Indian Banking and Finance

Canara Bank Q1 2009-2010 Net profit Up 353% Last Updated: 2009-07-23T10:16:06+05:30 A nationalized bank, Canara Bank, on Wednesday reported a net profit of Rs.555 crore for the first quarter this fiscal, registering a whopping 353% year-on-year (YoY) increase over the Rs.123 crore posted in the corresponding quarter year ago. "The net profit for the quarter has shot ...

Direct Tax Collections Up 3.65% Last Updated: 2009-07-22T15:59:01+05:30 The net collection of direct tax has increased 3.65% in the first quarter this fiscal, but the growth has been hindered on account of a 52% jump in refunds and lower corporate tax collection. "Net direct tax collections during first three months of the present fiscal stood at ...

HDFC Bank Reduced Lending Rate Is 15.75% Last Updated: 2009-07-21T10:39:21+05:30 HDFC Bank, India’s second largest private lender, on Monday reduced its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points to 15.75 percent. "The benchmark prime lending rate has been reduced to 15.75 percent per annum with effect from July 20," the bank said on its official ...

US Financier CIT Group Gets Rescue Line Last Updated: 2009-07-20T12:14:53+05:30 The key creditors have agreed to put up $3 billion in financing for CIT group, a top lender for small US businesses that last week stumbled on the verge of bankruptcy. The company managed to sign an agreement from creditors that will mean CIT can avoid bankruptcy and restructure outside of ...

CIC Questions RBI On Suspense Accounts In Private Banks Last Updated: 2009-07-15T11:45:27+05:30 If a cheque has a spelling mistake in the recipient's name, can the bank put the money in a temporary account? The Central Information Commission (CIC) has asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to clarify on this practice. The decision on a Right to Information application, filed by ...

NABARD Slashed Refinance Rates From Today Last Updated: 2009-07-15T10:18:09+05:30 National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard), the agriculatural credit lender, has cut the refinance rates on Tuesday and said that these rates will take be effective from Wednesday. "We are cutting the rates for both commercial banks and co-operative and regional ...

Dena Bank Expects Capital Infusion Of Rs. 500 Crore Last Updated: 2009-07-14T17:03:50+05:30 Government-owned Dena Bank is expecting Rs.500 crore capital infusion from the central government later this year, a top company official said on Tuesday. "We will receive Rs.300 crore as preferential shares and Rs.200 crore as perpetual non-cumulative preference shares (PNCPS)," ...

HDFC Bank Q1 Net Profit Results Announced Last Updated: 2009-07-14T15:50:22+05:30 HDFC Bank, India’s second largest private lender, on Tuesday, announced its Q1 net profit for 2009-2010 which is up by 31% to reach Rs. 606 crore. The Q1 net profit in 2008-09 fiscal was Rs. 464.35 crore. The bank's net income for the period under review grew 21.86% to Rs.5,136.75 ...

Citigroup Top Management To Be Reshuffled Last Updated: 2009-07-10T12:07:14+05:30 Citigroup has announced changes in several top management roles in the company said the Indian American CEO Vikram Pandit. But Pandit, who has been the target of much criticism for his management of Citigroup, himself remains at the helm as the bank seeks to reshape itself and prepares for the US ...

Bank of Maharashtra To Raise Rs.1,500 crore Last Updated: 2009-07-08T10:59:40+05:30 Nationalized bank of Maharashtra has plans to raise Rs.1,500 crore in three years said a top official. "We have a plan to raise Rs.500 crore every year (starting from this fiscal) for three years via follow-on public offer, qualified institutional placement or issue perpetual preference ...

Shirish Apte Is The New Citi CEO For Asia-Pacific Last Updated: 2009-07-07T09:38:51+05:30 Shirish Apte, 56, and Stephen Bird, 42 will be the CEOs for Asia-Pacific, while Shengman Zhang will be chairman of Citibank in the region, effective immediately, Indian American Vikram Pandit announced on Monday. Ajay Banga, held the title of Asia-Pacific CEO but he left the firm on June ...

Banking Sector To Remain Public - Budget 2009-10 Last Updated: 2009-07-06T15:34:21+05:30 Although the banking and insurance sector will be kept as public, the government has some other plans which were put forward during today’s budget session:- To hike the promoter shareholding in PSUs To encourage people participation in disinvestment Banks and insurance to ...

UCO Bank Enters General Insurance Busines Last Updated: 2009-07-04T09:22:51+05:30 The state-run UCO Bank has plans for investing about Rs.45 crore in its proposed general insurance company. This information was let out by the spokesperson for UCO Bank on Friday. "We will pick up a 30% stake in the general insurance venture, which will have a capital base of ...

NHPC Limited And Oil India Limited Stakes To Be Sold This Fiscal Last Updated: 2009-07-03T12:22:27+05:30 The Government has plans to raise about Rs. 18.54 billion by selling the stakes of NHPC and Oil India, which are state run firms, for the financial year ending march 2010. This information was given by one of the junior finance ministers in parliament on Friday. "The public ...

Financial Budget 2009-10 To Give More Priority To Price Stability Last Updated: 2009-07-03T12:20:55+05:30 According to the Union Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, more importance will be given to price stability as the prices of essential items as well as food grains have gone up in a rapid manner in the past few days. "The government monitors the price situation regularly, with price ...

India To Get $400 mn Loan Extension From World Bank Last Updated: 2009-07-03T12:03:00+05:30 The World Bank Group committed US$6.6 billion in fiscal year which ended on June 30 to South Asia, where India is the largest borrower. A major part of the money which has been lent is focused on helping the countries to cope with the impact of the global economic crisis. Key to the Bank's ...

Banking Sector Reforms Has To Be Liberalized: Economic Survey 2008-09 Last Updated: 2009-07-02T16:53:06+05:30 The Economic Survey 2008-09 which was presented by the Union Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, has called for the liberalization of the reforms related to banking and financial markets. The reforms related to enhancing foreign investments in the banks in a step by step fashion as well as lifting ...

IMF Bonds To Be Issued Last Updated: 2009-07-02T10:45:36+05:30 The International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday that it will issue the bonds for the first time in the 60-year history of the company. This step is an effort for winning the contributions from the emerging economies like China, Brazil and Russia. This new scheme of money-making comes as IMF ...

World Bank Spending Not Affected By Global Recession Last Updated: 2009-07-02T10:25:22+05:30 The World Bank on Wednesday told that it has spent a record of $58.8 billion on loans, grants, guarantees and social projects over the last year for helping the poor countries steer through the global recession. The spokesperson for World Bank has been quoted saying that its budget jumped 54% ...

NRI Deposits In Kerala Banks Have Reached Record High Last Updated: 2009-06-25T16:17:24+05:30 Deposits made by the non-resident Indians (NRIs) in the Kerala banks has grown from Rs.29,889 crore in March 2008 to a record high of Rs.37,019 crore as on March 31, 2009. This information was told by the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC). The data pertaining to this was revealed at the ...

Recession In US is Slowing - Federal Reserve Last Updated: 2009-06-25T14:43:12+05:30 The Federal Reserve has said the recession in the US is slowing, but the economy is likely to be weak. The central bank has not changed the interest rates and said that the rates would remain at its current low range of 0-0.25% for a long time. The Fed Reserve has also said it would continue to ...

JP Morgan Is World’s Strongest Bank Last Updated: 2009-06-24T12:51:03+05:30 JP Morgan has emerged top in the list of world’s strongest banks. Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) suffered the biggest loss last year. This is according to the new industry rankings. RBS registered a loss of $59.3 billion last year, overtaking its rivals, including Citigroup and Wells Fargo. ...

State Bank Of Indore Employees Threaten Strike Last Updated: 2009-06-21T08:05:36+05:30 Employees of the State Bank of Indore will go on a day's strike July 22 to protest the bank's proposed merger with the State Bank of India, a union leader said Saturday. S.K. Bindal, general secretary of the All India State Bank of Indore Officers' Coordination Committee, said the merger proposal ...

Yes Bank To Hire 900 People Last Updated: 2009-06-19T15:52:31+05:30 Yes Bank said it would recruit 900 people, including 500 specialists, in the next nine months. The bank is eyeing at least 40% growth in loans in the current fiscal. It intends to drive expansion in six key segments. The bank’s MD and CEO, Rana Kapoor said that at least 500 people would be ...

Indian Financial Institutions To Invest In Anti-Money laundering Systems Last Updated: 2009-06-18T18:58:17+05:30 With slush funds being increasingly used for financing terrorism, Indian financial institutions are planning to increase investment in their anti-money laundering systems, a survey by global auditing company KPMG has found. In a statement Thursday, KPMG said 76 percent of respondents to its ...

Major US Banks Return Emergency Government Loans Last Updated: 2009-06-18T10:40:45+05:30 A number of major US banks Wednesday returned emergency loans of more than $68 billion that they had received from the government at the height of the financial crisis in October. The paybacks have been viewed as a sign that Wall Street is beginning to stabilize after the worst financial turmoil ...

ASSOCHAM Wants Coaching Institutes To Come Under Tax Net Last Updated: 2009-06-17T18:43:37+05:30 Coaching institutes must be brought under the tax net as they seldom disclose their earnings, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) has said. In a note submitted to the revenue department of the finance ministry Wednesday, Assocham said coaching institutes were ...

Banks Asked To Inform Customers On Fund Transfers Last Updated: 2009-06-17T18:38:01+05:30 India's central bank has asked banks to inform customers about fund transfers through email or short messaging service (SMS) and revert uncredited funds within 90 minutes. "We understand that quite a good number of banks send SMSs to the account holders as and when the account is ...

Small Saving Schemes Back In Demand Last Updated: 2009-06-15T10:16:08+05:30 With the dip in the rates of bank and corporate deposits, investors are opting for government-sponsored small saving schemes. Government of India bonds, National Saving Certificate, and Kisan Vikas Patra are some of the schemes that have a government backing. Retired people too are showing interest ...

SBI Slashes Deposit Rates By 50 BPS Last Updated: 2009-05-14T11:27:22+05:30 Leading public sector lender, State Bank of India (SBI) on Wednesday (May 13) reduced its lending rates by up to 50 basis points across various maturities. As per the bank, the rate of interest for deposits maturing between 15-45 days will now be be 3.25 percent as against the ...