Allahabad Bank to recruit 119 specialist officers
Kolkata: Kolkata-based public sector commercial bank, Allahabad Bank, has decided to recruit 119 specialist officers for its different departments. The recruitment will be done in junior management grade scale I and middle management grade scale II. Allahabad Bank general manager in charge of personnel & administration Pankaj Mishra said that the recruitment process will not be handled by the bank itself but by an outside agency called Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS). "We have informed IBPS about our requirement in the individual category and the institute will now conduct the recruitment procedure on our behalf," he said. It is learnt that out of the 119 specialist officers, 30 will be for the post of manager (information technology), which will fall under middle management grade scale II. Allahabad Bank will also recruit 15 managers (law) which also come under middle management grade scale II. The other recruitments under middle management grade scale II will be 10 posts of financial analysts and 15 posts of manager (marketing).

The bank will also recruit 24 official language officers (Hindi officers) which come under the junior management grade scale I. The bank has also asked for the recruitment of 10 security officers and 15 information technology officers. Both these recruitments will be made under the junior management grade scale I. Mishra said that in case of recruitment of security officers, persons with defence or police background will be given preferences. However, he refused to comment on the educational qualifications required for other posts. He also said that the pay scale for these specialist officers will be same as applicable for all public sector commercial banks in the country. These specialist officers will be not be offered anything additional in the form of perquisites.
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Indian Bank home loan fair
Coimbatore: A one-day trade and home loan fair has been proposed at the Tiruchi Road branch of the Indian Bank on November 15, where spot sanction would be accorded to eligible loan applicants. The bank offers trade loan at 11.5 per cent and home loan at 7.5 per cent. The bank will also take over regular loan accounts from other banks on that day. For the convenience of its customers, the bank has extended its business hours up to 7 pm in six of its city branches. Standard Chartered, Singapore co launch $100-m India fund Mumbai: Indian companies, especially mid-sized ones, never had it so good when it came to equity funding. Several private financiers are eyeing the mid-cap sector, currently witnessing a spectacular run on the exchanges. The latest entrant is Merlion India Fund, a $100-million private equity fund equally owned and managed by Standard Chartered Private Equity, an investment arm of the UK-based Standard Chartered Bank and Temasek Holdings (Private) Ltd, the investment holding arm of the Government of Singapore. According to industry sources, the fund, which would invest in mid-sized companies, was set up some time in late August, had a low-key launch here on Monday. When contacted, company officials declined to comment.

Managed out of Singapore, the Merlion India Fund, would focus on mid to late stage companies in most growth sectors with the exception of infrastructure, real estate and trading. The directors of the fund are S. Iswaran, managing director, strategic development of Temasek Holdings; and Karam Butalia, global head of Stanchart Private Equity. In a press release issued on August 26 in Singapore, the fund had said that it would provide growth capital for Indian companies that aim to expand their business within India and beyond, as also invest in regional companies seeking to participate in opportunities in India to build their business. Butalia was recently quoted by a news agency as saying that the fund would normally pump in between $5 million and $30 million for equity stakes, but the "sweet spot" for investment was between $10 and $20 million. Temasek Holdings holds large stakes in leading companies in Singapore and the listed companies in its group portfolio represent more than 20 per cent of the market capitalisation of the Singapore Exchange.
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GTB mulling rights issue
Mumbai: In an effort to improve its capital adequacy ratio, which currently stands at near zero levels, Global Trust Bank is mulling a rights issue. This comes even as the troubled private sector bank has been scouting for a foreign investor for several months now. "The special committee of three directors constituted to finalise the capital raising process has approved the proposal and the matter is to be presented before the board of directors of the bank shortly. PricewaterhouseCoopers Ltd, auditors of the bank, is to prepare the prospectus to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India, sources said. The size of the rights issue, however, is yet to be worked out. The bank's share price closed at Rs 20 on Wednesday on the Bombay Stock Exchange with turnover in terms of value at Rs 21.85 lakh.

According to sources, the promoter, Ramesh Gelli, is seen to be interested in upping his stake in the bank and is likely to subscribe to the rights issue. He currently holds 20.28 per cent stake in the bank. However, the International Finance Corporation, Washington, which has been associated with the bank since its inception as a stakeholder, in August, reduced its stake to 7.77 per cent from 10.38 per cent. The bank needs about Rs 300 crore to restore its capital adequacy ratio to acceptable levels, but the rights issue is not likely to be so large at a time when almost the entire capital has been wiped out in provisions and write-offs. The Tier I and Tier II Capital are now at zero, according to the bank's audited balance sheet for the year ended March 31, 2003. The bank had made provisions and write-offs of Rs 309.14 crore in view of the negative impact on its exposure to capital market and other sensitive segments in the earlier years and suffered a net loss of Rs 272.7 crore for the fiscal ended March 31, 2003..

During the last fiscal, the bank had recorded a marginal growth in deposits at Rs 6,921 crore (Rs 6,443 crore) and suffered a decline in advances at Rs 3,276 crore (Rs 3,435 crore). Earlier, the restructuring plan had been to find an investor and then go in for a rights issue, but the reversal in the order of events suggests a possible delay in finding a foreign investor. Lazard India Ltd and JM Morgan Stanley Pvt. Ltd are the financial advisors for the capital restructuring process and a special committee comprising three directors was constituted for finalisation of the terms of investment. The US-based Newbridge Capital and the Hong Kong-based AIF in association with Warburg Pincus have reportedly shown interest in acquiring stake in GTB, but officials refused to confirm the same.
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