Today's News On Banking

17.09.2018: Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 RBI not on high-level panel to resolve stress in power sector : The Reserve Bank has refused to be part of a high-level committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary which was constituted to resolve stress in the power sector as it is not willing to relax norms to deal with bad loans, according to a source. "The RBI has shown its unwillingness to attend the meeting of the empowered committee to resolve stress in power sector. Their representatives did not attended first and second meeting of the panel held on August 31 and September 14," the source said. "The central bank has given its own reasons for its refusal to attend meetings of the committee. RBI has made its stand clear in courts that they would not relax the new framework to resolve bad loans. Moreover, RBI is not ready to relax norms for setting up an asset reconstruction company for warehousing stressed projects to prevent distress sale," the source added. - Economic Times

🍒 20 lakh people join modified JanDhan scheme, total account holders 32.61 cr : As many as 20 lakh people have joined the modified Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY), taking the total number of account holders in the flagship financial inclusion programme to 32.61 crore as on September 5, according to finance ministry data. The government earlier this month relaunched PMJDY as an open-ended scheme with higher insurance cover and double the overdraft (OD) facility. The Union Cabinet decided to continue the scheme beyond the four-year period ended August 14 with an aim to take the formal banking system from "every household to every adult". During the August 15-September 5 period, the total deposits in 32.61 PMJDY accounts witnessed an increase of Rs 1,266.43 crore. The balance in PMJDY accounts was Rs 82,490.98 crore as on September 5. - Economic Times

🍒 Nirav Modi effect: Union Bank of India quits Antwerp diamond hub in Belgium : State-owned Union Bank of India has decided to quit Antwerp diamond hub in Belgium as the branch did not generate expected business, a senior bank official said. The finance ministry had advised all the public sector banks to review their overseas business and close branches which are not profitable as part of strategy to conserve capital. According to the official of Union Bank of India, the bank has already filed for the closure of the branch and process related to shutting the office is being followed. Accounts are being transferred and manpower is also being relocated as part of closure process, the official said. The bank opened this branch in Belgium in June, 2014. - Business Standard

🍒 Bank of India looks to raise Rs 1,000 crore from sale of non-core assets, real estate : State-run Bank of India is looking to raise nearly Rs 1,000 crore through selling stake in some of its non-core assets and real estate properties. The bank expects to raise around Rs 800 crore through sale of its stake in non-banking finance company - STCI Finance - and in Sidbi, by the third quarter of the current financial year. The lender has also lined up some of its real estate assets to sell and expects to raise nearly Rs 200 crore through the sale, a source said. The lender holds 29.96 per cent stake in STCI Finance, while it owns 2.84 per cent in Sidbi. "The bank is planning to sell its entire stake in STCI Finance. It expects to raise around Rs 500 crore from the deal," the source said. The government-owned bank is hoping to raise another Rs 300 crore through the Sidbi deal, he said. It has already appointed nine merchant bankers to scout for potential buyers. - Economic Times

🍒 Government moves to arrest Re depreciation to have limited impact: Report : The government's rupee depreciation arresting measures announced Friday may not drive fund inflows and are a negative from a longer term perspective as they increase short term debt, a HDFC Bank report has said. "Considering that most of the measures aim at increasing short-term external debt or in effect worsen the risk profile of companies (by increasing un-hedged exposure), could actually be considered negative," the note released Saturday by one of the largest private sector lenders said. Increase in short term external commercial borrowings or foreign institutional investor exposure "could lead to further worsening of vulnerability ratios and the global investors might actually take this negatively", it warned. - Economic Times

 🍒 HDFC Bank most valuable Indian brand 5th year running: Survey : Private sector HDFC Bank has become Indias most valuable brand for the fifth year in a row with a 21 per cent rise in its brand value to $21.7 billion over the previous year, according to a survey. According to a release here on Sunday, HDFC Bank retained its top spot in the "WPP and Kantar Millward Brown's BrandZ 75 Most Valuable Indian Brands" ranking that was started in 2014 by the global communication services company. "HDFC Bank's brand value has grown consistently over the past 5 years, from $9.4 billion in 2014 to $21.7 billion in 2018. This year the study covered 120,000 Indian brands across 414 categories with insights from 3.1 million consumers," it said. "A booming economy and an increasingly digital world are re-shaping India's brand landscape and creating new opportunities. Brands that get it right, regardless of whether they are established players or newcomers, are reaping the rewards," The Store WPP Chief Executive (EMEA and Asia) David Roth said in a statement. - Economic Times

🍒 ICICI Pru Life eyes Blockchain tech for claims settlement : Private sector insurer ICICI Prudential Life is looking at using Blockchain technology for faster claims settlement. “We have done several things on the digital front to make it simpler and easier for customers. The next big thing we propose to do is with Blockchain. We are working on that for claim settlement,” said Puneet Nanda, Deputy Managing Director, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance. The company recently launched Chatbot LiGo, an AI-based platform, to deal with customer queries. “In the last one month, 6.8 lakh customer queries were received and the chatbot replied to them with 98 per cent accuracy.” Nanda also hoped that the insurance industry would continue to grow. “Compared to last year, the growth has slowed. It is partly the base effect as in the early part of last fiscal, there was a lot of impact of demonetisation. But the environment is currently such — not only for insurers but overall for financial services and mutual funds — that the risk appetite is low,” he said. - Business Line

🍒 CBI charge sheet against Mallya, senior bank officials likely in a month : Many senior bank officials who had dealt with loans given to liquor baron Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines may be named as accused in a CBI charge sheet which is likely to be filed within a month, sources said. This would be first charge sheet in the case pertaining to loans of over Rs 60 billion given to Kingfisher by a consortium of 17 banks led by State Bank of India which alone had an exposure of Rs 16 billion. The agency has already filed a charge sheet against Mallya last year in connection with a separate case related to Rs 9 billion pending loan given by IDBI bank in which senior officials of the bank were allegedly involved. The CBI had registered two cases against Mallya related to the IDBI loans in 2015 and consortium loan in 2016. - Business Standard

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