Indian Bank close to recovering Ravi Shankar Prasad Group dues
Chennai: Indian Bank is a step closer to recovering Rs 113 crore owed by the Ravi Shankar Prasad group of companies. The group has submitted a proposal for developing and selling a prime property in Chennai mortgaged with the bank, which will be considered by the board of Indian bank. “The borrowers have filed a proposal which involves roping in a promoter who will invest Rs 30 crore in the property. The mortgaged property has a basic building and the promoters will develop suitable amenities to make it saleable. The promoters will also make a down payment of Rs 2 crore to the bank, after which they will be permitted be develop the property. Once developed, the property will be sold and the bank will be repaid,” said a source familiar with the development. The recovery issue between the Ravi Shankar group and Indian Bank has been hanging fire for quite sometime as the debt recovery tribunal (DRT) was unable to find suitable buyers for the property. “DRT had attached the property which was valued at about Rs 90 crore and put it on block about a year back. However, the tribunal was unable to sell as there was no bidder for the property,” sources said.
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CCIL to hire settlement bank for CLS third party services
Mumbai: The Clearing Corporation of India Ltd (CCIL) is planning to appoint a settlement bank, which will offer third-party services for continuous linked settlement (CLS). It is also constituting a user committee for the appointment process. CCIL has called for proposals from a few banks offering these third party services in India. These include ABN Amro Bank, HSBC, Citibank, Bank of America and Bank of New York. In a move to fortify the decision to choose the right bank, the user committee, will comprise of experts in the field of foreign exchange and forex settlements. It might also include the existing directors of CCIL.
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HC spikes Tayal’s plea in share transfer case
Jaipur: The Rajasthan High Court on Monday rejected an appeal by PK Tayal, chairman of Bank of Rajasthan, in a share transfer case. Tayal had earlier appealed in the High Court for quashing the FIR, which had led to his arrest on May 10. The High Court had ordered an enquiry into the bail order issued by additional judicial magistrate on the following day of the arrest. The FIR was filed by the owner of Overseas Capital Ltd which alleged that Tayal and his company—Krishna Texport and Capital Market—had failed to deliver Rs 29 lakh shares to it. Tayal was arrested for non-delivery of one lakh shares of Beta Securities purchased by Overseas Capital Ltd amounting to Rs 29.75 lakh in 1995. The shares were owned by Krishna Texport and Capital Markets. The latter also has a 42 per cent stake in Bank of Rajasthan. Overseas Capital has alleged that Krishna Texport and Capital Markets had taken Rs 32 lakh for the delivery of shares.
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Pune court orders attaching state govt property, accounts
Mumbai: On a plea by leading financial institutions (FI), a debt recovery tribunal in Pune has attached the immovable properties of the Maharashtra government and its two accounts maintained by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the State Bank of India (SBI) to recover Rs 81.67 crore dues from six spinning mills in the cooperative sector. The government properties and bank accounts have been attached as it had stood as guarantor for the loans to these spinning mills, mostly controlled by politicians. R Rajendra Yadav, recovery officer, DRT, Pune on May 26 ordered attachment of central building, collector’s office and council hall located in Pune. Besides, he also ordered attachment of government bank accounts viz; deputy inspector general of registrar, deputy collector of stamps and collectors, Mumbai, with RBI and administrative officer, joint registrar, Bandra, Mumbai, with SBI.
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Life Insurance players join hands to fight for stake in pension pie
New Delhi: Warning of an impending mess in the pension funds sector, the life insurance industry has at last decided to unitedly pre-empt “a highly restrictive and retrogressive scenario”. It also plans to highlight the contradiction in creating a “part-monopoly” at a time when monopoly was being dismantled elsewhere in the economy, including insurance. Accordingly, it would be forming a core group to crystallise the industry’s views and represent to the government against limiting the role of life insurers as also the number of players in the proposed dispensation. Industry captains gathered to felicitate outgoing chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) N Rangachary under the aegis of the Confederation of Indian Industry recently were unanimous that they must keep their toes firmly wedged in the door to pension funds.
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Canara Bank not to return equity before November
Mumbai: Canara Bank has said that it will consider return of equity to the Government only in November this year, after the expiry of the one-year lock-in period. The bank's chairman and managing director, R.V. Shastri, said on Wednesday that the bank had returned Rs 278 crore of recapitalisation bond to the government in November 2002 and can repay further equity after the one -year lock-in period. After the return of the equity and public issue in December 2002, the paid-up capital of the bank is Rs 410 crore.
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UCO Bank cuts rates
Kolkata: UCO Bank has decided to lower the interest rate on deposits and advances with effect from June 2. According to an official release issued here on Wednesday by the bank, deposits with maturity of two years and above would earn 6 per cent and those of more than one year but less than 2 years would attract 5.75 per cent. The rate on deposits with maturity between 180 and 364 days, 91-179 days, 46 and 90 days and 15 and 45 days would be 5.5 per cent, 5.25 per cent, 5 per cent and 4.5 per cent respectively. The rate on the bank's special deposit scheme, "Diamond Deposit'' has been fixed at 6.25 per cent. Senior citizens, it is clarified, would continue to receive an additional 0.5 per cent on deposits with maturity of one year and above.
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Banks flex CAR muscle
Chennai: Public sector banks in India have shown considerable improvement in their capital adequacy ratios (CAR) in fiscal 2003. CAR is a parameter of judging a bank's financial strength and capacity to expand its business. The Reserve Bank of India prescribes a minimum CAR of 9 per cent. In simple terms, this means that a bank needs to maintain a capital base of Rs 9 for every Rs 100 that it lends. In the fiscal ended March 2002, there were two banks, which had a CAR of below 9 per cent — Indian Bank and Dena Bank.
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ICICI Info's Newton takes off here with LVB
Chennai: ICICI Infotech will shortly introduce in India a new core banking solutions software that will allow banks to carry on with their legacy applications. The product, called Newton, has been implemented in two banks in Japan and three banks in Korea, and is being tried out in India for the first time in Lakshmi Vilas Bank. The chairman and managing director of Lakshmi Vilas Bank, A. Krishnamurthy, said that the bank chose Newton because "we don't have to change anything". The core banking solution will interface with the existing Total Branch Automation software.
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Banks, FIs rejig Rs 33,000 cr corporate debt through CDR
New Delhi: Leading banks and FIs including SBI, IDBI, ICICI and IFCI have approved debt recast worth over Rs 33,000 crore of the total 60 cases involving Rs 50,000 crore being addressed through the Corporate Debt Restructuring (CDR) mechanism, official sources said on Wednesday. “The Empowered Group under the CDR system has approved about 30 cases involving Rs 33,000 crore worth of debt last fiscal so far,” officials of a leading FI said. The CDR system, set up last year to assist companies tide over financial difficulties and repay bank loans in time, was sought to be an effective system in recovering NPAs apart from the arm-twisting tactics through the securitisation laws. Encouraged by the finance ministry and Reserve Bank, the CDR system has assisted at least 29 companies with debt of over Rs 29,000 crore till March 2003.
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