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Rupee firms up - securities weak
Mumbai: The rupee ended a shade higher against the dollar closing at 43.87/88, up from Thursday's level of 43.89/90.

Forwards market: The 12-month premium closed at 0.65 per cent (0.62 per cent) and the 6-month closed 0.65 per cent (0.55 per cent).

G-Secs: The 10.25-16 year-2021 paper closed at Rs126.44 (7.38 per cent YTM). The 7.37-9 year-2014 paper ended at Rs102.66 (6.95 per cent). The 7.38-10 year-2015 paper was dealt at Rs102.40 (7.04 per cent YTM) against Thursday's Rs102.75 (6.99 per cent YTM).

Call rates: The inter bank rates closed at 4.95-5.05 per cent (5-5.05 per cent).

Reverse repo: In the three-day auction, the RBI received and accepted 42 bids amounting to Rs30,780 crore.

CBLO market: 229 trades, for Rs8,381.35 crore, were realised.
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RBI: RTGS implemented in 10,000 branches six months in advance
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India has said that its electronic system, real-time gross settlement (RTGS), which facilitates fund transfer on a real time basis, had exceeded the target of covering 10,000 branches six months in advance. The RTGS system was introduced in March 2004.

Now, RTGS membership includes 94 banks, the RBI and 14 primary dealers, the release said.

The system facilitates fund transfer between identified branches of banks on a real time basis i.e. instantaneously. Banks are required to include only those branches that are connected through the network and capable of receiving messages on a real time basis.

One of the requirements of the system is that the receiving banks should return the transactions within two hours of their receipt if the funds cannot be applied for any reason.

Thus, a customer sending funds through RTGS system at 11.00 a.m can expect the beneficiary's account to be credited positively by 1.00 pm, if not earlier.

It is seen that most of the banks apply credit to the account holders immediately.
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LIC targets Rs1,000 crore business from alternate channels
Mumbai: Life Insurance Corporation of India has targeted new business premium from alternate channels to the tune of Rs1,000 crore by the end of the fiscal and has tied up with two banks, IndusInd Bank and Bank of Rajasthan, towards his end.

LIC's tie up with IndusInd Bank involves a group insurance scheme for the account holders of the bank, for both savings and current accounts. The scheme is open to all individual account holders aged between 18 and 54 years maintaining current and saving accounts with IndusInd Bank.

LIC also seeks to tap the NRI customer base of IndusInd Bank by offering a cover of Rs3 lakh. The premium for this product will range between Rs172 and Rs888 depending on the age of the customer.

In the current fiscal, LIC has garnered Rs55 crore from alternate channels.

In 2004-05, the PSU life insurer earned Rs200 crore from alternate channels. Of this, Rs140 crore came from its tie-ups with banks. However, bancassurance accounted only about 1.6 per cent of the total new business during this period.

LIC has so far insured 5.5 lakh lives through similar group insurance tie-ups with nine other banks. Of these, Andhra Bank has topped with a figure of four lakh.

The insurer has also developed a product especially for bancassurance, which is awaiting approval from IRDA. This will be modelled like an over-the-counter product and have features that will require less of explaining.

According to IndusInd Bank officials, the bank had set a target of covering five lakh lives in the first year. The bank was also finalising plans to bring out a GDR by December-end.

In yet another tie-up, the Bank of Rajasthan has moved from its earlier bancassurance partner, Birla SunLife to LIC. According to the bank, the size of LIC, its popularity in rural areas, as well as the wide range of products had prompted the move.
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IOB raises Rs.200 crore Tier II bonds through private placement
Chennai: The Indian Overseas Bank raised Rs200 crore of unsecured redeemable non-convertible subordinated bonds through a private placement on Thursday. The issue was fully subscribed on the date of opening, according to an IOB press release.

The release said the bonds had 123 months tenure bearing a coupon rate of 7.4 per cent a year payable half yearly.
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Jindal Saw GDS raises US$65mn
New Delhi: Jindal Saw Ltd has said that it has raised US$65mn through the issue of 8.135 million global depository shares (GDS), excluding a greenshoe option of US$10mn.

The GDS, each representing one underlying share, were priced at US$7.99 each and would be listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and also traded on the International Order Book of the London Stock Exchange, according to a company release.

Citigroup acted as the sole book-runner on the transaction and the issue generated demand from investors across Asia, Europe and the US, the release added.

According to P.R. Jindal, Vice-Chairman of the company, "This GDS issue would help us to enjoy the benefits of an internationally traded security market as our shareholder base would be diversified beyond national border.''
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