Rupee falls by 4 paise
Mumbai: The rupee fell by three paise due to weakness in the domestic stock markets. The home currency opened at 44.30/32, touched an intra-day low of 44.36/37 to finally close at 44.2450/25, against the previous close of 44.2050/2150 on Tuesday.

The six-month forward premia closed at 3.42 per cent (3.27 per cent) and the one-year closed at 3.14 per cent (3.07 per cent).

Bonds: Bond prices were almost unchanged ahead of the advanced tax outflows scheduled in the next few days. Total traded volumes on the order matching system were Rs1,340 crore (Rs1,645 crore).

G-secs: The 8.07 per cent-10 year-2017 paper opened at Rs100.70 (7.96 per cent YTM) and closed at Rs100.72 (7.96 per cent YTM), against Tuesday's Rs100.68 (7.96 per cent YTM).

The 7.37 per cent-7 year-2014 paper opened at Rs96.65 (7.99 per cent YTM) and closed at Rs96.47 (8.03 per cent YTM), against Tuesday's Rs96.63 (8 per cent YTM).

Call rates: Call rates remained unchanged at 5.20-5.40 per cent.

Reverse repo: In the first one-day reverse repo auction, the RBI received twenty bids for Rs 20,355 crore, while it accepted Rs 2,000 crore. In the second one-day reverse repo auction, the RBI received seventeen bids for Rs 16,820 crore and accepted Rs 1,000 crore. There were no repo bids.

The CBLO market saw 405 trades aggregating Rs 23,429.85 crore in the 3.00-4.90 per cent range.
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IndusInd GDR float to raise Rs140 crore
Mumbai: Hinduja group's IndusInd Bank, is planning to raise around Rs140 crore through global depository receipts (GDR) by March-end. The bank will issue close to 30 million shares which will listed at the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.

CLSA has been appointed as the lead manager to the issue. The fresh infusion of capital will bring the promoter holding down to about 28 per cent from 31.3 per cent.

The major shareholders in the bank are IndusInd International Holdings Ltd which holds around 23 per cent stake , IndusInd Ltd 5.34 per cent and De Five Mauritius Holdings Ltd 2.41 per cent.

This issue will enable the bank to boost its capital adequacy ratio to 11.25 per cent from 11.10 per cent. It is also planning to raise Rs50 crore through issuance of lower tier II bonds.

After the issue, the paid up capital of the bank will rise to Rs320 crore from Rs290 crore. The foreign holding in the bank will increase to 25 per cent from about 17 per cent. The ceiling on foreign holding in private sector banks is 74 per cent.

The bank has 148 branches and has the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approval to set up 32 branches more and 100 offsite ATMs. The RBI has also granted business correspondent status to around 750 outlets of ALFIN Services a marketing subsidiary of the bank. This is a boost for IndusInd as it will now be able to market deposit products through these outlets.
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Enam may tie up with JP Morgan
Mumbai: Enam Financial Consultants, one of the leading home-grown investment banks in India, is said to be in talks with JP Morgan for a strategic alliance.

Sources the alliance with JP Morgan might also include acquisition of equity in Enam. Talks were at an advanced stage, they said.

JP Morgan ended its joint venture with ICICI Securities in the late nineties and has not been very active in the Indian capital market since then.

While Enam is a major player in investment banking and in the equity capital market, JP Morgan is among the top five players in the institutional broking business in India.
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Andhra Bank increases credit card charges
Coimbatore: Andhra Bank has announced a steep hike in credit card service charge with effect from April 1. The bank says the hike is `due to increase in cost of inputs and services' the service charge has been revised upwards.

As against the existing service charge of 1.75 per cent per month Andhra Bank has revised the service charge to 2.50 per cent a month. This amounts to an interest rate of 30 per cent per year and the increase in service charges worked out 27.9 per cent for the rolled over balance. The service charge would also attract service tax, resulting in a further increase in rates.

However if a card member defaulted in payment of even the minimum payment due - 5 per cent of the total payment due - the bank would levy a higher service charge of 2.95 per cent plus service tax on the unpaid balance.

The bank will also levy stiff penalty for late payments. While the late fee on delayed payments for balances up to Rs5,000 would be Rs200 plus service tax, on balances between Rs5,000 and Rs15,000, it would be Rs300 plus service tax and on balances above Rs15,000, it would be Rs400 plus service tax.
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Canadian banks, insurers set for India entry
Hyderabad: Canada and India are working towards finalising a foreign investment protection and promotion agreement (FIPA) between the two countries. Apart from increased trade, this agreement would encourage more Canadian banking and financial and insurance services players to enter the Indian market.

The endeavour is to work towards having a free trade agreement between the two countries said Ted Menzies, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade and to the Minister of International Cooperation.

Menzies said FIPAs are bilateral agreements that protect and promote foreign investment through legally binding rights and obligations. They encourage two-way investments by insulating investors against fraud and other financial concerns. Menzies added that the two-way trade, estimated at $3.6 billion (Canadian), could only go up significantly from here on. Part of this was a 54 per cent increase in merchandise exports to India to $1.7 billion.
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