20 december 2003

clb suspends tamilnad mercantile bank board
new delhi: with a firm view that it was in public interest to take remedial measures in the matter of tamilnad mercantile bank ltd (tmb), the company law board on friday ordered suspension of tmb's board of directors with immediate effect.

syndicate bank pays rs 35-crore interim to govt
bangalore: syndicate bank has presented a cheque for rs 34.69 crore as interim dividend to the government.

bancassurance meet on dec 24
thiruvavanthapuram: the national insurance company is holding a one-day `bancassurance meet' for its own officials as also those of indian overseas bank with whom it has established a bancassurance tie-up.

19 december 2003

idbi may sell stake in idbi bank
mumbai: industrial development bank of india may sell its stake in idbi bank ltd before merging itself with a public sector bank.

icra upgrades tata motors' ncd issues
mumbai: icra has upgraded the long-term rating assigned to the rs 300-crore and rs 250-crore ncd programmes of tata motors ltd (tml), from `laa' to `laa+.'

total automation of state bank group shortly
hyderabad: all the seven associate banks of the state bank of india are scheduled to achieve complete computerisation of their branches in the country and overseas within the next couple of months, the sbi group managing director, mr chandan bhattacharya, announced here on thursday.

i - flex system for abu dhabi bank
bangalore: abu dhabi commercial bank (adcb) is implementing i-flex solutions' flexicube core banking system.
scheduled to go live in the fourth quarter of 2004, the solution will facilitate the development of new tailor made products and services for adcb customers, as well as accelerating its time to market.

18 december 2003

mardia hearing postponed to january 7 & 8
mumbai: the supreme court has rescheduled the hearing of the mardia chemicals case to january 7 and 8 on the request of the solicitor general of india. the landmark case's final ruling is expected to have a bearing on the entire indian banking industry with its interpretation of the securitisation act. earlier the case was to be heard on december 19.

l&t john deere ties up with sbh for tractor financing
hyderabad: l&t john deere pvt ltd, a joint venture between l&t and the us-based agricultural farm equipment maker, john deere & company, has entered into an alliance with state bank of hyderabad on an exclusive basis for tractor financing.

govt buyback of equity from banks likely after budget
bangalore: equity buyback from the public sector banks is expected to commence after the union budget for the next fiscal as part of the government's commitment to dilute stake.

new chairmen for life, general insurance councils
hyderabad: the insurance regulatory and development authority has announced new chairmen for the life and general insurance councils.

in an announcement, the authority has nominated the irda member (life), mr t.k. banerjee, as the chairman of the executive committee of the life insurance council of the insurance association of india.

the irda member (non-life), mr mathew verghese, has been appointed the chairman of the executive committee of the general insurance council of the insurance association of india

rbi lifts forex ban on hero honda, others
mumbai: the reserve bank of india has withdrawn its directive issued to authorised dealers in january this year, prohibiting them from releasing foreign exchange to pepsi foods ltd, hero honda motors ltd and lg electronics india pvt ltd, in connection

pnb declares 25 per cent interim dividend
new delhi: punjab national bank has declared an interim dividend of 25 per cent for the financial year 2003-04.

lecture on rural banking
mangalore: the former chairman and managing director of syndicate bank, dr n.k. thingalaya, will deliver a.b. shetty memorial endowment lecture on "need for restructuring rural banking sector in india," at mangalore university on december 24.

17 december 2003

s&p raises india's foreign currency rating to stable
mumbai: standard & poor's ratings services today revised the outlook on india's long-term foreign currency rating to `stable' from `negative', taking into account the country's rising foreign exchange reserves.

hsbc may have to pay more for 14.7 per cent in uti bank
new delhi: the hsbc group may have to pay a higher price than the rs 306-crore to cdc financial services (mauritius) ltd and the south asia regional fund for buying out their combined 14.7 per cent stake in the uti bank in case they revise their open offer price to a level higher than the acquisition price of rs 90 per share.

govt to raise fdi cap in private banks
new delhi: the finance minister, mr jaswant singh, has said that the government has in principle decided to enhance the limit of foreign direct investment (fdi) in banking companies.

s&p raises outlook on 3 banks
mumbai: standard & poor's, the international credit rating agency, has revised its outlook on the foreign currency debt ratings on icici bank, industrial development bank of india and bank of baroda, to `stable' from negative, i.e., `bb/b'.

finmin draws roadmap to zero revenue deficit
mumbai: a report recently prepared by finmin, titled 'india: the coming golden age', says, "the rough contours for elimination of revenue deficit are likely to increase in direct taxes to gdp ratio of 1.5 percentage points, increase in union exise duty (including services) to gdp ratio by two percentage points; state value added tax to contribute additional one percentage point of gdp; drop in subsidies of one percentage point of gdp and drop in interest payments to gdp ratio of 0.5 percentage points."

bajaj capital to expand ap operations
hyderabad: bajaj capital ltd , the premier financial planner and investment advisory services company, plans to expand the network of its investment centre to 100 from the current 85 over the next year.

nri remittances on the rise again
kochi: the nri deposits in indian banks are on the rise again despite the growing strength of the rupee in the money markets and plunging interest rates. "it is proving to be a joyful christmas and a happy new year for the banking industry with the surge in bank shares at the stock markets and the revival of nri deposits," a senior bank official said.

16 december 2003

allianz floats it arm
mumbai: germany's largest insurer allianz is expanding its exposure by setting up an exclusive subsidiary for it-related services and by treating india as a regional hub for its grand south-asian plan.

maharashtra banks may sell stamp paper
mumbai: in the wake of the multi-crore telgi stamp paper scam, the maharashtra government is now considering a proposal to allow banks to sell stamp paper.

kerala to have world's first-ever floating atm
kochi: kerala has almost all banks both nationalised and private competing with each other for providing more and more value-added services. the latest in this series is going to be a floating atm, first of its kind in india and perhaps in the world.

pnb plans to network 2,500 branches by 2005
chennai: punjab national bank expects to connect 2,500 of its branches by march 2005.

union bank to market hdfc standard life products
thiruvananthapuram: union bank of india launched the marketing of life insurance and pension products from hdfc standard life in the thiruvananthapuram region on monday.

iob in pact with ttk group for nri services
kochi: indian overseas bank has tied with ttk services for offering a range of services to nris including healthcare to dependants and property services in india.

idbi to get rs 2,500-crore recap assistance
new delhi: backed with the assurance from the finance minister, mr jaswant singh, that the government would provide rs 2,500 crore for the recapitalisation of idbi spread over five years, the parliament on monday cleared the industrial development bank of india repeal with the rajya sabha giving its assent to the bill. the bill seeks to convert the financial institution into a universal bank.

crisil rating for federal bank fds
kochi: crisil has assigned the highest rating p1+ to short-term fixed deposits of federal bank.

15 december 2003

govt likely to cut agricultural loans rates
aurangabad: the centre is planning to further reduce the interest rates on agriculture loans, finance minister jaswant singh said today.

insurers may have to top up capital: irda
kolkata: the insurance regulatory and development authority (irda) is of the view that insurance companies in india may operate on increased capital bases, of which only 26 per cent can be currently held by foreign insurers.

nicleyes rs 200-cr income from bancassurance
bangalore: national insurance company ltd has targeted a premium income of rs 200 crore this year from its bancassurance arrangements.

royal sundaram opens branch at kochi
kochi: royal sundaram, the chennai-based private general insurer, has opened its new branch in kochi in line with its expansion plans aimed at providing easy access for its growing customer and agency base.

karnataka bank to sell bajaj allianz products
chennai: karnataka bank will sell bajaj allianz general insurance company's products following an agreement signed here today.

addressing newspersons after finalising the agreement, mr ananthakrishna, chairman of karnataka bank, said that the tie-up is in line with the bank's "wish to be a financial supermarket providing all financial solutions to its clientele."

sib-lifeline launched
the thrissur-based south indian bank ltd, as part of its platinum jubilee celebrations, has launched sib-lifeline, a financial scheme for medical treatment.

prudential depositors for early bank revival
hyderabad: the depositors' association of the scam hit prudential co-op bank, has appealed to the government, the reserve bank of india and the bank management to ensure early sanction of the rs 300 crore revival plan, which could help provide some relief to the `financially crippled depositors'.

forex reserves cross $97 billion
mumbai: india's foreign exchange reserves surged by over $1 billion to cross the $97 billion mark for the week ended december 5.

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