1. The High Powered Expert Committee (HPEC)headed by Mr Percy Mistry, a former World Bank economist, which included 15 top names in the financial sector released its report on making Mumbai an international financial centre. It got wide media coverage, though mixed. . As press reports suggested, Mr Chidambaram had high expectations from the report and spoke passionately in his Budget speech (2007-08) about Mumbai emerging a global financial centre.t is not the case that Mumbai does not have the potential to play a bigger role in international finance. The issue is over its current status and the ability of financial system to cope with the global market.Over time, Mumbai may truly be transformed into an IFC even as the economy touches higher levels and financial market deepens. It is equally important that the regulatory framework undergoes changes in tandem, both to facilitate this transformation and to shield it from the buffeting foreign winds.
2. Banks are continuing with the derisking of their investment portfolios despite the beginning of the lean season.Top bankers said that they have decided to continue with containing the average maturity of their respective investment portfolios of both government and non-government securities to about two years.The average maturity profile covers investments in both in held-to-maturity and in the marked-to-market categories. In the case of private sector banks, the average maturity profile is underone year.This move was largely in anticipation of further liquidity tightening in the weeks ahead.
3. The Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, has made good his budget speech promise to senior citizens. The National Housing Bank has come up with draft norms for reverse mortgage, an idea whose time the Finance Minister seems to think has come in India as well. Briefly, reverse mortgage enables a senior citizen sitting on a hot property to unlock its innate illiquid potential into a series of monthly or quarterly or even a lumpsum payment without any obligation to the lending financial institution during his lifetime. His/her inheritors would however have to pick up the tab, including the accrued interest lest the lending financial institution sells the property to settle the dues thus piled up by the senior citizen. Conceptually, reverse mortgage is a welfare measure reaching out to senior citizens who are either neglected by their wards or are too self-respecting to depend on them for financial support and sustenance.
4. LIC has registered a whopping growth of 118.6% in its first premium income in 2006-07 at Rs 39,541 crs against Rs 18,085 crs in the previous year. In the previous year-2005-06- the corporation had seen a growth of 48.6%. The corporation sold 3.82 crore new policies in the recently concluded fiscal against 3.15 crore policies in the previous year.
5. In keeping with the Budget proposals for developing an exchange-traded market for corporate bonds, the SEBI has permitted the BSE and the NSE to set up corporate bond trading platforms from July 1.The BSE and the NSE will make use of their existing infrastructure, with necessary modifications, for setting up these platforms.The platforms will be available from 10 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. on all trading days.To begin with, the trade matching platform will be order-driven, with essential features of the over-the-counter (OTC) market.
6. Increase in interest rates and the RBI's actions to reduce liquidity in the system will lead to a slowdown in credit growth.According to a ratings round-up by Crisil, banks will find it difficult to pass on the higher cost of funds as borrowers increasingly look at alternative sources, such as overseas borrowing and convertible bonds.Crisil believes the profitability of financial sector entities may be affected, going forward.
7. PNB haslaunched three new products and services including an innovative reverse mortgage scheme by the name `PNB Baghban' for senior citizens.The other two are
"Wealth Management Services' and a `Floating Rate Fixed Deposit Scheme.As part of the celebrations of its 113th Foundation Day, PNB has also opened 113 new outlets including 35 automated teller machines (ATM) and 18 new branches in various parts of the country.
2. Banks are continuing with the derisking of their investment portfolios despite the beginning of the lean season.Top bankers said that they have decided to continue with containing the average maturity of their respective investment portfolios of both government and non-government securities to about two years.The average maturity profile covers investments in both in held-to-maturity and in the marked-to-market categories. In the case of private sector banks, the average maturity profile is underone year.This move was largely in anticipation of further liquidity tightening in the weeks ahead.
3. The Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, has made good his budget speech promise to senior citizens. The National Housing Bank has come up with draft norms for reverse mortgage, an idea whose time the Finance Minister seems to think has come in India as well. Briefly, reverse mortgage enables a senior citizen sitting on a hot property to unlock its innate illiquid potential into a series of monthly or quarterly or even a lumpsum payment without any obligation to the lending financial institution during his lifetime. His/her inheritors would however have to pick up the tab, including the accrued interest lest the lending financial institution sells the property to settle the dues thus piled up by the senior citizen. Conceptually, reverse mortgage is a welfare measure reaching out to senior citizens who are either neglected by their wards or are too self-respecting to depend on them for financial support and sustenance.
4. LIC has registered a whopping growth of 118.6% in its first premium income in 2006-07 at Rs 39,541 crs against Rs 18,085 crs in the previous year. In the previous year-2005-06- the corporation had seen a growth of 48.6%. The corporation sold 3.82 crore new policies in the recently concluded fiscal against 3.15 crore policies in the previous year.
5. In keeping with the Budget proposals for developing an exchange-traded market for corporate bonds, the SEBI has permitted the BSE and the NSE to set up corporate bond trading platforms from July 1.The BSE and the NSE will make use of their existing infrastructure, with necessary modifications, for setting up these platforms.The platforms will be available from 10 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. on all trading days.To begin with, the trade matching platform will be order-driven, with essential features of the over-the-counter (OTC) market.
6. Increase in interest rates and the RBI's actions to reduce liquidity in the system will lead to a slowdown in credit growth.According to a ratings round-up by Crisil, banks will find it difficult to pass on the higher cost of funds as borrowers increasingly look at alternative sources, such as overseas borrowing and convertible bonds.Crisil believes the profitability of financial sector entities may be affected, going forward.
7. PNB haslaunched three new products and services including an innovative reverse mortgage scheme by the name `PNB Baghban' for senior citizens.The other two are
"Wealth Management Services' and a `Floating Rate Fixed Deposit Scheme.As part of the celebrations of its 113th Foundation Day, PNB has also opened 113 new outlets including 35 automated teller machines (ATM) and 18 new branches in various parts of the country.
