High-value loan defaulters still stay off — One-time settlement plan to be extended
New Delhi: With high-value loan defaulters continuing to elude the recovery trap set for them against the backdrop of threat of action under the Securitisation Act, the one-time settlement (OTS) scheme for defaults up to Rs 10 crore is set to be extended by about three months. The Ministry of Finance has given its assent for the extension of scheme on a request received recently from the Reserve Bank of India to extend the scheme by another few months. "We have received a proposal from the RBI for giving more time for borrowers to come forward for settlement. We have given the go-ahead. The scheme would be extended by around three more months," a top official of the Ministry confirmed.
Back to News Review index page  

UCO Bank public issue likely in July
Kolkata: UCO Bank is planning to come out with the public issue sometime in July or August, according to V.P. Shetty, Chairman and Managing Director of the bank. "We have sought the Government's approval and we hope to get it, together with RBI's approval, in this month itself,'' Shetty said. UCO Bank's IPO will be of Rs 200 crore, 10 per cent of which will be reserved for the employees of the bank. "There will be no reservation for the NRIs who can apply for our shares on non-repatriable basis," he said. UCO Bank, according to its CMD, was yet to decide on whether the issue would be offered at par or at a premium. "We will decide on it at a later date though I personally feel 20 per cent premium may not be too bad,'' he said. "But nothing has been finalised in this regard''.
Back to News Review index page  

SARS outbreak in Hong Kong — It's business as usual for HSBC India
Thiruvananthapuram: Multinational banking major HSBC India is ready with a contingency plan for itself to deal with any situation arising out of a possible outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and its likely impact on conduct of business operations in the country. That the outbreak has been traced to Honk Kong, the base of the HSBC Group's flagship in Asia, is a bit of bother alright, but it has not really affected business in India, Niall S.K. Booker, Chief Executive Officer, HSBC India, said.
Back to News Review index page  

NSIC cuts hire purchase rates
Coimbatore: National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), one of the approved lending agencies for financing the textile technology upgradation fund scheme (TUFS) projects, has announced cut in the interest rate ranging from one per cent to 1.5 per cent for borrowings under hire purchase scheme, composite term loan (CTL) and raw material assistance (RMA) schemes. The rate reduction is effective from May 1, according to a communication from the NSIC here. The rate reduction offered to the HP scheme would now be made eligible to the TUFS borrowings made with the NSIC in view of the extension of the TUFS to cover the hire purchase of equipment by the Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee on TUFS recently.
Back to News Review index page