Rupee marginally weaker
Mumbai: The rupee fell marginally against the dollar on Thursday closing the day at 45.16/17, lower than Wednesday's close of 45.12/14.

Forwards: In the forward premium market, the 6-month ended at 1.33 per cent (1.45 per cent) and the 12-month was unchanged at 1 per cent.

G-Secs: The 8.07- 12-year 2017 paper ended at Rs106.56 (7.20 per cent YTM). The 10.25 16-year 2021 paper closed at Rs126.38 (7.36 per cent YTM) almost unchanged from the earlier close of Rs126.36 (7.36 per cent YTM).

Call rates: Call rates touched 7.25 per cent in the early session and remained above 7 per cent in the second half as well. It closed around 7.10 per cent (6.90 per cent).

Reverse Repo: In the first auction, RBI did not receive any bids for reverse repo. It received and accepted 36 bids for Rs24,365 crore in the repo auction. In the second auction, RBI received three bids for Rs3,220 crore in the reverse repo auction and 16 bids for Rs5,745 crore in the repo auction.

CBLO: In the CBLO market, there were 296 trades for Rs9,632.15 crore in the range of 6.25-6.80 per cent.
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Banks launching no-frills accounts in response to RBI's inclusion plan
New Delhi: A number of banks have launched 'no-frills' accounts in recent weeks in response to the Reserve Bank of India's call of social and financial inclusion of marginalised customers.

Last year, the Reserve Bank of India had emphasised more than once on the significance of greater financial inclusion — delivery of banking services at an affordable cost to sections of disadvantaged and low-income groups. The RBI had said that banking services, even the very basic, are not available to a large section of the Indian population, while banks assiduously court the high-end customers.

The number of accounts (current and savings) per 100 of adult population points to the disparity in different states. In Punjab, the figure is at a high of 105, while in Bihar it drops to 32.

V Leeladhar, deputy governor, RBI, at a recent seminar on financial inclusion said, "In many banks, the requirement of minimum balance and charges levied, although accompanied by a number of free facilities, deter a sizeable section of population from opening and maintaining bank accounts," he said. A no-frills account is essentially a nil or low balance account with charges that make it accessible to vast sections of the population.

Allahabad Bank and Uco bank offer no frills accounts that require a minimum balance of Rs5. For cheque books and ATM facilities, charges of around Rs250 would be levied.

Bank of India's basic account requires a minimum balance of Rs50 in rural and semi-urban branches and Rs100 in urban branches. India's largest private bank, ICICI Bank is also open to launching a no-frills account.

MNC bank Deutsche Bank has also launched a no-frills account earlier this week, albeit with a minimum balance of Rs500. The account will provide free quarterly consolidated account statements, free personalised payable-at-par cheque books and 3.5 per cent interest rate per annum. The RBI has also asked regional rural banks to offer no frills accounts and give wide publicity on these basic banking facilities.
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Kotak Mahindra OM Life expects more business in Q4
Mumbai: Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life is expecting 60 per cent of its business in the last quarter of the current fiscal since high net worth individuals constitute the bulk of its customers.

The company has registered a growth of 113 per cent in terms of individual regular premium policies during the first half of the fiscal raking in Rs70.25 crore for the half-year period this fiscal, up from Rs32.9 crore in the corresponding period in this segment.

Officials said the reason for the slower growth was the drop in single premium as well as group business. In April, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) had taken a decision to restrict the selling of keyman insurance only as term insurance. Since most of its single premium policies were for keymen, the company saw a drop in this line of business.

Going forward, the company will introduce two unit-linked insurance plans with capital guarantee and a participating plan for retirement.
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Union Bank to raise Rs.500 crore in current fiscal
Mumbai: The Union Bank of India is planning to raise Rs500 crore through a follow-on public issue of equity shares before the end of February 2006.

The equity issue is part of the Rs2,000 crore total capital requirement the bank has envisaged over the next three years, said K Cherian Varghese, chairman, Union Bank, today.

The government stake in Union Bank will fall to 55.43 per cent after the public issue from 60.85 per cent now.
The bank has already filed a draft prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

He said the bank's capital adequacy would increase to about 12 per cent after the issue and the bank would like to maintain the capital adequacy ratio at the same level all through.
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Irda throws out insurers plea to soften agents` norms
New Delhi: The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority has thrown out the insurers' demand for relaxation of guidelines for corporate agent licences, but said the norms would not be enforced on existing licences till April 2007.

Clause 7 of the new guidelines for corporate agents issued by Irda in July this year stated, "The chief insurance executive, the designated officer and other specified persons who will be employed by the applicant should be whole time employees of the applicant.

However, Irda said in case of existing licences that came up for renewal, Clause 7 of the guidelines would not be enforced till April 1, 2007, and the renewal would be provisional subject to review by that date.
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Union Bank to raise Rs.500 crore
Mumbai: The Union Bank of India has said it would come up with a follow-on public offer of 4.5 crore shares to raise Rs500 cr.
The bank has received approvals from the NSE and BSE for the issue, bank's chairman and managing Director Cherian Varghese told reporters.

It is awaiting market regulator SEBI's approval for the exact date of the issue, he said.

Post-issue, the Government's stake in the bank would come down to 55.43 per cent from 60.85 per cent now, he said, adding that the bank's capital adequacy would go up to over 12 per cent by then.
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Union Bank launches new product for SMEs
Mumbai: The Union Bank of India has enhanced concentration on the mid-segment of businesses to offer good quality advances with high yield.

The bank has introduced a new product, Union High Pride, for SMEs having investment in plant and machinery above Rsone crore, but below Rs10 crore, said UBI chairman and managing director Cherian Varghese.

He clarified that the focus of the bank was clearly the mid-segment and not the whole SME sector. This follows the bank's decision to hike the interest rates of term deposits from 25-75 basis points.
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SBI to retain 15-20 per cent of IMD
Mumbai: State Bank of India will retain 15-20 per cent of the US$7.3bn invested by expatriates in the India Millenium Deposit scheme, which matured on Thursday, the bank's chairman said.

"The exact amount of retention we will know in a couple of days," said SBI chairman A.K. Purwar.
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