Money market: Rupee ends higher - bonds steady
Mumbai: The rupee closed at 43.70/71.5, against the US dollar on Wednesday, slightly higher than previous day's close of 43.73.

Forwards market: The 12-month premium closed at 1.50 (1.04) and the 6-month premium ended at 1.68 per cent (1.60).

G-Secs: The bond market was weak with the 7.38 per cent 10-year benchmark paper closing at Rs105.60 (6.63 per cent YTM) on Wednesday, unchanged from Tuesday's close.

Call rates: In the range of 4.50 - 4.60 per cent.

CBLO market: 166 trades aggregating Rs 5,489.45 crore were put through in the rate range of 4.00 to 4.75 per cent.
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PNB hikes NRI term deposit rates
New Delhi: The Punjab National Bank has increased interest rates on NRI rupee and foreign currency deposit schemes by 20-40 basis points, effective from March 2.

In the case of non-resident (External) rupee deposit, interest rate has been raised from 3.80 to 4 per cent for 1-2 years, from 4.10 to 4.50 per cent for 2-3 years and from 4.30 to 4.70 for maturities of 3-years only. The rate of interest for NRI saving accounts is 2.80 per cent per annum from January to March 2005.

In the case of Foreign Currency Non-Residents (Banks) Scheme, the interest rate has been hiked on dollar deposits from 3.01 to 3.28 per cent for 1-2 years, from 3.36 to 3.70 per cent for 2-3 years and from 3.55 to 3.91 per cent for 3 years maturity.

The rate of interest on British Pound deposits has been increased from 4.72 per cent to 4.93 per cent for 1-2 years, from 4.66 to 4.90 per cent for 2-3 years and from 4.65 to 4.88 per cent for 3 years only.

Interest rate on Euro deposits have been hiked from 2.04 to 2.09 per cent for 1-2 years, from 2.31 to 2.42 per cent for 2-3 years and from 2.51 to 2.66 per cent for maturity of 3 years only.
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Watson Wyatt to boost bancassurance sales
Mumbai: Watson Wyatt Worldwide, a global consulting firm specialising in insurance and financial services, has announced an expansion of its range of services to India. The company says it will assist banks and insurance companies in India in implementing the bancassurance sales approach.

R. Krishnamurthy, former CEO of SBI Life and ex Deputy MD of State Bank of India, will head this expansion as Managing Director, Distribution Consulting, Watson Wyatt India Pvt Ltd.

Watson Wyatt will provide a full implementation service to banks and insurance companies so that the distribution of insurance products can be accelerated through their extensive network of branches of commercial banks, cooperative banks and regional rural banks in the country.

Watson Wyatt's clients in India include Bajaj Allianz, ING Vysya Life and Met Life.
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New loan products from Canfin Homes
Bangalore: Canfin Homes Limited is launching three new loan products in a bid to diversify its income stream. The housing finance subsidiary of the public sector Canara Bank has said that these products would help the company arrest the falling yield on loans.

The new products introduced are Venture, Networth and N-Cash. Venture is a loan product aimed at professionals for setting up their own premises. Networth is aimed at salaried individuals requiring cash against their property and N-Cash is product, which discounts rent receivables.

The company said that these products, which are priced at around 11 per cent plus, would help the company improve its margins. Presently Canfin Homes was dependent on home loans, and the average yield on these loans was 9 per cent.

For the current financial year, he said Canfin Homes was targeting a loan sanctions figure of Rs575 crore and disbursements of Rs500 crore.
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HDFC Bank starts ATM operation at Taj Bengal
Mumbai: HDFC Bank has inaugurated its ATM facility at the Taj Bengal Hotel. This is the first time an ATM is being set up in a residential hotel, according to a press release from HDFC Bank.

This facility will enable hotel guests to carry out their transactions, without leaving the hotel premises.

As HDFC Bank has an ATM sharing agreement with State Bank of India and Andhra Bank, customers of all the three banks will be able to access the ATM, the release said.
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YES Bank to raise Rs100 crore Tier II capital
Mumbai: YES Bank has announced its plans to raise Rs100-crore Tier II capital through redeemable convertible bonds. The bank said it was in talks with multi-lending institutions and would finalise the deal by June.

It would focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to expand its business, bank officials said.

YES Bank also plans to come out with an IPO by the first quarter of 2005, to raise around Rs300 crore. Officials said that they had appointed DSP Merrill Lynch and Enam Securities as merchant bankers. The bank will issue seven crore shares through the book-building route. This will dilute 40 per cent of the promoters stake in the bank.

Currently, the two promoters, Rana Kapoor and Ashok Kapoor, jointly hold 52.5 per cent stake in the bank. International bank, Rabobank Netherlands, holds 20 per cent stake.

Ashok Kapoor, non-executive chairman of the bank, said, "Dilution of promoters' stake will happen automatically as and when we raise more capital. RBI's guidelines about foreign banks stake in private Indian banks do not apply, as Rabobank, one of our stake holders, does not operate in India as a bank."
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Lord Krishna Bank rights issue oversubscribed
Kochi: The rights issue of Lord Krishna Bank, whose subscription closed on February 28, has been over-subscribed, a press release from the bank has said. The issue was to aggregate Rs45.30 crore to the bank's capital base.

The proceeds of the issue would increase the networth of the bank during the current year itself and boost capital adequacy ratio, taking it much above the statutory 9 per cent limit set by RBI.

"This will make the bank as one of the first in the group to meet the Basel II norms of capital adequacy," the bank said in a statement issued here.

The branch networking under core banking solutions, inter-connectivity with ATM facility and many new technology driven customer friendly initiatives shall prove handy and help the bank to aim at an increase in its aggregate business turnover from Rs3,429 crore to Rs5,000 crore in a few months from now, the statement added.
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