1. With BASEL-II implementation around 2009, and globalisation changing the way banking has been done, there is a greater need for sophistication in the banking industry, and specialised courses catering to this changing scenario are significant, said Mr M.B.N. Rao, CMD,Canara Bank, here. He said this at a function to mark the signing of memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Manipal Education Group and the Indian Institute of Banking and Finance (IIBF) for offering vocational courses in banking."Concepts such as risk management, treasury management, human resource management and asset and liability management need sophisticated skills. Today's bankers need to know marketing too," Mr Rao said. "Banking is not an art anymore, but a well-defined skill that needs specialised education."This collaboration will result in a new Diploma in Banking and Finance to be awarded by IIBF.While the IIBF will design the course content, the Manipal Education Group will provide the infrastructure for online and offline testing through its existing network. The first tests for this course, which will be launched in May, will be conducted in November or December, said Mr R. Bhaskaran, CEO, IIBF. The course would cost around Rs 5,000.
2. Big money can get huge returns even if it is parked in a no-risk deposit with a public sector bank. According to statistics available with the Ministry of Finance, the desperate fiscal year-end lunge for deposits resulted in interest rate offer by state-owned banks for bulk deposits going as high as 13.20%.While the highest offer of 13.20% during the fiscal ended March 31, 2007, was made by PNB, all other state-owned banks paid above 11% for these deposits.The sole exception was Indian Bank, which raised such high-cost deposits at an interest rate of 10.8%.
3. Cheques and drafts may soon attract a fee, if the recommendations of a RBI study group are accepted. The move would encourage the migration from paper-based funds movement to electronic funds transfer. "Currently, the service charges for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition processing are borne by banks. Banks may have to educate their customers on the need to migrate to electronic processing and in case the paper-based cheques are continued, the service charges relating to the processing of such cheques may be passed on to them," said the RBI study.The working group also suggested that paper-based demand drafts, pay orders and bankers' cheques issued by banks could be priced higher than electronic transactions.
4. Slapped with a string of dos and don’ts, public sector banks now want their side of the bargain. They have asked the government to ask all public sector enterprises to compulsorily park their surplus cash as bulk deposits with them, instead of fishing around for the best interest rates with private banks.
5. RBI, in its notification on compliance functions in banks, has stated that banks senior management would be responsible for establishing a written compliance policy.
The policy would contain the basic principles to be followed by the management and staff, and would also explain the process by which compliance risk would be identified and managed through all levels of the organisation, the notification said. Further, the onus is now on the senior management to ensure that appropriate action is taken if breaches are identified, said the notification.
6. BankMuscat SAOG, Oman will acquire 43 per cent stake in the holding company of the Mangal Keshav Group. The latter is a member of BSE, NSE and MCDX. With this acquisition, BankMuscat has become the first bank from across the Gulf Cooperation Council region to take stake in the Indian securities sector.
7. enStage, a provider of e-commerce security solutions and electronic card security products in India, has announced the deployment of its Accosa 3-D secure solution by ICICI Bank. The bank's Visa cardholders are now assured that their cards cannot be used without authorisation. ICICI Bank has enabled security for both its online merchants and cardholders through the enStage platform.
8. ICICI Bank and UTI Bank have begun increasing by as much as 50 per cent the charges for services like ATM cash withdrawal and cheque returns if customers fail to maintain a minimum balance of Rs. 5,000 in their accounts. "The revision is only in certain categories and has been benchmarked with the industry,'' said an ICICI Bank spokesperson, adding that the new rates would be applicable from July 1.
9. Commercial banks are seeking the RBI's permission to issue long-term infrastructure bonds with tax benefits.To facilitate the flow of bank credit to the core sector, S S Kohli, chairman and managing director, India Infrastructure Finance Company (IIFCL), on behalf of the bankers, has urged the finance minister to consider granting cash reserve ratio (CRR) and statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) exemptions to banks on deposits used to finance infrastructure projects.
10. Loans extended to minority communities would soon qualify for priority sector lending. The finance ministry has asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to amend the priority sector norms to include minority communities under “lending to weaker sections”.
2. Big money can get huge returns even if it is parked in a no-risk deposit with a public sector bank. According to statistics available with the Ministry of Finance, the desperate fiscal year-end lunge for deposits resulted in interest rate offer by state-owned banks for bulk deposits going as high as 13.20%.While the highest offer of 13.20% during the fiscal ended March 31, 2007, was made by PNB, all other state-owned banks paid above 11% for these deposits.The sole exception was Indian Bank, which raised such high-cost deposits at an interest rate of 10.8%.
3. Cheques and drafts may soon attract a fee, if the recommendations of a RBI study group are accepted. The move would encourage the migration from paper-based funds movement to electronic funds transfer. "Currently, the service charges for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition processing are borne by banks. Banks may have to educate their customers on the need to migrate to electronic processing and in case the paper-based cheques are continued, the service charges relating to the processing of such cheques may be passed on to them," said the RBI study.The working group also suggested that paper-based demand drafts, pay orders and bankers' cheques issued by banks could be priced higher than electronic transactions.
4. Slapped with a string of dos and don’ts, public sector banks now want their side of the bargain. They have asked the government to ask all public sector enterprises to compulsorily park their surplus cash as bulk deposits with them, instead of fishing around for the best interest rates with private banks.
5. RBI, in its notification on compliance functions in banks, has stated that banks senior management would be responsible for establishing a written compliance policy.
The policy would contain the basic principles to be followed by the management and staff, and would also explain the process by which compliance risk would be identified and managed through all levels of the organisation, the notification said. Further, the onus is now on the senior management to ensure that appropriate action is taken if breaches are identified, said the notification.
6. BankMuscat SAOG, Oman will acquire 43 per cent stake in the holding company of the Mangal Keshav Group. The latter is a member of BSE, NSE and MCDX. With this acquisition, BankMuscat has become the first bank from across the Gulf Cooperation Council region to take stake in the Indian securities sector.
7. enStage, a provider of e-commerce security solutions and electronic card security products in India, has announced the deployment of its Accosa 3-D secure solution by ICICI Bank. The bank's Visa cardholders are now assured that their cards cannot be used without authorisation. ICICI Bank has enabled security for both its online merchants and cardholders through the enStage platform.
8. ICICI Bank and UTI Bank have begun increasing by as much as 50 per cent the charges for services like ATM cash withdrawal and cheque returns if customers fail to maintain a minimum balance of Rs. 5,000 in their accounts. "The revision is only in certain categories and has been benchmarked with the industry,'' said an ICICI Bank spokesperson, adding that the new rates would be applicable from July 1.
9. Commercial banks are seeking the RBI's permission to issue long-term infrastructure bonds with tax benefits.To facilitate the flow of bank credit to the core sector, S S Kohli, chairman and managing director, India Infrastructure Finance Company (IIFCL), on behalf of the bankers, has urged the finance minister to consider granting cash reserve ratio (CRR) and statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) exemptions to banks on deposits used to finance infrastructure projects.
10. Loans extended to minority communities would soon qualify for priority sector lending. The finance ministry has asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to amend the priority sector norms to include minority communities under “lending to weaker sections”.
