RBI to consider relaxing FEMA guidelines for e-commerce players based on DGFT inputs
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has assured the Commerce Department that it would take a relook at the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) guidelines with the objective of easing operations of e-commerce players based on inputs received from it and get back on the matter soon.

RBI breather for lenders on AIF investments
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given a breather to the lenders on their investments in alternative investment funds (AIFs) following representations received from stakeholders. The central bank had tightened the norms in December 2023 for lenders relating to making investments in units of AIFs to address concerns relating to the possible evergreening of stressed loans. In its latest circular, the RBI said lenders cannot make investments in any scheme of AIFs which has downstream investments, such as hybrid instruments in a debtor company of the former.

Current account deficit narrows to 1.2% of GDP at $10.5 billion in Oct-Dec: RBI
India’s current account deficit (CAD) narrowed to $10.5 billion, or 1.2 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), in the third quarter (October-December) of FY2024 from $16.8 billion, or 2 per cent of GDP, in the year-ago quarter.

Federal Bank aims to close FY24 with 10% new branches addition
Federal Bank on Wednesday opened 26 branches across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, placing it on track to reach a pan-India network of 1,500 branches as it ends fiscal year 2023-24. With this, the private sector bank has crossed 250 branches in TN and Puducherry and added 50 branches this fiscal including today’s launch.

DMRC awards 10-year-long co-branding rights to Bank of Baroda on 3 metro stations – Here’s how these rights help brands
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Tuesday awarded co-branding rights to Bank of Baroda (BoB) on its three metro stations. The state-owned bank acquired the rights for Inderlok, South Extension, and Rajouri Garden metro station.

Bank deposit may grow at 13.5% in FY25
After struggling to match the pace of the credit growth in FY24, banks’ deposits will likely grow by 100 basis points (bps) at 13.5% year-on-year (YoY) in FY25, from an estimated 12.6% YoY growth in FY24, experts say.

Standard Chartered set to exit CDSL with 7.18% stake sale
Mumbai: Standard Chartered Bank is set to exit its investment in Central Depository Services (India) Ltd (CDSL) by selling its entire stake through a block deal. The bank will offload 7.5 million shares, representing a 7.18% stake in CDSL, according to a term sheet reviewed by Mint.

SBI revises annual maintenance charges for debit cards from April 1 - Check full list
A new set of revised annual maintenance charges on Classic, Silver, Global, Contactless, and other categories of SBI debit cards will come into effect from April 1, according to State Bank of India's website. The existing annual maintenance charges will be revised from next month. Annual maintenance charges have been raised by ₹75 for different categories of SBI debit cards like Yuva, Gold, Combo, and Platinum Debit Cards.

Change your credit card billing cycle to manage cash flow: Here's how

Timely payments and financial flexibility

S&P Global downgrades outlooks on five regional US banks to ‘negative’
Ratings agency S&P Global on Tuesday downgraded five regional U.S. banks to due to their commercial real estate (CRE) exposures, in a move likely to reignite investor concerns about the health of the sector. The ratings agency downgraded First Commonwealth Financial , M&T Bank, Synovus Financial, Trustmark and Valley National Bancorp to “negative” from “stable,” it said.

MFI portfolio up 31% y-o-y to Rs 4 trillion
The portfolio outstanding of the microfinance sector rose nearly 31% year-on-year (y-o-y) to Rs 4 trillion as on December 31, a report showed on Wednesday. The gross loan portfolio rose 6% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q), according to the report.

Paytm likely to sign HDFC Bank as third partner for migrating merchants: Report
Paytm’s parent company One97 Communications Ltd is likely to sign HDFC Bank as the third partner for migrating merchants, said a report by Moneycontrol on Wednesday.

Competition Commission of India conducting enquiries against some fintech entities: Chairperson Ravneet Kaur
 

SBI, Bajaj Auto among 25 stocks eligible for T+0 settlement for trade executed between 9:15 am to 1:30 pm
India’s Bajaj Auto, Bharat Petroleum and State Bank of India (SBI) are among 25 stocks eligible for optional same-day settlement starting from March 28, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) said on Wednesday.

The Crypto Reboot That Wasn’t: Why ‘FTX 2.0’ Floundered
The lawyers and advisers running FTX’s bankruptcy spent more than half a year and millions of dollars in fees to explore the idea of restarting Sam Bankman-Fried’s failed cryptocurrency exchange. In the end, they decided it wasn’t worth it.

Planning your retirement? PGIM India Mutual Fund launches a new fund
Source Credit: Sunainaa Chadha, Business Standard

New Delhi: PGIM India Mutual Fund has launched a new investment option to help people save for their golden years. The PGIM India Retirement Fund is an open-ended scheme with a lock-in period of five years or until retirement age of 60(whichever comes first). This means you can't withdraw your money for at least five years, encouraging you to stay committed to your savings goals.
 

Alteria Capital announces final close of fund III at Rs 1,550 crore
Venture debt firm Alteria Capital has announced the final close of its Fund III (Scheme A) – its venture debt scheme- at Rs 1,550 crore, highlighting the growing demand for debt financing for venture capital-backed startups.

Most InvIT, REIT inflows to go to roads in FY25
The assets under management (AUMs) of infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) and real estate investment trusts (REITs) are expected to grow 15-20% on year in the next financial year to Rs. 7.5-8 trillion with the roads sector expected to corner 75% of the fresh inflows in these instruments, according to a report.

Nabfid opts for Rs 10,000 cr credit lines over bond issuance to raise money

With signals of easing rates in the next financial year (FY25), the government-owned infrastructure financier wants to avoid long-term fixed rate liability of bonds and debentures.

Bank of India to raise Rs 10,000 cr through long-term infrastructure bonds

The fund would be raised in 2024-25, BoI said in a regulatory filing.

Govt to borrow ₹7.5-lakh crore in April-Sept; ₹12k cr in green bonds
 

Indiabulls Housing raises $350 million via dollar social bonds at 9.7%