Rupee declines
Mumbai: The Indian currency declined for the second consecutive session on Monday to close at 46.39/41 against the dollar, weaker by about 10 paise from previous close. The rupee had ended at 46.31 on Friday.
Forwards Market: The six-month forward closed at 2.70 per cent (2.76 per cent), while the twelve-month forward ended at 2.39 per cent (2.41 per cent).
G-Secs: The ten-year benchmark 7.37 per cent 2014 paper moved up half a rupee to end at Rs.105.75. The 7.38 per cent 2015 paper went upwards from Rs.105.30 to Rs.105.80.
Call rates: In the range of 4.40-4.50 per cent.
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Banks can use RTGS for customer transactions
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India has said that the Real Time Gross Settlement system has been enabled for `Straight Through Processing' at the bank's end for putting through customer transactions. This will enable banks to directly credit the customers account without any manual intervention, upon receiving the credit advice and also help facilitate the introduction of the T +1 settlement in respect of stock exchanges, said a press release.

Thirty-two out of the 72 banks, that are participants in RTGS system, offer customer related RTGS fund transfer services through 840 branches in 134 major centres across the country, accounting for bulk of banking business in the country. RBI has said that the receiving bank is under an obligation to credit the beneficiary customer's account within two hours of receiving the credit notification at its payment systems gateway.

RBI's Real Time Gross Settlement System, which went live on March 26, 2004 was initially, open to the settlement of inter-bank transactions. From April 29, 2004, the RTGS System has been open also for the settlement of customer transactions. Currently, there are 72 banks participating in the RTGS System for inter-bank settlement, accounting for more than 90 per cent of the total value of inter-bank settlements in Mumbai.
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Interest norms set on two retiring staff schemes
New Delhi: The Finance Ministry has spelled out the interest treatment on the accumulations in two of its deposits schemes - the Deposit Scheme for Retiring Government Employees, 1989 and the Deposit Scheme for Retiring Employees of Public Sector Companies, 1991.

For those deposits that mature on or before September 13, the Ministry has now said that it will cease to earn any interest after September 13. Similarly, deposits maturing after September 13 will not earn any interest for the period after the date of their maturity.

According to official sources, "The interest payment treatment is being spelled out to enable the depositors to take an informed judgement about moving into other schemes."
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SBT offers RTGS facility
Thiruvananthapuram: The State Bank of Travancore (SBT), which went live with Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) on high-value bank-to-bank remittances in July this year, has now started offering this facility to its customers, says a bank press release. All SBT branches in Mumbai and four branches in Thiruvananthapuram, including the Thiruvananthapuram `Main' and SSI branches, have commenced handling RTGS remittances for customers, the release adds.

Using this service, customers can transfer funds to any RTGS-enabled bank branch in the country and have the funds credited within a maximum of two hours, the release says.
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HDFC to sell 50 percent in Intelenet to Barclays
Mumbai: HDFC has announced that it would be selling 50 per cent stake in its BPO venture, Intelenet Global Services, to Barclays Bank Plc for Rs.164 crore, subject to regulatory approvals. It was less than a month ago — on July 21 — that HDFC had bought TCS's 50 per cent stake in Intelenet for Rs.161 crore, making Intelenet a 100 per cent subsidiary.

Barclays is a leading UK-based financial services conglomerate operating in over 60 countries. HDFC and TCS had set up Intelenet as a 50:50 joint venture in 2000. The company offers a range of BPO solutions and services and has over 4,300 employees and 19 clients. During the last financial year, it reported revenues of Rs.117 crore, an operating profit of Rs.26.6 crore and net profit of Rs.10.8 crore (before adjustment for deferred tax).
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IOB to pay above normal for bulk deposits
Chennai: The Indian Overseas Bank will pay 25 basis points (0.25 per cent) above the normal rates, for bulk deposits of Rs.5 crore and above for periods of 91 days and above. The revised rates come into effect from August 16. The normal rate for deposits above 7 days and upto 179 days is 4 per cent.
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