company (NBFC) for deficiencies in regulatory compliance. The co-operative banks are: Shree Lodra Nagarik Sahakari Bank Ltd, Malpur Nagarik Sahakari Bank Ltd, Jolarpet Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd, Limbasi Urban Co-operative Bank and the NBFC is Early Salary Services Private Ltd.

Centre extends tenure of Bank of Maharashtra, Central Bank of India CEOs
The Centre on Monday extended the tenures of Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) managing director and chief executive AS Rajeev till May 31, 2024 and his counterpart at Central Bank of India MV Rao till July 31, 2025, the lenders said in exchange filings.

Amplify Chandrayan success, promote scientific temper: Govt to banks

Indian banks and financial institutions are now out to promote scientific temper in the country in addition to running financial literacy campaigns. The government has asked these financial institutions to look at celebrating the success of India's lunar mission, Chandrayan-3, in an attempt to further promote scientific temper in the country.

Early-stage hearing of defaulters better, commercial banks tell RBI

Commercial banks have told the Reserve Bank of India they would prefer giving defaulting borrowers an "in-person hearing" at the time they identify an account as stressed than at the last stage before classifying the borrower as a wilful defaulter, said people aware of the matter.

SBI targets Rs 1.4-trn corporate loans disbursal in 2-3 quarters
State Bank of India (SBI) expects to disburse Rs 1.4 trillion worth of corporate loans in the next two-three quarters. SBI chairman Dinesh Khara told analysts that proposals which are awaiting sanctions are of around Rs 3.3 trillion.

Centre extends term of office of BoM and CBoI Chiefs
Mumbai: The Central Government has extended the term of office of the chiefs of the Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) and the Central Bank of India (CBoI). BoM, in a regulatory filing, said that the Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance (MoF), has notified that the Central Government has extended the term of office of AS Rajeev, MD and CEO of the Bank, beyond his current notified term, which expires on December 1, 2023, till the date of his superannuation — that is, May 31, 2024, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

SBI can ride strong Q2 to a 24.5% upside
Mumbai: Analysts at most brokerages retained their share price targets on State Bank of India, after the lender's second quarter results beat market estimates. The stock, however, slid 0.7% to ₹573.95 in a firm market on Monday.

PSU banks’ recoveries from write-offs improve
Many public sector banks have seen an improvement in their recovery from write-offs in the September quarter as lenders have adopted a wide range of measures to collect these loans. In addition to the government’s push to clean up bad debt in the banking system, pre-insolvency restructuring, a booming private credit market, and lower fresh slippages have helped improve recoveries, say experts.

Target 1% net non-performing asset ratio by FY24-end, Ashwani Kumar, MD & CEO at UCO Bank
Kolkata-headquartered UCO Bank is targeting to lower its net non-performing asset (NNPA) ratio by 11 basis points (bps) to 1% by FY24 end. MD & CEO Ashwani Kumar tells Piyush Shukla that the bank is also aiming for Rs 2,000 crore in recoveries and upgrades during H2FY24. Excerpts:

After Leh, Bandhan Bank opens its doors in Kargil with a new branch
Kolkata-based Bandhan Bank opened its branch in Kargil region of Union Territory (UT), Ladakh, marking its presence in 35 of the 36 states and UTs of India, the bank announced on Monday. Earlier this year in August, the bank had started a branch in Leh.

Double-digit retail loan growth for SBI, BoB in Q2
Amidst growing concern over very high growth in retail loans, the country’s largest bank – State Bank of India – saw its retail loan portfolio grow by 15.7% year-on-year in the second quarter, which is very much in line with most other banks (private as well as public). 

Small ticket loans, a fintech-favourite, are seeing stress & banks are growing wary
Amid increasing signs of stress in the small-ticket personal loans pocket, some Indian banks are growing wary of engaging in the unsecured loans space.

Wait-and-watch mode on for SBI
After gaining 33% in 2022, shares of State Bank of India (SBI) have lost 6% in value so far in 2023, lagging the Nifty Bank’s marginally positive returns. The largest public sector lender’s September quarter (Q2FY24) results announced on Saturday have not moved the needle, with the shares closing flat on Monday.

HDFC Bank on hiring spree to fuel biz growth and tackle attrition head-on

The issue of attrition was also alluded to by Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das at Business Standard’s BFSI Insight Summit recently. Noting that attrition was high in private banks and that they needed to build a core team, Das had said, “We are looking at it very closely, because we find that the times have changed, and banks also need to give greater focus on this rate of attrition. It’s for the banks to really analyse and deal with it.”

Bank of Baroda shares fall 4% post Q2 results

Shares of Bank of Baroda fell 4% to Rs 195.5 in Monday's trade on BSE after the September quarter results. The PSU lender reported a 28.4% year-on-year (YoY) rise in net profit for the quarter ended September 2023 to Rs 4,253 crore. Total income from operations increased by 39% on year to Rs 32,033 crore.

Staying ahead of curve to reinforce Prime position: SBI chairman Khara

SBI Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara said, “We very closely look at this and see to it that we stay ahead of the curve and there is no challenge for us.” The network branch expansion and ramping up digital platforms and services are key planks for managing competition.

Public sector banks told to shift focus away from high-cost bulk deposits

New Delhi: The government has cautioned state-run lenders against relying on high-cost bulk deposits and advised them to focus on low-cost retail ones. The issue was flagged at a recent meeting between lenders and senior government officials, people privy to the deliberations told ET.

SBI changes tack to grow current account deposits
The State Bank of India has changed its tack for growing current account deposits as the Centre’s adoption of the “just-in-Time” procedure for the release of funds has reduced float for banks.

Repco Home Finance Q2 net up 38% to ₹98 cr.
Repco Home Finance Ltd. (RHFL) standalone net profit for the September quarter rose 38% over the year earlier period to ₹98 crore due to increase in interest income and improvement in asset quality.

PNB Housing Finance aims expansion in affordable housing, 60 more branches
PNB Housing Finance on Monday inaugurated its first all-women branch in the country. This exclusive, all-women branch located in Tambaram, Tamil Nadu, also marked the company’s 100th affordable-focused branch.
 

Festival season-led demand drives record loan disbursals for NBFCs in October
Mumbai: The festival season-led spending and consumer exuberance is driving strong record disbursals for NBFCs, led by both consumer and MSME finance. M&M Financial said it estimates overall disbursements for October to be around ₹5,250 crore, similar to last year. The YTD (year-to-date) disbursements for October 2023, at ₹30,700 crore, were 16 per cent higher compared to the previous year.

Bajaj Finance launches QIP, floor price set at ₹7,533.81 per share
Bajaj Finance Ltd on November 6 announced the launch of a qualified institutional placement (QIP) to raise funds, with the floor price set at “ ₹7,533.81 per share".

Sundaram Finance posts a 20% rise in Q2 net, disbursements grow 35%
 

PNB Housing shares rise after opening an all-women branch in Tamil Nadu
PNB Housing Finance Ltd’s shares rose 1.64 per cent after the company inaugurated its first all-women branch in Tambaram, Tamil Nadu. This marks the company’s 100th branch dedicated to offering affordable housing finance solutions through its Roshni scheme. The establishment of an all-women branch aims to create an environment where women can excel both professionally and personally.

NBFCs post healthy loan growth but margin, loan quality concerns remain
Despite posting healthy loan growth across sectors, concerns regarding margin pressure and portfolio quality continued to weigh on the Q2 FY24 earnings of diversified NBFCs.

Policybazaar parent reaffirms FY24 profitability plan, even as Q2 remains in losses
PB Fintech, the parent of insurance marketplace Policybazaar and credit platform Paisabazaar, on Monday reiterated its forecast for turning a net profit this fiscal year, despite reporting a loss for the second quarter ended on September 30.

Zerodha tech glitch: 20% clients were affected, issue linked to ‘silos’, broker clarifies. Details here
Hours after a tech glitch affected scores of its users on November 6, Zerodha issued a statement noting that 20 percent of its client base faced issues that were linked to one of the independent “silos".

Demat account growth at 11-month high in October
Despite volatile market conditions, the addition of dematerialisation, or demat accounts, showed a sharp spurt and rose to an 11-month high in October.

Bitcoin trades below $35,000, XRP jumps over 9%

The crypto tokens were trading mixed in Monday's trade with a negative bias. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Polkadot and Tron were trading in the red, while XRP, BNB, Cardano, Dogecoin, Polygon, and Toncoin were trading in the green.

Investors must understand there are no guaranteed returns in any mutual fund schemes: Harshvardhan Roongta
Harshvardhan Roongta of Roongta Securities, says “whatever happened in the past, if there is a 12.93% illustrative return, it does not mean that that is going to happen in the future as well but just that it will be an indicative assumption for an investor to understand how the power of compounding will work. ”

Mirae Asset Mutual Fund changes names of 7 schemes

Mirae Asset Mutual Fund has changed the names of seven schemes. Names of four debt schemes and three equity schemes will change from December 15. The fund house informed the changes to the investors through a notice-cum-addendum dated November 2.

Indian equities surge on positive global cues
 

India bond yields fall tracking US peers; seen rangebound
Indian government bond yields fell on Monday tracking U.S. Treasury yields after job growth in the world's largest economy slowed more than expected in October, reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve will not raise rates further.

Adani Capital raises Rs 100 crore via three-year debentures at 9.65%

Unlisted Adani Capital last week raised 100 crore through the issuance of non-convertible debentures with a coupon rate of 9.65% and a three-year tenor set to mature on November 6, 2026.

Expected downward shift in yield curve warrants higher allocation towards bonds: Motilal Oswal Private Wealth

The inclusion of India into the JPMorgan Global bond index and expectations of rate cuts from the first half of FY25 is set to put a cap on bond yields in the domestic market over the medium term.

Bonds look much more attractive than stocks: Sonal Desai

Sonal Desai, chief investment officer, Franklin Templeton Fixed Income Group, said the US Federal Reserve wants interest rate increases to be done but is in no position to cut rates on account of inflation. In an interview with Nishanth Vasudevan on the sidelines of the firm's conference in Hong Kong last week, Desai, who oversees $124 billion in global fixed income assets, spoke on her outlook for Indian bonds among other topics.

Edited excerpts:

Citigroup considering at least 10% job cuts in major businesses, says CNBC
Citigroup's managers and consultants working on CEO Jane Fraser's reorganization have discussed job cuts of at least 10% in several major businesses, CNBC reported on Monday, citing people with knowledge of the process.

Barclays sees Fed raising rate in January instead of December
Barclays said it now expects the U.S. Federal Reserve to deliver a 25 basis point interest rate increase in January instead of an earlier expectation for a December hike.