Regulations must support innovation: RBI deputy governor Rajeshwar Rao
The regulatory framework must be redefined in such a manner that it supports innovation, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deputy governor Rajeshwar Rao said in a speech on Thursday.

Wish to see more thought and intent from banks on quality grievance redressal
Mumbai: While banks are hugely invested in forging new and innovative ways of customer acquisition, very little thought seems to be going on to improve customer grievance redress mechanisms, said RBI Deputy Governor Rajeshwar Rao. “This seems very odd for a sector that prides itself on being a service industry. We definitely wish to see more serious thought and intent emerging from the boards and top executives on the quality of grievance redressal instead of just monitoring TAT (turnaround time) and MIS (management information system) on complaints,” Rao said.

Banks investing hugely in customer acquisition but need to focus on resolving grievances: RBI DG
Mumbai: Banks are spending hefty sums of money in building new and innovative methods of customer acquisition but are giving "very little thought" about improving their mechanisms for customer grievance redressal, Reserve Bank of India deputy governor M Rajeshwar Rao has said.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman stresses building awareness among people to reduce cyber fraud
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said that in order to prevent con artists from abusing the system, people must become more conscious of cyberfrauds and take control of technology. Speaking at the 'DATE with Tech' event, the minister stated that the government regularly examines public sector banks and the regulator RBI checks its own systems in order to prevent cyber frauds, in which victims are tricked via phone or SMS. Insurance firms assess their own systems as well.

RBI imposes monetary penalty on five co-operative banks. Details here
 

FM Sitharaman applauds RBI’s cautionary approach to retail loan growth
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday virtually endorsed the Reserve Bank of India’s recent clampdown on certain segments of retail loans, noting that the central bank is conscious of where the “thin line” lies. “RBI has talked about preemptive steps and has been alerting banks to be not too exuberant. RBI is quite conscious of where the thin line lies. They are red lighting it now so that NBFCs and small finance companies don’t go too far in their enthusiasm. 

UPI can be moved to cloud network, says SBI MD
The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) application can be moved to public cloud network considering volume of UPI payments that are processed by the systems of banks, says State Bank of India (SBI) managing director CS Setty.

TMB shortlists three for MD & CEO’s post
The Board of Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) has shortlisted three candidates for the position of the managing director & chief executive officer (MD & CEO) of the bank, the Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu-based bank informed the exchanges. 

SBI, Bank of Baroda gets encouraging response for digital rupee
Public sector lenders State Bank of India (SBI) and Bank of Baroda has received encouraging response from customers for the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) or digital rupee. Country’s largest lender has recorded over 900,000 transactions from 400,000 lakh users since December 1 last year. The number of CBDC users for Bank of Baroda has reached 250,000.

Bank of Baroda yet to complete forensic audit on mobile app fraud: Official
Leading public sector lender Bank of Baroda is yet to complete the forensic audit into the recent graft allegations against some of its key employees of its mobile app Bobworld, a senior bank official said on Thursday. "We are still working on the forensic audit as the central bank is still doing some more due diligence on the app Bobworld," Joydeep Dutta Roy, an Executive Director of the bank, told reporters on the sidelines of the two-day national banking summit organised by IBA and Ficci.

IOB to sell INR 457-crore MSME NPAs, eyes 60% recovery
Chennai-based Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has put a INR 457- crore portfolio of non-performing assets (NPAs) from micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) on sale The bank expects a minimum of 60% recovery with half of it in cash, documents accessed by ET showed.

Expect up to 50 bps impact on capital buffers on RBI's unsecured loans move: BoB
Bank of Baroda's Chief Executive and Managing Director Devdutt Chand on Thursday said the Reserve Bank's risk weight tinkering will have an impact of up to 0.50 per cent on the state-run lender's capital buffers. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Fibac event here, he said there will be an impact of 0.40-0.50 per cent on its capital adequacy.

NCLAT admits SBI plea against Lavasa Resolution

Mumbai: The insolvency process for the bankrupt Lavasa Corporation took a new turn with the principal bench of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) allowing a State Bank of India (SBI) petition seeking to set aside a lower court's approval for the resolution plan submitted by Darwin Platform Infrastructure (DPIL).

BFSI may just be the theme to bank on for future upside

Mumbai: Investors eyeing a thematic bet can add a banking and financial services fund to their portfolio taking advantage of the underperformance of the banking sector compared to the Nifty 50.

HSBC ties up with UK Export credit agency to fund MSME imports

Mumbai: HSBC has partnered with the UK export credit agency UK Export Finance to provide funding support to MSMEs for imports from the UK. The partnership envisages an intent to establish a financing programme of up to GBP 100 million

Perking up deposit rates can only help in the short term: Prashant Joshi, DBS Bank India
We probably overestimated the speed at which the change from physical to digital would happen, says Prashant Joshi, Managing Director and Head, Consumer Banking Group, DBS Bank India. In this candid interview, he talks about the need for branch presence and why plays deposit rates could only be a short-term game.

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Sundaram Home Finance to double SBL branches, to set foot in Telangana
Sundaram Home Finance on Thursday unveiled its plan to double its Small Business Loans (SBL) branches over the next 12 months including setting foot in Telangana. Telangana will be the company's first expansion outside Tamil Nadu in the SBL segment.

Festive time lifts credit card spends to a record
Credit card spending touched a record ₹1.78 trillion in October aided by strong festive season purchases on e-commerce platforms, latest Reserve Bank of India data showed. The spending had seen a dip in September as consumers prioritized saving ahead of big buys in the festive season.

Personal loan growth to be constrained post RBI’s risk weight dikat: Fitch
The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) move to increase risk weights on unsecured consumer consumption personal loans and credit card receivables by 25% will constrain lenders’ loan growth in the segments, global rating agency Fitch said on Thursday.

L&T Finance gets $125 million loan to support MSMEs, farmers
Non-banking financial company L&T Finance on Thursday said it has signed a USD 125 million loan pact with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to support financing in rural and peri-urban areas in India, particularly for women borrowers. The funding comprises a loan of up to USD 125 million from ADB, and an agreement to syndicate an additional USD 125 million co-financing from other development partners, L&T Finance said in a statement.

L&T Finance to trim bank borrowing to whittle spike in cost of funds
L&T Finance has said it will cut its borrowings from banks and instead increase its loans from the markets through instruments such as NCDs in response to the Reserve Bank's hiking of the risk weightage on unsecured consumer loans.

Jio Financial Services seeks RBI approval to convert from NBFC to CIC; here’s what it means
Jio Financial Services, the demerged entity of energy-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), has asked for the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) approval for conversion into a core investment company (CIC).

NBFCs likely to see asset growth of 14-17% next fiscal, says CRISIL
Assets under management (AUM) of non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) is expected to grow at 14-17% in the next fiscal on the back of continued strong credit demand across retail loan segments, CRISIL Ratings said in a report. 

RBI circular does not affect Fedbank Fin’s unsecured portfolio: MD
Anil Kothuri, MD & CEO, Fedbank Financial Services, says RBI’s intent is to clamp down on unsecured lending which is used to fuel consumption and that is what they seek to moderate and put guardrails around. “The loans that we do are loans for working capital for self-employed customers. To the best of my understanding, that is outside the ambit of the circular that the RBI has recently issued. Almost all the loans that we do in Fedfina qualify for priority sector lending by banks.”

Profitability to improve on easing cost-to-income ratio: Fedbank Financial MD
Aided by improving operating leverage and efficiencies, Fedbank Financial Services (FedFina) is focussing on improving its cost-to-income ratio, which in turn should boost profitability over a period of time, according to MD and CEO Anil Kothuri. “We are looking to drive operating leverage in our business, which means that the large number of branches we have opened will keep adding AUM,” Kothuri told businessline. “The AUM per branch will increase with each passing quarter, so our revenues will increase but our costs will not increase in the same proportion. Therefore, our business is biased to be more profitable on a quarter-by-quarter basis.”

NBFC body appeals to RBI to review recent risk weight increase
A representative body of non-banking financial companies (NFBCs) has requested the central bank to re-evaluate the sharp increase in risk weights assigned to bank loans to NBFCs, according to a letter sent to the regulator on Thursday and seen by Reuters.

RBI Governor flags bank-NBFC links as 'contagion risk'

Concentrated borrowing linkages between non-bank financiers and mainstream lenders may pose contagion risks, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das said, pointing to potential sectoral fault lines a week after a concerned regulator sought to restrain the recent runaway growth in unsecured advances and safeguard the broader financial system.

NBFCs should remain cautious on lending; need not go too far in their enthusiasm, says Nirmala Sitharaman
 

NBFCs should remain cautious on lending; need not go too far in their enthusiasm: Nirmala Sitharaman
 

From NBFC to CIC: The way ahead for Jio Financial Services
Jio Financial Services is soon to become a Core Investment Company (CIC) from a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC). The move comes in response to a directive from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which mandated the conversion from a NBFC structure to that of a holding company.

Google Pay to collect convenience fee on mobile recharge transactions
Bengaluru: Fintech major Google Pay has recently started charging customers a convenience fee on mobile recharges. The move by the firm comes after years that the app has allowed users to recharge their prepaid plan and pay bills at no additional cost.

NSE, West Bengal govt sign MoU to facilitate fundraising for SMEs
The National Stock Exchange of India and the West Bengal government have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to facilitate fundraising for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through the capital market.

A $200,000 rock NFT shows crypto is relapsing into FOMO
 

Don’t be too greedy or too fearful: Chirag Mehta of Quantum Mutual Fund
Quantum Mutual Fund is known for its no-nonsense quality and value conscious investment approach. That is why mutual fund investors were surprised when the fund house recently launched a small cap fund. ETMutualFunds reached out to Chirag Mehta, CIO, Quantum Mutual Fund, to understand what is the thought process. We also quizzed him about his outlook on the markets, interest rates, inflation, gold, among others. “While the domestic economy continues to look well placed, it is vulnerable to external shocks. So don’t be too greedy or too fearful. Have a prudent asset allocation of equity and gold in your portfolio and stagger your investments to capitalize on the volatility induced by global and domestic headwinds,” says Mehta. Edited interview.

How do mutual funds invest in IPOs of new age tech companies? Nirav Karkera explains
Nirav Karkera, Head of Research, Fisdom, says “most mutual funds have been allocating to new age tech companies. Most of them have been allocated either at the pre-IPO stage, that is at the anchor stage or post-listing. It could be on the first day of listing or during the subsequent days. Coming to positioning, whether strategic or tactical, the proof lies in the exposure that mutual funds have been taking. For many new age tech companies, the initial exposure that they have taken has been marginal, irrespective of whether they took that exposure at anchor stage or post-listing.”

Hybrid MFs attract Rs 72K crore in seven months
 

Hybrid mutual funds catch investors' fancy, attract Rs 72,000 cr in past 7 months
 

Why India Inc is better placed among emerging markets
A redeeming feature of India Inc. since the pandemic has been the sharp improvement in earnings profile, marked by not only a trajectory which has reset higher but also by uncharacteristic stability, which was missing for most of the last decade.

Equity markets settle flat in volatile trade
Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended almost flat in highly volatile trade on Thursday amid the lack of any immediate trigger. The 30-share BSE Sensex dipped 5.43 points or 0.01 per cent to settle at 66,017.81. During the day, it hit a high of 66,235.24 and a low of 65,980.50. The Nifty slipped 9.85 points or 0.05 per cent to 19,802.

Infra Financiers seek to raise Rs 30,000 crore

Mumbai: As general elections head closer, Indian financiers are rushing to bond markets to raise capital for infrastructure projects, with big names such as the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development as well as large public sector banks eyeing fund raises worth close to ₹30,000 crore in coming days.

Barclays plans 2,000 job cuts as part of $1.25 billion cost-cutting plan: Report
Barclays is working on its cost-saving plans of 1 billion pounds ($1.25 billion) which could also involve around 2,000 job cuts, mainly in the British bank's back office, according to a report published by the news agency Reuters.