RBI imposes penalty on Saraswat Co-operative Bank, Bassein Catholic Co-operative Bank, Rajkot Nagarik Sahakari Bank
The Reserve Bank has imposed monetary penalties on three co-operative banks for deficiencies in regulatory compliance. These co-operative banks are: Saraswat Co-operative Bank Limited, Bassein Catholic Co-operative Bank Ltd, and Rajkot Nagarik Sahakari Bank Ltd.

Net claims of non-residents on India rise to USD 379.7 billion in June quarter: RBI
Net claims of non-residents on India increased USD 12.1 billion to USD 379.7 billion in the June quarter on account of higher rise in foreign-owned financial assets, according to RBI data released on Thursday. Increase in reserve assets, at USD 16.6 billion, was the largest contributor to the rise in Indian residents' foreign assets during the April-June period, followed by direct investment, loans and trade credit, as per the data on India's international investment position' for June-end.

Current account deficit widens sequentially in April-June quarter
Mumbai: India's current account deficit narrowed to $9.2 billion or 1.1% of GDP for the April-June period, the Reserve Bank said on Thursday.
 

Last date to exchange Rs 2,000 notes in 2 days: Where, how to exchange, limits, charges, documents

There are only two days left before the deadline for submitting/exchanging Rs 2,000 currency notes as tomorrow is a bank holiday in many states.

India’s external debt rises to $629.1 billion at end-June 2023: RBI
 

SBI to encourage corporates to use emission cutting tech
The country’s largest lender, State Bank of India has written letters to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), urging it to classify loans to the sectors, which are using carbon emissions reducing technologies, as priority sector lending.

Tamilnad Mercantile Bank MD and CEO quits on personal reasons
S Krishnan, MD & CEO of private sector lender, Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB), on Thursday resigned from his post, citing personal reasons.

HDFC Bank will be evaluated against global peers, says Jefferies report
International investors are more likely to club HDFC Bank with its global peers such as Bank of America and Wells Fargo to decide on their investment strategy as India's most-valued lender becomes the seventh-largest bank in the world by market value, said investment bank Jefferies.

Banks plan rating model for startups' risk profiling

Banks are eyeing a separate rating framework or model for risk profiling startups and have initiated discussions with concerned stakeholders including the ratings agencies, the government and the banking regulator.

AU SFB to Ujjivan SFB: Where do small finance banks go from here?
 

Sundaram Home Finance plans to raise Rs 2,500-3000 crore
Sundaram Home Finance, which is getting ready for its foray in the affordable housing loan segment, plans to raise Rs 2,500-3000 crore in the second half of the fiscal for funding growth.

Strong growth prospects for the affordable housing finance sector

The affordable housing segment may be seeing an uptick which is a good sign of consumption momentum. This is the biggest-ticket purchase for middle income and lower income families. The current activity is at least partly driven by a pause in interest rate hikes. Although housing mortgages are floating rate, a lower prevailing interest rate usually has a positive impact on sentiment. Supply across the sector (including middle income and luxury segments) is also picking up.

SIDBI to launch app-based 'invoice financing' loans platform 'GST Sahay' for MSMEs: CGM
Patna: With an aim to enhance the economic and financial sustainability of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) is in the process of launching an app-based 'invoice financing' loans platform 'GST Sahay', an official said.
 

Demand for RuPay credit cards rise 37% Q-o-Q in July-September
The demand for RuPay credit cards rose 37% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) in July-September due to a rise in demand in tier 2, tier-3, and tier-4 towns and cities, according to a recent study by financial technology platform Zet.

Credit card spending surges to record in India in sign of stress
Credit card spending by Indians surged to a record high, raising concerns of potential defaults as indebted households stepped up their borrowing spree ahead of the festive season that kicked off this month.The amount transacted through cards rose to an all-time high of 1.48 trillion rupees ($17.8 billion) in August, up from July’s 1.45 trillion rupees, according to the latest data by the Reserve Bank of India. The spending binge is in line with rising indebtedness and falling savings among Indians and may point to growing stress as incomes stagnate.

Depositors' trust is with banks, not fintech companies: Mastercard India chief
Chairman of Mastercard India Rajnish Kumar on Thursday said that the trust of the depositors is with the banking system and not with fintech companies. Speaking at the CII banking conclave here, Kumar, also the former chairman of the State Bank of India (SBI), said that what the fintech companies are challenging is the legacy system in an innovative way.

Bank credit growth to dip to 13-13.5% in FY24, 13.5-14% in FY25: CRISIL
Mumbai: Bank credit growth is expected to dip to 13-13.5 per cent in the current financial year, before inching up to 13.5-14 per cent in FY25 compared with 15.9 per cent in FY23, according to CRISIL Ratings. The moderation of the credit growth in FY24 will be due to the expected decline in GDP growth to 6 per cent from 7.2 per cent, lower working capital requirements due to easing of inflation and some commodity prices, robust bond market issues, and a high-base effect from the second half of FY23.

Tata Capital launches campaign ‘Khoobsurat Chinta’ featuring brand ambassador Shubman Gill
Tata Capital, the flagship financial services company of the Tata Group, has unveiled its campaign ‘Khoobsurat Chinta’ featuring their brand ambassador Shubman Gill. As per the company, the campaign is based on the insight that financial worries often take centre stage and customers get less time to focus on and enjoy life.

Pahal receives $12 million investment from DFC for rural financial inclusion
Pahal, a microfinance institution based in Gujarat, has received $12 million investment from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) for promoting financial inclusion in rural and semi-urban India. Under this agreement, Pahal will have access to $12 million loan for up to 8 years through External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) and it will use the funds to expand its microfinance loan portfolio, particularly targeting women entrepreneurs in Gujarat. The firm co-founded by Purvi Bhavsar and Kartik Mehta has a total AUM of Rs 1,600 crore.

Mahindra Finance has revised FD rates. Should you invest?
Mahindra Finance, a AAA rated NBFC, has revised interest rates on its fixed deposits (FDs) from September 19. Under its Samruddhi deposit scheme (for deposit up to ₹5 crore), the company offers 8.05 per cent per annum for a tenure of 3-5 years for depositors below the age of 60 years and additional 0.25 per cent for senior citizens (above 60). Thus, the maximum interest applicable for senior citizen depositors will be 8.3 per cent per annum. In addition to these, employees of Mahindra group (serving/retired) will be eligible for additional 0.35 per cent interest on Samruddhi scheme.

Cholamandalam Investment launches QIP, floor price set at ₹1,200.51 per share
Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company on September 28 announced the launch of its qualified institutional placement (QIP) issue, at a floor price of ₹1,200.51 per equity share.

Ujjivan Financial’s reverse merger presents arbitrage opportunity for Ujjivan SFB
Chennai: Axis Securities has recommended that investors buy Ujjivan Financial Services to capture a 15-per cent arbitrage opportunity in Ujjivan Small Finance Bank.

'Zerodha's valuation is way higher than reality': CEO Nithin Kamath on slow growth in FY23
India's largest stock broking platform Zerodha's growth slowed down its fiscal year 2023 as the net profits grew 39% to ₹2900 crore from ₹2094 crore in the fiscal before. The revenue of the company grew by 35.5% to ₹6875 crore in FY23 from ₹4694 crore during the fiscal year 2022. A day after the financial results came out, Zerodha founder and CEO Nithin Kamath shared a long post on X on how Zerodha's valuation is higher than calculated.

NSE unique investor base surpasses 8 crore. Delhi-NCR trumps Mumbai region

National Stock Exchange's (NSE) registered investor base surpassed 8 crores of unique investors with 14.9 crores of unique client code (UCC) accounts, a media release said on Thursday. The journey from 7 crore registered investors to 8 crore took nearly 8 months.

Crypto exchange Gemini pulled funds from crypto lender Genesis months before bankruptcy filing
Crypto exchange Gemini Trust Co. withdrew hundreds of millions of dollars from Genesis Global Holdco LLC several months before the lender froze deposits and ultimately filed for bankruptcy, according to two people familiar with the move.

Bitcoin rises above $26,400; Ethereum holds $1,600 level

The crypto tokens were trading mixed in Thursday's trade. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Toncoin, and Solana were trading with gains, while XRP, BNB, Cardano, Dogecoin, and Litecoin were trading with cuts.

UTI-AMC to open 29 new financial centres; shares up
UTI Asset Management Company Ltd’s shares were up by 1.01 per cent as the company is set to inaugurate 29 new financial centres (UFCs) on September 29, 2023.

Asset Reconstruction Companies want larger pie of stressed assets
Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs), which buy non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans from banks, are eying a larger pie of stressed assets.

Sebi extends nomination deadline for mutual fund unit holders to December 31

Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has extended the deadline for nomination for mutual fund unit holders to December 31, 2023 from an earlier September 30 deadline, a Sebi circular issued on Wednesday said.

13 mutual funds multiplied lumpsum investments three times in 7 years

Many investors dream of doubling or tripling investments over a long period of time. When the markets are performing well, the dream becomes a reality. Since the markets have rewarded investors handsomely in the recent past, ETMutualFunds looked for schemes that have tripled investments in seven years. We looked at the performance of 161 equity schemes that have completed seven years in the market and found out that 13 schemes managed to multiply investors’ wealth by more than three times on lumpsum investments made on September 24, 2016.

FIIs offload ₹3,364 crore in Indian equities as US bond yields rise to 16 year-high; DIIs are net buyers
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued their selling streak as Sensex and Nifty closed at four-week low on Thursday, September 28, dragged by F&O expiry and weak global cues. The domestic institutional investors (DIIs) are net buyers again and invested ₹2,711.48 crore in Indian stocks today.

Brookfield to invest up to $845 million in joint venture with Axis Energy
Brookfield Asset Management has entered into a joint venture with Hyderabad-based Axis Energy Ventures India to set up a renewable energy development platform, with the investment management company investing up to $845 million. The Indian firm will provide its existing pipeline of wind and solar power projects that are under various stages of development in the country.

Promoters sell $10 b of equities in CY23, Adani Group promoters account for 40%
 

BNP Paribas upbeat on India bonds after JPMorgan inclusion, sees 10-year rally
The recent addition of Indian government bonds to JPMorgan's emerging market bond indexes has prompted BNP Paribas Asset Management to turn "more positive" on these securities, expecting inflows of around $20 billion in domestic bonds in the next two years, an official from the fund said on Thursday.

India falls short of FTSE Russell government bond index inclusion
New Delhi: Global index provider FTSE Russell kept India on a watch list for inclusion in the FTSE Emerging Markets Government Bond Index (EMGBI), the index provider said on Friday.

HDFC Bank plans Rs 10,000 crore infra bond
Mumbai: HDFC Bank, India's largest private sector bank, has been making inquiries in the bond market about the issuance of long-term infrastructure debt worth up to ₹10,000 crore in coming weeks.

India 10-year yield crosses 7.20% as oil, US peers keep pressure on
Indian government bond yields rose on Thursday, with the benchmark bond yield crossing 7.20%, triggered by a relentless rise in oil prices and Treasury yields.

India 10-year yield posts biggest single-session rise of 2023
India 10-year yield posts biggest single-session rise of 2023

Canara Bank raises Rs 5,000-cr at 7.54% per annum
Canara Bank has, in its maiden issuance of long term infrastructure bonds, raised Rs 5,000 crore at a coupon rate of 7.54% per annum.

Why sovereign gold bonds are glittering away
How did the issue of gold bonds fare?

Sebi working to develop municipal bond market

Mumbai: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), which earlier this year approved a liquidity guarantee for corporate debt, is taking fresh strides to develop the nascent municipal bond market and help make civic bodies more self-reliant for infrastructure development.

Govt bond yields log sharpest single-day surge for this year

Mumbai: Government bond yields surged on Thursday, registering their sharpest single-day rise in 2023, as higher crude oil prices, uncertainty over US interest rates and technical difficulties due to sudden changes in trading holidays sent participants rushing to sell securities.