1. Reliance Money, an Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group venture, launched a ‘security token’ to counter the growing threat of hackers and phishers in online trading. It has given out 1-lakh gadgets free-of-cost to its customers over the past two months and hope to distribute more in the coming months. 6-digit code The device has a six-digit code that changes every 32 seconds. Even if somebody gets hold of the trader’s password and username, they will not be able to access the account since the code of the security token is essential in logging in. With a battery life of five years, this almond-shaped security token is small enough to fit in to a palm and easy to operate. It can be blocked like any mobile phone in case of theft or misplacement. Though HSBC was the first Indian company to launch this product, Reliance is the first to introduce it in online trading.
2. ABN Amro Bank has registered 59 % growth in net profit to Rs 385.35 crs in 2006-07 against Rs 241.68 crs in the previous year, on the back of a rise in interest and fee-based income. Turnover increased by 36% to Rs 32,077 crs (Rs 23,539 crs). Advances rose 22 % to Rs 18,387 crs (Rs 15,073 crs), while deposits increased 34.85 % to Rs 15,998.30 crs (Rs 11,863.77 crs). Total income went up by 52.23% to Rs 3,027 crs (Rs 1,988 crs), while other income increased 23% to Rs 753 crs (Rs 612 crs).
3. Karnataka Bank Ltd has raised Rs 120.5 crs through unsecured redeemable non-convertible subordinated (Tier-II) bonds. The issue of unsecured redeemable non-convertible subordinated (Tier-II) bonds (series I) in the nature of promissory notes/debentures of Rs 10 lakh each for cash at par aggregating Rs 75 crs (with an option to retain over subscription up to Rs 75 crs) has been closed for subscription on June 30.
4. Centurion Bank of Punjab plans to raise Tier-I capital of about Rs 500 crs through qualified institutional placement of equity shares. This approval is subject to shareholder, regulatory and statutory approvals as applicable, said a statement from the bank. The capital adequacy ratio for the bank stands at 11.1 %, with Tier-I capital of about 9.9% and Tier-II capital of about 1.2%. The proposed exercise would enable the bank to sustain its growth a nd build on the business volumes and profitability over the ensuing quarters.
5. Punjab National Bank is considering merging its subsidiary, PNB Gilts, with itself. The bank feels that while subsidiary is profitable, the return on net worth is very small. PNB Gilts’ turnover of Rs 121 crs for the year 2006-07 was less than its paid-up equity of Rs 135 crs. Its net profit, Rs 16 crs, was only 3% of the net worth of Rs 506 crs. It has a 74.07 % stake in the Rs 135-crs paid-up equity of PNB Gilts.
6. After literacy and universal healthcare, it’s the turn of money matters and savings. Last week Kerala was declared the first ‘Total Banking State’ in the country. The plan to achieve that landmark feat was chalked out by the State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) early this year. The target was to ensure that every household in the State would have at least one bank account and would be eligible for a general-purpose loan of up to Rs 25,000, following the Reserve Bank of India’s directive to bring people from all walks of life into the banking spectrum. The campaign focused on households that still lie outside the banking net, especially in the interior regions of Kerala.
7. Ten Indian companies have raised a total of $3.1 billion through issue of foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) in the first half of 2007, as per the financial data released by Bloomberg on Sunday. The total volume of FCCBs issue is $4.8 billion. While Reliance Communications Ltd issued the largest FCCB of $1,000 million among Indian companies, Tata Motors Ltd stood at second position with an issue size of $490 million.The other companies include JSW Steel Ltd, Sterling Biotech Ltd, Adani Enterprises Ltd, Subex Azure Ltd, Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals, Rolta India Ltd, Rajesh Exports Ltd and Tulip IT Services Ltd. The data also revealed that zero coupon seemed to be a preferred mode by most.
8. Nabard is organising a ‘National Seminar on Agricultural Credit’ on the occasion of its silver jubilee celebrations on July 3 and 4. In the back drop of the massive credit requirements projected for development of agriculture sector in the Eleventh Five Year Plan by the Government, the seminar also intends to focus on the challenges facing Nabard in meeting the national goals.The seminar proposes to deliberate on some of the major issues daunting Indian agriculture such as production, productivity and technology, marketing, extension and risk management. The challenges in scaling up of micro finance, which is evolving as one of the major tools for alleviation of poverty, will be also deliberated in the seminar.
9. Crisil has assigned its first set of Bank Loan Ratings (BLRs) based on Basel II, the new regulatory framework on capital adequacy for banks. The banks will be able to use the ratings to determine risk weights for their loan exposures, said a press release from Crisil.The new guidelines on capital adequacy issued by the Reserve Bank of India require banks to link the minimum size of their capital to the credit risk in their portfolios which is a departure from the present framework, under which banks calculate the minimum size of their capital as a proportion of the entire loan portfolio, regardless of the degree of credit risk.The rating agency assigns BLR to various types of facilities provided by banks, such as working capital demand loans, cash credit, project loans, loans for general corporate purposes and non-fund based facilities. The ratings will be assigned on both long-term and short-term rating scales, similar to ratings for debentures and commercial paper respectively.
10. HDFC Bank Ltd has allotted 1.36 crore equity shares of the face value of Rs 10 each for cash at a premium of Rs 1013.49 per share to Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd on preferential basis. Consequent to above preferential allotment of equity shares, it has raised Rs 1,390 crs.
11. Corporation Bank, which had an outstanding of Rs 269 crs in the education loan portfolio in the last fiscal, intends to disburse additional Rs 100 crs during the current fiscal.It has launched ‘Online request facility for CorpVidya (education loan product)’ in Mangalore.It has 16,571 CorpVidya accounts and the number of accounts has seen a good growth in the past two years.
