Rupee reaches all-time low again
Mumbai: The rupee touched 43.57 to the dollar, the same level it had touched in August 1999. At that time, Reserve Bank of India governor Bimal Jalan had talked the rupee up. There are rumours that the RBI may relax control on speculation on the rupee.

The RBI may allow companies to hedge expected foreign currency exposures and allow them to rebook cancelled forward contracts. This has put pressure on the rupee, some marketmen feel.
Back to News Review index page

RoC privatisation soon
New Delhi: The Registrar of Companies may be privatised as soon as the new government comes to power. The department of company affairs is considering the pros and cons of such a move. Privatisation will mean opening up the divisions that collect and disseminate information. Areas that will not be privatised are policy making, inspection, and prosecution of companies.

The DCA is considering making its private database on half a million companies public. The database contains basic data about companies, and will be made available to the public in the form of a CD-Rom at a nominal price of around Rs.2,500.
Back to News Review index page

SBI Caps, JM Morgan to manage Sidbi issue
Mumbai: The Small Industries Development Bank of India will appoint SBI Capital Markets and JM Morgan Stanley to lead manage its Rs.1,500-crore debt issue. The co-lead managers to the issue will be Kotak Mahindra Capital and DSP Merill Lynch. Sidbi is raising funds in order to achieve its larger disbursement target for 1999-2000.

About Rs.300-400 crore of the issue will be raised through a public issue of bonds. The rest of the amount will be raised through private placement. The funds will be raised through vanilla bonds, priority sector bonds and structured instruments.
Back to News Review index page

IFCI plans to reduce its NPAs
New Delhi: The Industrial Finance Corporation of India is planning several measures towards paring its non-performing assets. Currently, over 20 per cent of the total outstanding loans are non-performing assets. IFCI has identified 32 large non-performing loans amounting to Rs.2,004 crore.

Stopping the growth in new non-performing assets will be one of the measures, apart from the maintenance of a ceiling on exposure to individual companies and groups. For an individual group, the ceiling has been fixed at 30 per cent though the Reserve Bank of India has permitted a single group’s exposure to go up to a maximum of 50 per cent. The cap on loans to a single company has been kept at 15 per cent, compared to the RBI permitted level of 25 per cent.

The Industrial Finance Corporation of India will also shorten its name to IFCI Ltd. Also, in about two to three years, it may apply for listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
Back to News Review index page

Genco provides escrow cover to PFC
New Delhi: Genco has provided escrow cover to Power Finance Corporation for a Rs.70-crore loan. The loan will be used by Genco, an Andhra Pradesh state-owned company, for funding its working capital requirements.

This is the first time Power Finance Corporation has provided working capital loans to Andhra Pradesh.
Back to News Review index page

High court asks govt. to postpone decision on Sikkim Bank-UBI merger
Calcutta: According to a report in the Business Standard, the Calcutta High Court has asked the central government not to take any decision on the merger of Sikkim Bank and Union Bank. The Reserve Bank of India had formulated a scheme of amalgamation of the two banks.
Back to News Review index page

Non-life insurance to get new life
Calcutta: Changes will be made in the commission structure for insurance agents working in the non-life insurance industry as part of a new marketing strategy.

According to A N Poddar, chairman and managing director, National Insurance Corporation, the non-life insurance sector will get more balance with the shift towards personal and retail insurance. He said the present commission structure does not enthuse agents.

NIC made a net profit of Rs.80 crore for the year ended 31 March 1999, compared to the Rs.147.5 crore it made during the 1997-98. The decline was mainly due to underwriting losses rising from Rs.92.8 crore in 1997-98 to Rs.212.9 crore in 1998-99.
Back to News Review index page

ANZ fined in London
London: The Investment Management Regulatory Organisation Ltd., the British market regulator, has fined the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group for 2,50,000. The regulator felt that ANZ had breached some of its regulations during the period between January 1997 to May 1999.
Back to News Review index page