IDBI to takeover United Western Bank
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India has announced the amalgamation of the sick United Western Bank (UWB) with IDBI Ltd.

The draft scheme for merger requires IDBI to make an upfront payment in cash of Rs 28 for every fully paid-up share held in UWB, costing a total of Rs150 crore.

The UWB scrip closed today at Rs21.45 on the BSE, while the IDBI scrip closed at Rs62.25, up 0.16 per cent on Tuesday.
Analysts said that this is probably the first time that the Central bank has taken into account the interest of shareholders.

The Maharashtra Government-owned SICOM holds a stake of around 10 per cent in UWB and is calling a board meeting this week to weigh the buyout offer of IDBI. The organization is said to have acquired UWB shares at a price higher than Rs 28 and officials said SICOM may try to try to negotiate a higher price with IDBI, if possible.

However, the moratorium on UWB has not been lifted and the two banks have been given time till September 27 to consider the draft scheme. Effective from September 2, employees on the rolls of UWB will wear the IDBI tag.

UWB was placed under a moratorium on September 2 on the RBI's advice. IDBI currently has 180 branches and 400 ATMs, while UWB has 230 branches, 12 extension counters and 75 ATMs. IDBI has around 4,500 staff while UWB has on around 3,000 employees, lifting the total labour force to 7,500.
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Rupee firms up against dollar
Mumbai: The rupee gained against the dollar on Tuesday due to reduced demand by oil companies. Dealers said gold buying by importers was also absent.

The rupee opened at 46.34/36, touched an intra-day high of 46.24/25 to finally end at 46.27/28. On Monday, the rupee closed at 46.30.

Forwards: In forwards, the six-month premium ended at 1.43 per cent (1.39 per cent) and the 12-month premium at 1.39 per cent (1.37 per cent).

Bonds: Bond prices fell on weak buying. It is also seen as a correction as players booked profit after the September 8 auction, said dealers.

G-secs: The 10-year benchmark 7.59 paper 2016 opened 10 paise lower at Rs99.15 (7.72 per cent YTM) against the previous close of Rs99.24 (7.70 per cent YTM) and ended lower at Rs98.77 (7.77 per cent YTM). The 8.07 per cent - 11 year, 2017 paper opened at Rs102.08 (7.71 per cent YTM) and closed at Rs101.72 (7.82 per cent YTM) against the previous close of Rs102.21 (7.75 per cent YTM).

Call rates: Call rates were between 6.00 and 6.10 per cent.
Reverse repo: In the first one-day reverse repo auction under LAF, Reserve Bank of India received and accepted 18 bids amounting to Rs 20,070 crore and in the second one-day reverse repo auction, 25 bids for Rs14,685 crore. There were no repo bids.

CBLO: The CBLO market saw 234 trades aggregating to Rs13,419.50 crore in the 5.90-6.07 per cent range.
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Union Bank to speed up processing of outstation cheques
Bhubaneswar: Union Bank of India plans to speed up processing of outstation cheques. It will soon introduce a system whereby it will ensure assured credit of all out-station cheques on the fifth day. The facility would be available in the bank's 760 branches that had been brought under core banking solution. At present, the out-station cheques were being credited in a week or more. The bank is placing emphasis on technological upgradation of its operations and planned to increase the number of its CBS branches to 1,200 by March 2007.

The bank, with a total of 2,090 branches across the country, plans to open 100 new branches during the current fiscal.
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YES Bank to raise $150mn
Mumbai: YES Bank plans to raise $50 million through the issue of upper and lower Tier-II bonds during the second half of the current fiscal. The bank also plans to mop up $100 million as primary Tier-I capital by a private placement or Global Depository Receipts issue according to Rana Kapoor, managing director and CEO, Yes Bank.

YES Bank plans to roll out 30 additional branches, two processing centres and 75 offsite ATMs. It now has 30 branches.
YES Bank also is looking to increase its staff strength from the extant 1, 500 to 2, 400 by March 2007 and has applied to the Reserve Bank of India to set up a retail broking unit by next fiscal.

The bank has also tied up with Intel Technology India Private Ltd to launch a wi-fi banking branch network, which will enable branches to deliver wireless banking to staff and customers.
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Thane Janata Sahakari Bank to acquire three co-op banks
Pune: The Thane Janata Sahakari Bank will soon acquire three co-operative banks in Maharashtra. Two of the banks are in Pune and one is in Nashik. The bank expects to close the deals in the next two to three months.

The Thane Janta Sahakari Bank is looking to acquire the Navajeevan Sahakari Bank and Sadguru Jangali Maharaj Bank in Pune. Due diligence procedures for this have been completed. The company has also initiated talks with a third co-operative bank in Nashik.

Sources said the three banks that have become the targets of acquisition posted negative capital adequacy. Thane Janta Sahakari Bank has filed proposals with the commissioner of cooperatives and the Reserve Bank of India and is awaiting regulatory approvals.

Navajeevan Sahakari Bank has transacted business worth Rs30 crore in the last fiscal and incurred losses of around Rs5 crore. The bank has 3 three branches in Pune. Sadguru Jangali Maharaj Bank transacted business of Rs500 crore and has losses of around Rs 40 crore and had 14 branches in the state.At present, Thane Janta Sahakari Bank has 20 branches and 4 extensioin counters, and if the deals go through this will help the bank in getting a pan-Maharashtra presence.
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