Content Development Team, Chennai 1 Vol -1, Issue-38

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1 CHEAP RATES ONLY FOR NEW HOUSING LOANS Existing home loan borrowers will not benefit from the special home loan schemes to be introduced by state-owned banks as a part of the government's stimulus package. The scheme, with cheap rates on home loans, will apply only to fresh purchases and not for refinancing. ( The Economic Times Dec 15, 2008) (1280) BANK CANNOT RECOVER LOAN FROM PENSIONS In the event of default in loan repayment, banks cannot recover it from the pension account of a guarantor, the Delhi consumer commission has said. It is a settled law that from the pension account, no bank can make any recovery. The commission's direction came on an appeal filed by the bank against the order of a district consumer forum asking it compensate Kamaljeet Singh, who stood as guarantor to a loan disbursed to Harminder Singh, both hailing from Delhi. ( The Economic Times Dec 15, 2008) (1281) BHARTI AXA GI EXAMINES CAR REPLACEMENT OPTION FOR INSURED With the Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority (IRDA) allowing general insurance companies to vary the terms and conditions of standard policies, Bharti AXA General Insurance (BAGI) is examining the possibility of launching a new motor insurance policy which would provide the insured the option to get a replacement car even as the insured's car undergoes repairs in the event of an accident. ( The Economic Times Dec 15, 2008) (1282) STANCHART TO ADD JOBS GLOBALLY, EYES REVENUE GROWTH In a world of job cuts and where global wholesale banking activities are almost at a standstill, Standard Chartered Bank is set to end 2008 as a 'net' employer, adding more jobs globally than it cut, and is also expecting a 'mid-teen' rate of revenue growth in its wholesale banking business. ( The Economic Times Dec 15, 2008) (1283) FOREIGN BANKS UNDER I-T SCANNER Indian branches of foreign banks have come under the scanner of the income-tax department. The Central Board of Direct Taxes has instructed its field forces to carefully examine their claims of head office expenses to ensure they were in conformity with transfer pricing provisions and relevant tax treaty. ( The Economic Times Dec 15, 2008) (1284) SOUTH INDIAN BANK EXPANDING IN NORTH At a time when the global financial meltdown has cast a shadow on the domestic banking and financial services sector, the Kerala-head-quartered South Indian Bank has decided to expand its footprint across the country by opening 40 new branches over the next 12 months. ( The Hindu Dec 15, 2008) (1285) INDIAN BANK TO DECIDE ON NEW RECRUITMENTS SOON Indian Bank expects to take a decision on fresh recruitments and the number of vacancies in about a week to 10 day's time. ( The Hindu Dec 15, 2008) (1286) RBI SELLS $20.63 BILLION IN OCTOBER TO ARREST RUPEE DEPRECIATION The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sold a record $20.63 billion foreign currency during October to check the steep depreciation of the rupee. With net sales estimated at $18.67 billion in the month, the cumulative sales of foreign currency between April and October 2008 was of the order of $28.32 billion, according to latest data released by RBI. In rupee terms, on a net basis, RBI sold foreign currency worth nearly Rs. 93,000 crore during October and sucked out liquidity from the system. ( Business Standard Dec 15, 2008) (1287) RBI POLICY RATES LAST WEEK ( ) BANK RATE 6.00% CURRENT RATES THIS WEEK ( ) EXCHANGE RATES (As On) LAST WEEK (( ) THIS WEEK ( ) REPO RATE 6.50% 1U.S $ Rs Rs REVERSE REPO 5.00% 1 EURO Rs Rs RBI RESERVE RATIOS 1 POUND Rs Rs CRR 5.50% 1 YEN Rs Rs SLR 24.0% 1 YUAN Rs Rs INTEREST RATE SPECTRUM ( ) ( ) 10 YEAR GOVT. PAPER 6.52% 5.61% CALL RATE 5.15% 6.60% PLR RANGE (TOP 5 BANKS) % % US $ LIBOR (6 MONTHS) 2.32% 2.60% SOURCE: RBI & BUSINESS STANDARD( & ) Content Development Team, Chennai 1 Vol -1, Issue-38

2 MFs' BORROWING LIMIT MAY GO UP The Securities and Exchange Board of India is discussing the issue of increasing the borrowing limit of a mutual fund from the existing 20 per cent to 40 per cent of the net assets of a scheme for a six-month period. This is to enable them to meet temporary liquidity needs like repurchase, redemptions or payment of interest or dividend. ( Business Standard Dec 16, 2008) (1288) CHANGES IN NON-LIFE COVERS TO AID CLIENTS With insurers switching to liberalised terms and conditions, major coverage changes are expected in non-life insurance policies when they come up for renewal next month. As a result, companies are likely to opt for more industrial all-risk policies, which cover risks ranging from fire, machinery breakdown and loss of profit under a single roof. The pricing for this policy has also been liberalised and major discounts in premium rates are expected, industry sources said. ( Business Standard Dec 16, 2008) (1289) FOREIGN BANKS TAP RICH NRIS TO EARN QUICK BUCK IN INDIA A few foreign banks are riding on their wellheeled NRI clients to invest in Indian mutual funds. This is a transaction where an NRI chips in a tiny amount, borrows rest of the money from the offshore bank and lends her name to invest in debt schemes managed by local fund houses. Since the bank is a foreign body corporate and cannot invest directly in the fund, the NRI acts as a front. ( The Economic Times Dec 16, 2008) (1290) EDELWEISS PLACES Rs 500 CR DEBENTURES FOR RIL Debt placements seem to be the flavour of the month as yet another tranche of debt got placed for Reliance Industries. Edelweiss Capital has successfully placed Rs. 500 crore of non convertible debentures (NCDs) for RIL India's largest private sector enterprise. ( The Economic Times Dec 16, 2008) (1291) PSBs CUT HOME LOAN RATES TO INDUCE DEMAND For Realty: New home loans of Rs. 5 lakh and less to come at a reduced rate of up to 8.5%. It's 9.25% for loans of Rs lakh. For MSMEs: Lending rates for micro industries cut by 1 percentage point for both existing and new loans with immediate effect. ( The Economic Times Dec 16, 2008) (1292) RUSSIA DEVALUES 2 ND TIME IN WEEK, ROUBLE FALLS TOTAL 8.7% Russia has drained 27% of its reserves, the worlds third-largest, trying to stem a 16% decline in the currency against the dollar since August as the price of oil fell 69%, constricting economic growth and companies' ability to refinance debt. ( The Financial Express Dec 16, 2008) (1293) CIBIL TO LAUNCH CREDIT SCORE IN JAN Come January, along with a mortgage depository and fraud repository, the Credit Information Bureau India Limited (Cibil) plans to launch a personal loan score, which will mainly focus on the unsecured credit off-take. In next fiscal, Cibil also plans to launch 3-4 new products. ( The Financial Express Dec 16, 2008) (1294) PSU BANKS SLASH INTEREST RATES ON MSME LOANS UP TO 100 BPS Public sector banks on Monday slashed interest rates on new and existing loans to micro, small and medium enterprises by up to 100 basis points to boost the performance of MSMEs, which together account for 45% of the country's industrial production. ( The Financial Express Dec 16, 2008) (1295) BONDS MAY HELP PURIFY GANGA WATERS In order to finance a new development plan for the Ganga, the Centre plans to tap the debt market with Ganga bonds. The bonds will be floated by the Ganga River Basin Authority, the empowered organization to plan, implement and monitor the development of the river. ( The Financial Express Dec 16, 2008) (1296) GOVT MAY ASK BANKS TO SHARE DERIVATIVE LOSSES The commerce ministry has written to its finance counterpart suggesting that domestic banks should share 50 per cent of losses arising out of derivative contracts that exporters have taken to protect against currency fluctuations. With the Indian currency depreciating more than 20 per cent in calendar year 2008, exporters have complained to the commerce ministry that losses from derivative contracts could wipe out their turnover in some cases. ( Business Standard Dec 17, 2008) (1297) Content Development Team, Chennai 2 Vol -1, Issue-38

3 FDI INFLOWS FALL 26% IN OCTOBER Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows to the country dipped 26 per cent in October this year to $1.49 billion, compared with $2.02 billion in the same month a year ago. Foreign equity inflows had increased by 19.5 per cent in the same month last year. ( Business Standard Dec 17, 2008) (1298) RBI NOD FOR IOB TAKEOVER OF SUVARNA BANK OF PUNE The Reserve Bank of India has given its approval to the Indian Overseas Bank's (IOB) proposal to take over the assets and liabilities of Shree Suvarna Sahakari Bank Ltd. The Pune-based co-operative bank has been under RBI moratorium since September ( The Hindu Dec 17, 2008) (1299) BOND YIELDS FALL BELOW 6%; BANKS TO GAIN Banks can look forward to high treasury income in the third quarter of this fiscal on account of falling bonds yields. Thanks to the various liquidity infusion measures by the Reserve Bank of India and on expectations of further cuts in interest rates, the yield on the 8.24 per cent, 10-year 2018 benchmark security has fallen from over 8 per cent in October to below 6 per cent. ( The Hindu Dec 17, 2008) (1300) BANKS NOT RESPONSIVE TO RATE CUTS: RBI The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today said the benchmark prime lending rate (BPLR) of banks show upward flexibility during monetary tightening, but the benefits of easy liquidity are not passed on to borrowers when the cycle reverses. ( Business Standard Dec 18, 2008) (1301) INVESTORS FORCE SATYAM TO CALL OFF ACQUISITIONS India's fourth-largest IT services provider Satyam Computer Services was forced to reverse yesterday's decision to diversify into real estate and infrastructure following strong shareholder protests that saw its stock price fall 30 per cent. Satyam had proposed to acquire Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra, companies controlled and run by the promoter family, for $1.6 billion (around Rs. 7,680. crore) ( Business Standard Dec 18, 2008) (1302) TATA CAPITAL TO MOP UP $500 MN FOR PE VENTURE Tata Capital, a non-banking financial company (NBFC), plans to raise up to $500 million from domestic and international investors for the first corpus of its private equity (PE) venture. ( Business Standard Dec 18, 2008) (1303) IDBI SHORTLISTS 7 BUYERS FOR HOME LOAN SUBSIDIARY Government-owned IDBI Bank hopes to sell its Pune-based, wholly-owned, home loan subsidiary by mid-january and has shortlisted seven players as potential buyers for the deal, a top IDBI bank executive said today. ( Business Standard Dec 18, 2008) (1304) BOB TO RECRUIT 2,000 MORE PEOPLE IN 2009 In the face of the global financial downturn, India's leading public sector bank, Bank of Baroda, plans to go ahead with its expansion plans both within and outside the country and recruit another 2,000 employees during , its CMD MD Mallya said here last night. We plan to open 150 new branches domestically and 10 more abroad during and recruit 2,000 more staff, including 1,000 clerks and 1,000 officers during the period, Bank of Baroda CMD Mallya told PTI in an interview. ( The Financial Express Dec 18, 2008) (1305) CITI TO MERGE INVESTMENT, CORPORATE BANKING OPS Battered financial services entity citigroup is all set to merge the company's investment and corporate banking operations, as part of efforts to streamline and break barriers between its businesses. ( The Financial Express Dec 18, 2008) (1306) NPAs OF FOREIGN, PRIVATE BANKS SHOW AN UPWARD TREND, SAYS RBI It may be noted that the increase in gross NPAs was more noticeable in respect of new private sector and foreign banks, which have been more active in the real estate and housing loans segments, said the RBI in its report adding that the hardening of interest rates might have made the repayment of loans difficult for some borrowers, resulting in some increase in NPAs in this sector. The gross NPAs of scheduled commercial banks increased by Rs. 6,136 crore in This is the first time since that gross NPAs increased in absolute terms. ( The Financial Express Dec 18, 2008) (1307) Content Development Team, Chennai 3 Vol -1, Issue-38

4 BANKS SEE RISING COMPLAINTS During , 47,887 complaints were received by 15Banking Ombudsman offices as against 38,638 complaints received during Maximum complaints were received in respect of credit cards across all banks groups, barring nationalised and old privates sector banks. ( The Financial Express Dec 18, 2008) (1308) FOREIGN BANKS HAD HIGHEST OFF-BALANCE SHEET DERIVATIVES EXPOSURES IN The off-balance sheet exposures of commercial banks in India jumped by 88 per cent last fiscal, according to the figures released by the Reserve Bank of India. This is over and above the 80 per cent increase in the previous year. The off-balance sheet exposure of foreign banks was more than 28 times of their total assets (2,830.5%). The new private sector banks it was 301.8%, public sector banks 61.5% and old private sector banks 57.1%. ( The Hindu Dec 18, 2008) (1309) IDBI TIES UP WITH PAY MATE IDBI Bank has tied up with mobile commerce company PayMate to offer mobile payment facility. The facility would allow the 3.5 million IDBI cusotmers to use their mobile phones to make payments for paying their bills, booking tickets, online purchases and retail shopping. ( The Hindu Dec 18, 2008) (1310) SATYAM EPISODE BRINGS CORPORATE GOVERNANCE ISSUES TO THE FORE Satyam Computer Services might have called off the deal to acquire Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra for $1.6 billion, bowing to widespread resentment from investors. But the issue raises several questions related to corporate governance of listed entities. ( The Hindu Dec 18, 2008) (1311) CREDIT GROWTH CONTINUES TO BE HIGH: RBI REPORT Scheduled commercial banks' (SCBs) credit to the commercial sector expanded by 27 per cent (yearon-year) as on November 21, 2008, compared with 23.1 per cent a year ago. Non-food credit expanded by 26.9 per cent, (23.7 per cent). As per data available as on September 28, 2008, about 48 per cent of incremental non-food credit (y-o-y) went to industry, around 9 per cent to agriculture and nearly 14 per cent to personal loans of which about 38 per cent was housing loans. ( The Hindu Dec 18, 2008) (1312) GOVT MULLS Rs. 20,000 CRORE STIMULUS VIA TRUST FUND The government is considering a fresh stimulus of around Rs. 20,000 crore for manufacturing companies and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) that will be routed through the Stressed Asset Stabilisation Fund (SASF) Trust that is currently mandated to deal with bad and doubtful debts of IDBI Bank. Sources said the plan is to broaden the ambit of SASF from debt recovery to lending so that it can mobilise the funds backed by government guarantees. ( Business Standard Dec 19, 2008) (1313) HDFC TO RAISE Rs. 1K CR VIA BONDS HDFC, the country's largest housing finance company, is planning to raise up to Rs. 1,000 crore through non-convertible debentures (NCDs) with a green-shoe option next week. ( Business Standard Dec 19, 2008) (1314) LIC MULLS Rs 400-CR INVESTMENT IN VCs The country's largest insurance company, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), is planning to invest over Rs. 400 crore in venture capital (VC) funds over the next few months. During , the public sector company had approved investment proposals of around Rs. 200 crore in VC funds but has so far invested only Rs. 50 crore, a senior LIC executive told Business Standard. The remaining Rs. 150 crore may be part of the Rs. 400 crore investment lined up for the next few months. The funds are made available to VCs by way of loans. ( Business Standard Dec 19, 2008) (1315) FII BUYING IN DEC REFLECTS IN RALLY Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have kept their date with Indian markets yet again in December, buying equities for the first time since April These foreign investors were on a selling spree for most part of the year. This December, FIIs have so far bought $443.5 million worth of equities. In 2008 so far, they have sold equities worth Rs. 53,326 crore ($13,319.5 million). ( Business Standard Dec 19, 2008) (1316) NABARD, IL&FS IN PACT FOR RURAL INFRA Infrastructure leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) and National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development (Nabard) have, in a significant move, joined hands for making available sustainable infrastructure funding and delivery for rural India. ( The Financial Express Dec 19, 2008) (1317) Content Development Team, Chennai 4 Vol -1, Issue-38

5 RBI CAUTIONS BANKS ON REALTY EXPOSURE The Reserve Bank of India said it is imperative for banks to manage the balance sheet risks associated with real estate exposure, particularly in the current scenario of slowdown in the economy with its expected ramifications on real estate prices. ( The Hindu Dec 19, 2008) (1318) EPFO TRANSFERS Rs. 4,260 CR TO NEW FUND MANAGERS After appointing new fund managers in August this year, the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has transferred around Rs. 4,260 crore to them till the middle of December. ( The Hindu Dec 19, 2008) (1319) BMW PLANS BIG FOR INDIA BMW India is aiming at over 100% growth in car sales despite slowdown affecting the automobile industry in the last few months. ( The Economic Times Dec 19, 2008) (1320) CHANDA KOCHHAR SET TO REPLACE KV KAMATH AS ICICI BANK HEAD Present managing director & CEO KV Kamath, whose 13-year term comes to an end in April 2009, will take over as non-executive chairman from the current chairman N Vaghul who also retires next year. The governance committee of the bank, which met on Thursday, is understood to have recommended Ms Kochhar to the board. ( The Economic Time Dec 19, 2008) (1321) SBI TO HIRE 500 ATMs FROM EXTERNAL AGENCIES The government on Wednesday said State Bank of India is expected to hire 500 ATMs from external agencies to reduce capital expenditure and improve capital service. It would be done on a pilot basis to reduce capital expenditure in setting up ATMs and to improve availability of ATMs to customers. ( The Economic Time Dec 19, 2008) (1322) ALLBANK'S EXPANSION IN SOUTH Allahabad Bank is on an expansion spree in the South in order to have a significant presence in all important business centres. ( The Economic Time Dec 19, 2008) (1323) state-run banks have so far cut home loan rates after the RBI slashed its key lending rate by 250 basis points since October. ( The Economic Times Dec 19, 2008) (1324) BANKS GO SLOW ON CREDIT CARD MARKETING It is learnt that private banks have brought down the number of direct selling agents (DSA), which were given the job of selling credit cards, by a much as 25% in the last six months. ( The Economic Times Dec 19, 2008) (1325) ALLAHABAD BANK TO HIRE 2,000 MORE The Kolkata-based Allahabad Bank is planning to recruit around 2,000 people. This is in addition to around 1,000 people already recruited during the current year. ( The Hindu Dec 20, 2008) (1326) NRI FUNDS FLOW PUSHING RUPEE UP AGAINST DOLLAR Foreign currency deposit inflows into the domestic banking system have begun exerting upward pressure on the rupee-dollar exchange rates. The surge in deposits was also largely in view of the lower interest rates on offer by the international banks. ( The Hindu Dec 20, 2008) (1327) SIGNIFICANT RISE IN RURAL BANKS' PROFITS The regional rural banks as a group earned net profit of Rs. 1,374 crore during as against Rs. 625 crore in the previous year, recording a growth of per cent. Out of 90 RRBs, 82 earned a combined profit of Rs. 1,429 crore, whereas eight RRBs incurred a combined loss of Rs. 55 crore in ( The Hindu Dec 20, 2008) (1328) SBI CUTS PLR BY.75%, DEPOSIT RATES BY 1% State Bank of India (SBI) on Saturday reducing its prime lending rate (PLR) by 75 basis points and deposits rates by 100 basis points. SBI has decided to peg its PLR at 12.25% and offer a peak rate of 9% on deposits. ( The Economic Times Dec 21, 2008) (1329) ALL BANKS TO CUT HOME LOAN RATES Mr. Chidambaram said Banks have to reduce interest rates not only to fresh borrowers, but also ensure that they reset interest rate for past borrowers as prime lending rate has been brought down. Only Content Development Team, Chennai 5 Vol -1, Issue-38