Delhi high court stays telecom policy till 3 August
New Delhi: Hearing a public interest litigation on the government's new telecom policy, a division bench of the Delhi high court has directed the department of telecommunications not to make any further moves in the implementation of the policy till 3 August. The bench has also sought details of the revenue earnings under the proposed scheme.

Justice S.N. Variava, chief justice of the Delhi high court, asked attorney general Soli Sorabjee whether the government could give an undertaking that the revenues projected under the new regime will not fall short of the licence fee envisaged under the existing dispensation. Mr Sorabjee said it will be difficult to project revenues for a 10-year period and maintained that the new regime encouraged competition through additional players and thus had the potential to expand the market.

The court asked Mr Sorabjee whether the government had made any revenue projections under the revenue-sharing regime and whether the operators would make up the shortfall if revenues under the new scheme fell short of the licence fee the government had estimated it would collect over 10 years. Mr Sorabjee refrained from giving any assurance on behalf of the government. He said he would reert to the court on 3 August.

The public interest litigation was filed by the Delhi Science Forum, alleging the government is giving away public money to private telecom players.

The division bench comprising Justice Variava and Justice S.K. Mahajan directed DoT to file an affidavit on 3 August.
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Federal Bank plans to phase out NRNR deposits
Kochi: Federal Bank is planning a new asset liability management strategy, which involves phasing out of the high cost NRNR deposits this year-end. Concurrently the bank will increase the savings and current deposit portfolio and achieve an overall reduction in the cost of deposits.

The bank has set a target of Rs 86 crore in the current year for recovery of non-performing assets and proposes to bring down the cost of deposits from 11.56 per cent to 10.5 per cent. It will also retire Rs 680 crore worth of high cost NRNR deposits by September-October.
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Indian Bank seeks Rs 1,200 cr recap aid
Chennai: Indian Bank has sought a recapitalisation assistance of Rs 1,.200 crore from the government to stem the huge losses in its books and achieve a capital adequacy ratio of eight per cent.

T.S. Raghavan, chairman and managing director of the bank, said the bank has made good progress on the recovery front, but to strengthen its financial position it needs additional capital infusion.

The bank has recorded a total loss of Rs 3,181.87 crore as on 31 March 1999 against a capital base of Rs 2,500 crore. It has overdues of Rs 3,000 crore.
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Associates plans new focus
New Delhi: Associates India Financial Services, formerly Avco Financial Services, has decided to focus on construction equipment finance and home equity segment in tune with the global strategy of its parent Associates Capital Corporation.

Avco Financial Services was acquired by Associates Capital Corporation, the $90-billion home equity, construction equipment finance and credit card company. Avco has been bought over from Textron for $3.9 billion,

Associates India Financial Services has set up four branches in Delhi, Jaipur, Pune and Bangalore. By the end of this year, it will set up four more branches.
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Credit Suisse arm loses licence in Japan
Tokyo: Credit Suisse Financial Products, the London-based derivatives arm of the Swiss banking group, became the first bank to have its local banking licence withdrawn by Japan's banking regulatory authorities.

An investigation by the Financial Supervisory Agency concluded that Credit Suisse Financial Products had conducted systematic evasion and obstruction of inspections, and sold products that deeply undermined the soundness of the Japanese financial markets and financial institutions.

Sanctions are being imposed on four other Credit Suisse subsidiaries, including Credit Suisse First Boston, which will be prevented from initiating new private banking businesses for 12 months.
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