RBI’s directive to BoB on mobile app likely to impact its ability to sustain growth: Ind-Ra
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India‘s direction to Bank of Baroda to suspend onboarding of customers through its mobile application, bob World, is likely to impact the bank’s ability to sustain its liability growth, primarily CASA (current account, savings account) generation through onboarding of new salary accounts in urban and metro regions, according to India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra).

Govt looks to offload 5-10% in some public sector banks

New Delhi: The government is considering the divestment of 5-10% stake in public sector lenders in which it currently holds over 80% equity.

‘Better to be stupid now…’: Uday Kotak's advice on taking financial risks
Kotak Mahindra Bank founder Uday Kotak, who stepped down as the bank's managing director and chief executive officer in September, believes financial risks should be undertaken only when one completely understands the subject.

Banks turning increasingly positive on lending to corporate
Hyderabad: Banks are increasingly turning bullish on loans to corporates going by the growth seen in the second quarter of the current financial year ended September 30, 2023.

Small finance banks thinking big likely to switch on the M&A mode

More small finance banks, that began operations less than a decade ago, may explore mergers either with competitors, non-bank lenders or financial technology companies as they look to achieve economies of scale faster and diversify their product bouquet.

Accel Partners, Quona Capital to hike stake in Shivalik SFB
Interest in the Small Finance Bank (SFB) space is certainly on the rise. Global venture capital funds, Accel Partners and Quona Capital are set to increase their stake in Shivalik Small Finance Bank to 9.99 per cent each. Presently both VCs hold a 4.99 per cent stake each in the bank. Highly placed sources say both investors have approached the Reserve Bank of India to increase their shareholding in the bank and are awaiting final approval from the regulator.

Shriram Properties Q2 sales bookings rise 40% to ₹608 crore on strong housing demand
 

India, ADB sign $400-million loan pact for urban reforms
Asian Development Bank (ADB) will extend a $400-million “policy-based loan” to the Indian government to support its urban reform agenda for creating quality urban infrastructure, improving service delivery and promoting efficient governance systems, the finance ministry said on Friday.

RBL Bank looks to sell credit card, MSME loans

RBL Bank is gearing up to sell credit card loans exceeding ₹800 crore and an MSME loan portfolio of ₹300 crore, potentially marked as non-performing assets (NPAs) due to missed payments. While no formal bid document has been released, the bank is assessing investor interest in this retail credit card and small business loan portfolios.

Manappuram Finance Q2 Results: Net profit rises 37% YoY to Rs 561 crore
New Delhi: Manappuram Finance on Monday reported a 37 per cent increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 561 crore for the second quarter ended September 30. The non-banking finance company, primarily in gold loans, had posted a net profit of Rs 410 crore in the same quarter a year ago.

Retail lending has grown more in rural areas relative to urban areas: CAFRAL report
Mumbai: Retail lending has grown more in the rural areas relative to the urban areas across lenders, as creditors started tapping the underserved market segment, with the rural-urban differential growth highest for NBFC (non-banking finance company) and Fintech NBFC lenders, per a report by CAFRAL.

Rivals may dull Muthoot’s shine
Gold is a safe haven in tough times and the ongoing geopolitical tensions could keep the yellow metal pricey. In turn, this should drive demand for gold loan providers such as Muthoot Finance Ltd. But so far in this financial year, Muthoot has lost some of its spark with sequentially declining gold loan assets under management (AUM) growth and contracting net interest margin (NIM). The challenge for Muthoot is to maintain its loan growth and margin expansion simultaneously. Here, competition, rising cost of funds and elevated operating expenses pose as key hurdles.

Microfinance Institutions empowering women entrepreneurs amidst social challenges
Ruchi Mittal, who runs Ma Bhagwati Enterprise in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, took her first-ever loan from Fusion Microfinance during the first wave of the Covid pandemic. “I took a loan of ₹25,000 at that time. This year, I reapplied for the loan to expand my business from plastic items like buckets, pots, and toys to taking a distributorship of Neha Mehandi." Mittal said she took the loan from Fusion Microfinance after recommendations from her friends who have also borrowed capital from the same firm.

Dvara KGFS expects 4-fold jump in loan portfolio in 3-4 years
Dvara Kshetriya Gramin Financial Services (KGFS) is expecting a four-fold jump in loan portfolio in three to four years to around ₹7,000 crore, a size its top management deems appropriate to tap the primary market with an initial public offer.

Unravelling the blockchain: Opportunities and challenges in FinTech
The dynamism inherent in FinTech, an industry at the forefront of the monetary revolution, is embracing a key disruptor, blockchain. The coalescence of FinTech and blockchain, although laden with complexities, promises unparalleled transparency, traceability, and security, with the potential to redefine service delivery.

Fintech lenders should not be discouraged
Financial inclusion has been improving rapidly in the country as evidenced by the Reserve Bank of India’s financial inclusion index which has grown from 43.4 in March 2017 to 60.1 in March 2023. A confluence of factors has contributed to this, such as Aadhaar, Jan Dhan and UPI payments, proliferation of smartphones and an increasing number of internet connections. Non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and fintech lenders (who procure clients for banks and NBFCs and act as third party loan service providers) have played an important role, especially since the pandemic.

Razorpay’s ‘reverse flip’ to India may entail $300 million tax payment in US

Digital payments platform Razorpay plans to move its parent firm to India through a cross-country merger that may entail a tax payment of $250-300 million in the US, where it is currently domiciled, according to multiple people aware of discussions.

Retail pie in NSE cos at record
Mumbai: Retail investor shareholding in NSE group firms surged to a record high of 7.62% during the September quarter due to growing popularity of systematic investment plans (SIP), and growing access through digital platforms amid a robust bull market, according to market tracker Prime Database.

Newcomer frenzy in options market worrisome: NSE chief Chauhan
Mumbai: Newcomers to the equities market should focus on long-term investment instead of dabbling in derivatives, especially if they lack the expertise in trading on futures and options (F&O), said Ashishkumar Chauhan, MD and CEO of NSE.

WazirX plans to introduce decentralised products in the future
Bengaluru: Cryptocurrency exchange WazirX intends to introduce decentralised products, but only at a later stage. It will continue to focus on improving user experience on the centralised platform, and also plans to introduce new features, said Nischal Shetty, founder, WazirX.

Bitcoin holds near $37,000; Polygon, Avalanche surge up to 7%

Major crypto tokens were trading mixed in Monday's trade with Bitcoin (-0.9%), Ethereum (-1.2%), BNB (-2.1%), XRP (-1.8%), Solana (-2.5%), and Chainlink (-5.5%) trading in the red, while Tron (2%), Toncoin (1.6%), Polygon 7.1%), Avalanche (3.5%), and Polkadot were trading in the green.

‘Take a 5-year view, not Samvat to Samvat’, Nilesh Shah, MD and CEO of Kotak Mutual Fund
The real challenge in India’s consumption story lies at the bottom of the pyramid, and the festive season should provide a shot in the arm. Nilesh Shah, MD and CEO of Kotak Mutual Fund, tells Siddhant Mishra in an interview that investors should go for asset allocation funds and be ready to endure volatility before investing in equities. Excerpts:

Inflow in mutual fund industry drops to Rs 34,765 crore in Q2
The mutual fund industry continued with the positive momentum in the September quarter, attracting Rs 34,765 crore, although it was a massive reduction as against the Rs 1.85 lakh crore inflow in the preceding quarter, primarily due to withdrawal from debt segment.

Mutual funds sell 13.36 crore shares of Suzlon Energy after 369% rally in 6 months

Following a sharp one-way rally in smallcap stock Suzlon Energy in the last few months, mutual funds chose to book profits by selling around 13.36 crore shares of the multibagger in October.

Private equity firm Faering Capital buys stake in FA Gifts

Private equity firm Faering Capital has invested $16 million in direct-to-consumer group FA Gifts, which owns online-first bakery chain Bakingo and e-commerce gifting platform Flower Aura, for a minority stake in the company.

FPIs selling spree continues; pull out Rs 5,800 cr from equities in November
New Delhi: Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) selling spree continued as they dumped Indian equity worth over Rs 5,800 crore this month so far on rising interest rates and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. This came after such investors withdrew Rs 24,548 crore in October and Rs 14,767 crore in September, data with the depositories showed.

Here's everything you need to know about AT-1 bonds

Mumbai: Earlier this month, Swiss banking giant UBS sold additional tier-1 (AT-1) bonds for the first time after taking over beleaguered banking peer Credit Suisse in March. Globally, these fund-raising instruments have attracted much controversy as investors have been found holding the wrong end of the stick and suffered huge losses after deploying money in these high-risk, high-return instruments. Here is an explainer on what these bonds are, why they have repeatedly grabbed global headlines and what the Indian context is.