1. Corporation Bank on Friday launched two maiden services for its customers — ‘Financial Health Check-Up’ and ‘Invest Shoppe’ — in Mangalore. While the financial health check-up service facilitates the customer to get his/her finance portfolio examined from the point of having a healthy mix and to get advice on risk-reward portfolio sharing, Invest Shoppe provides a host of financial services such as investments in share market, sale of mutual funds and gold coins and tax collection under one roof.
2. Inflation is the result of synchronised currency debasement by central bankers the world over. The markets understand this better and have been sending the right message through rising gold prices, particularly during the last few years. The RBI woul d do well to read the signals and take appropriate measures, says SHANMUGANATHAN in Business line.
3. The country’s forex kitty swelled by $3.663 billion to $270.181 billion for the week ended November 9. The reserves had increased by $4.068 billion to touch $266.518 billion for the week ended November 2, 2007.
4. Resident Indians may soon have a new instrument to hedge themselves against exchange rate fluctuations. A panel appointed by the Reserve Bank of India has recommended trading in currency futures on dedicated exchanges.A currency future is an exchange-traded derivative that allows investors to sell or buy a currency at a fixed price on a future date. To begin with, futures trading would be allowed only in rupee-dollar contracts. The Indian rupee has appreciated by around 11 per cent against the dollar this calendar year.
5. United Bank of India proposes to shortly launch online trading of shares and cash management services as part of its efforts to boost non-interest income. It has achieved more than 65 per cent growth in non-interest income in the first half and it wants to continue with it in the second half also, particularly when the net interest margin is under pressure.
6. Central Bank of India is poised to regain its position and market share among the public sector banks (PSBs) as at the time of nationalisation. Currently in 7th place, the bank is working to secure a market share of 4.25 percent by the end of this fiscal.
7. Public sector banks saw a slowing down of profits in the second quarter. Profit growth was at about 23 per cent compared to over 47 per cent in the first quarter. And a few banks faced difficulty in this quarter with profits actually dipping compared to last year. State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur was one of them.
8. The Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, met exporters from the textiles, clothing and handicrafts sectors on Thursday, who have been hit by the strengthening rupee and hardening interest rates over the last several months. The meeting was also attended by chiefs of a number of public sector banks and institutions.According to industry players, the Minister assured them that the Government would work out “concrete measures” to help them tide over the crisis. The Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts Executive Director, Mr Rakesh Kumar, told presspersons after the meeting that the Minister was “very positive” and had assured them that the Government would come out with steps to help the exporting community.
9. The Reserve Bank of India has launched a financial education Web site.
The Web site is aimed at teaching the basics of banking, finance and central banking to children of different age groups. It will soon also have information that would be useful to other target groups such as women, rural and urban poor, defence personnel and senior citizens.
The Web site is aimed at teaching the basics of banking, finance and central banking to children of different age groups. It will soon also have information that would be useful to other target groups such as women, rural and urban poor, defence personnel and senior citizens.
10. IndusInd Bank today signed up with Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company to sell the insurer’s products through its branches.
