FinMin asks PSBs to ensure compliance in withdrawal from Rera accounts
Under Section 4 (2) (1) (d) of the RERA Act, developers are required to deposit 70 per cent of the sale proceeds from each project into an escrow account. This fund can be used only for covering construction expenses and land acquisition. Withdrawal from these accounts is permissible for the promoters upon certification by a practising architect, engineer and chartered accountant.

RBI reduces VRR auction size as liquidity tightness eases
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has scaled down the size of its variable rate repo (VRR) auction over the past two months, indicating a gradual easing of liquidity tightness in the banking system.

Interest rates on small savings schemes remain unchanged for Q1 FY25
The government on Friday left the interest rates unchanged on various small savings schemes for the first quarter of the next fiscal, beginning April 1, 2024.

RBI may allow $5b sell-buy swap to mature on Monday, to inject ₹40k cr
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India may have shifted gears in its strategy to support banking system liquidity, with its actions in the foreign exchange market spurring large capital inflows. This is in addition to the central bank’s regular repo operations aimed at ensuring that yearend tax outflows do not disrupt the money market.
 

Bank employees to get 17% salary hike; IBA, unions sign final pact
Employees of public sector banks are set to receive a 17% wage hike after the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and bank unions on Friday signed the 9th joint note and the final 12th bipartite settlement agreement.

AU Small Finance Bank rules out further hike in interest rates on deposits

The lending rates on the microfinance portfolio of Fincare Small Finance Bank (Fincare SFB) at 25 per cent also are not high and they reflect high operating costs and default risk, Sanjay Agarwal, managing director & chief executive, AU SFB told Business Standard. Fincare SFB is slated to merge with AU SFB on April 1, 2024.

Fund of Funds commits Rs 9,500 crore for startups: SIDBI
 

More affluence, more gender pay gap: 23% of salaried women perceive gender pay gap, say DBS Bank India-CRISIL report; Find out more
The perceived gender pay gap at a pan-India level stood at 23 per cent among salaried women, while 16 per cent women report gender bias at their workplace, according to the findings of a survey conducted by DBS Bank India in collaboration with CRISIL. The findings are based on a survey of over 800 salaried and self-employed women across 10 cities in India. The survey report is designed to reveal the interplay between their professional aspirations and personal lifestyle preferences. 

JM Financial says will fully cooperate with SEBI in probe into public issue of debt securities
JM Financial Ltd has said it would fully cooperate with capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in its investigation into the public issue of debt securities.

HDB Fin Services to raise Rs 2,500 crore via debt capital for biz growth

After witnessing asset quality pressures in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, the finance company has improved its risk profile and health to support sustained growth in loan book.

Now, Indians can make payments through UPI in Nepal
The NPCI on Friday announced that Unified Payment Interface (UPI) is now live in neighbouring Nepal. UPI users can scan QR codes to make payments to Nepalese merchants, an official statement said.

Rupyy appoints Vineet Tripathi as CBO, strengthens leadership team
Rupyy, a fintech platform, has appointed Vineet Tripathi as its chief business officer (CBO). In his new role, Vineet will oversee the business growth and expansion plans at Rupyy.

NPCI ties up with Nepal’s Fonepay for cross-border merchant payments
Mumbai: NPCI International Payments (NIPL), the international arm of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has entered into an agreement with Nepal-based payment network Fonepay Payment Service, for cross-border UPI transactions between India and Nepal.

Fintechs need to focus on curtailing losses, new growth areas
Fintechs have seen exponential growth in personal and business loan segments, but are now seeing some stress, especially in more recent sourcing. This warrants a need to control aggression in new sourcing, according to an Experian whitepaper released in collaboration with the Digital Lenders’ Association of India (DLAI).

Take Five: Another bout of Bitcoin fever
Bitcoin is back in the headlines, having roared to a new record high, just as many of the world’s major central banks are starting to pave the way towards cutting interest rates, but only if inflation behaves.

Bitcoin briefly rises to record high over $70,000
Bitcoin briefly rallied to a record high on Friday in volatile trading, as crypto mania continued to sweep through the investment community. The leading cryptocurrency topped the $70,000 mark for the first time, boosted by investor demand for new U.S. spot exchange-traded crypto products and expectations for global interest rates to fall. It rose to as high as $70,105 before quickly dropping, and was last trading at $68,317.72.

Investing in equities is key to financial freedom for women, says Shibani Kurien
Women should consider diversified investment portfolios to mitigate risks and optimize returns over the long term keeping in mind their investment objectives, says Shibani Kurian, Senior Executive Vice President, Fund Manager & Head – Equity Research, Kotak Mahindra Asset Management.

Small-cap schemes drive inflows into MFs; equity MF net inflows hit 2-year high in February
Net inflows into open-ended equity funds hit a two-year high of Rs 26,866 crore in February owing to traction in sectoral and thematic funds, and small cap funds, data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) showed.

Equity MFs see strong inflows in February despite dip in certain categories
Mumbai : Mumbai: Net inflows into equity mutual funds jumped to a 23-month high in February, led by a surge of investments in thematic or sectoral funds. Net inflows rose 23% month-on-month to ₹26,865.78 crore, the highest since March 2022, data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) showed on Friday.

Helios Mutual Fund plans to launch 6 new equity-oriented funds by March, 2025
Kolkata: Helios Mutual Fund plans to launch as many as six new equity-oriented funds by March next year to increase its assets under management (AUM). “We want to launch at least five-six more funds by March, 2025, so that the obvious big categories are completed. These would be equity-oriented funds,” Helios Capital Founder Samir Arora told businessline.

Why this multi-asset fund is good investment option at market highs
In a situation where benchmark equity indices are at record levels and even gold is close to its all-time highs, making an investment choice is not easy. Even bonds have rallied in recent months, with yields declining steadily. Thus, asset allocation becomes critical at this juncture because investors must ensure no potential opportunity is missed and at the same time, a correction in any specific asset class doesn’t seriously hurt their overall portfolio.

What you should know about quant-investing based MFs
Asset management companies employ diverse investment strategies to select stocks from the broad market, aiming to achieve returns that outperform the market. One such strategy, which mitigates the subjective bias of fund managers in investment decision-making, is Quantitative Investing. This method uses mathematical models and predefined criteria to rapidly analyse and back-test extensive historical data, assessing the effectiveness of strategies against benchmarks.

India's top AMC SBI Mutual Fund's AUM less than 1% of US-based Blackrock: Porinju Veliyath
India's top asset management companies (AMCs) such as SBI Mutual Fund (MF), ICICI Prudential MF, HDFC MF, Nippon India MF, and others rank much below than the top US AMCs such as Blackrock, Vanguard etc, in terms of asset under management (AUM). Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, BNY Mellon are some of the other US AMCs featuring in the top 10 list.

HDFC Mutual Fund launches HDFC NIFTY Reality Index Fund; all you need to know
HDFC Mutual Fund announced the launch of the HDFC NIFTY Reality Index Fund. The scheme opened for public subscription on March 07, 2024, and will close on March 21, 2024. The scheme re-opens for continuous sale and repurchase within five business days from the date of allotment.

Equity MFs see strong inflows in February despite dip in certain categories
Mumbai : Mumbai: Net inflows into equity mutual funds jumped to a 23-month high in February, led by a surge of investments in thematic or sectoral funds. Net inflows rose 23% month-on-month to ₹26,865.78 crore, the highest since March 2022, data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) showed on Friday.

FPIs' February inflows swell to ₹22,419 crore in debt markets; What's attracting them to Indian bonds?
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought ₹22,419 crore in Indian debt markets last month, extending the positive momentum picked up in 2023. The benchmark indexes Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex, which were little changed in January amid foreign outflows, gained more than one per cent last month on FPI buying and robust domestic inflows.

ESAF Small Finance Bank to raise ₹135 crore via issuance of tier-II bonds
Mumbai: The Board of Directors of ESAF Small Finance Bank approved a proposal to raise funds by way of issuance of Basel-II compliant lower tier-II subordinated bonds in the form of non-convertible debentures (tier-II bonds) aggregating up to ₹135 crores on a private placement basis.