1. The global economic and financial environment continues to deteriorate. The (sub?) prime concern is the US. A new study estimates credit will contract $2 trillion as financial institutions repair balance sheets. That puts a lot of new lending on hold, which means less spending (the American economy is credit-driven, if not anything else) and considerably increases the odds of a recession.
2. State Bank of India has tied up with its wholly owned subsidiary SBICAP Securities Ltd for providing e-trading services to its customers, the bank said in a notice to the BSE today. SBI already provides online trading through ‘eZ-trade@sbi, in a tie-up with Motilal Oswal Securities Ltd. It is a three-in-one account where the demat account and the savings or current account is with SBI and the trading account is with Motilal Oswal.
3. ICICI Prudential AMC has entered into a strategic partnership with Central Bank of India for distribution of its mutual fund schemes to further strengthen its distribution reach. Central Bank of India will now be distributing ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund products to its customers across India. This alliance between ICICI Prudential AMC and Central Bank of India will be a step further towards reaching retail investors and providing them with investment solutions to facilitate their inclusive growth in the process of wealth creation.
4. Syndicate Bank has launched an online loan application facility that does away with the branch as an intermediary for generating loan queries. The bank has launched this facility for housing loans, educational loans, Rs 10 lakh and above loans for SME sector and Rs 2 lakh and above loans for self-employed, professionals and traders.
5. State Bank of India Staff Association (SBISA) will oppose the merger of associate banks with State Bank of India, despite having agreed to the merger of Bank of Saurashtra with the parent bank.
6. The US economy may fall into a recession if the Fed takes counter-measures, such as tightening credit.
7. The Indian banking sector is undergoing rapid transformation and is expected to change and evolve considerably in the near future.Mainly two factors are driving these changes. One, Indian banks are gearing up to face the post-2009 challenges, when they will be exposed to increased foreign competition. From April 2009, foreign banks will be allowed to own up to 74 per cent stake in Indian private banks. The foreign banks with large capital, advanced technology, best international practices and skilled personnel are expected to pose competitive challenges to Indian banks. Two, several Indian banks are expanding overseas as Indian companies are going global and India is attracting more foreign capital. Banks have to match their services to global standards.
8. The Hinduja Group is planning to enter the financial services space in India with a bang. Apart from plans to set up life insurance, non-life insurance and asset management companies, the group is also working towards areas such as wealth management, broking and portfolio management services. The group has finalised its partners for setting up a holding company, which will have three business arms offering wealth management, broking and portfolio management services. In a three-way agreement, IndusInd Bank along with AMAS Bank (a private banking entity owned by Hinduja Group in Switzerland) will own 51 per cent stake while the foreign partner will own the remaining 49 per cent in the holding company. IndusInd Bank officials, however, refused to disclose the name of the foreign partner.
9. Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is in another legal soup, this time on overcharging of fees for assignment of insurance policies. LIC is already facing two legal suits over not allowing assignments for trading and lending in ealrier insurance policies. The petitioner in the present case is Dravia Finance, an NBFC owned by Ketan B Mehta, the person who won both the ealrier cases in the Bombay High Court against LIC over the same issue. Assignment or transfer is a method by which a policyholder can transfer his rights and benefits in the life insurance policy to another entity. The assignee entity can be a family member, relative, friend, a lending institution like a bank or a non-banking finance company (NBFC). The case has been filed in the Bombay High Court on grounds that Section 38 of the Insurance Act does not permit any insurer to exceed a fee of Re 1 for an assignment.
10. Indian Bank is gearing up to further its financial inclusion initiatives and increase penetration into rural areas. The public sector bank, the first one to implement a financial inclusion project (which involves instilling the banking habit among the lesser privileged of urban and rural India), expects to open five lakh “no-frills accounts” to encourage rural savings and business ventures by the end of this financial year. It has already opened over 4.5 lakh such accounts.
2. State Bank of India has tied up with its wholly owned subsidiary SBICAP Securities Ltd for providing e-trading services to its customers, the bank said in a notice to the BSE today. SBI already provides online trading through ‘eZ-trade@sbi, in a tie-up with Motilal Oswal Securities Ltd. It is a three-in-one account where the demat account and the savings or current account is with SBI and the trading account is with Motilal Oswal.
3. ICICI Prudential AMC has entered into a strategic partnership with Central Bank of India for distribution of its mutual fund schemes to further strengthen its distribution reach. Central Bank of India will now be distributing ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund products to its customers across India. This alliance between ICICI Prudential AMC and Central Bank of India will be a step further towards reaching retail investors and providing them with investment solutions to facilitate their inclusive growth in the process of wealth creation.
4. Syndicate Bank has launched an online loan application facility that does away with the branch as an intermediary for generating loan queries. The bank has launched this facility for housing loans, educational loans, Rs 10 lakh and above loans for SME sector and Rs 2 lakh and above loans for self-employed, professionals and traders.
5. State Bank of India Staff Association (SBISA) will oppose the merger of associate banks with State Bank of India, despite having agreed to the merger of Bank of Saurashtra with the parent bank.
6. The US economy may fall into a recession if the Fed takes counter-measures, such as tightening credit.
7. The Indian banking sector is undergoing rapid transformation and is expected to change and evolve considerably in the near future.Mainly two factors are driving these changes. One, Indian banks are gearing up to face the post-2009 challenges, when they will be exposed to increased foreign competition. From April 2009, foreign banks will be allowed to own up to 74 per cent stake in Indian private banks. The foreign banks with large capital, advanced technology, best international practices and skilled personnel are expected to pose competitive challenges to Indian banks. Two, several Indian banks are expanding overseas as Indian companies are going global and India is attracting more foreign capital. Banks have to match their services to global standards.
8. The Hinduja Group is planning to enter the financial services space in India with a bang. Apart from plans to set up life insurance, non-life insurance and asset management companies, the group is also working towards areas such as wealth management, broking and portfolio management services. The group has finalised its partners for setting up a holding company, which will have three business arms offering wealth management, broking and portfolio management services. In a three-way agreement, IndusInd Bank along with AMAS Bank (a private banking entity owned by Hinduja Group in Switzerland) will own 51 per cent stake while the foreign partner will own the remaining 49 per cent in the holding company. IndusInd Bank officials, however, refused to disclose the name of the foreign partner.
9. Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is in another legal soup, this time on overcharging of fees for assignment of insurance policies. LIC is already facing two legal suits over not allowing assignments for trading and lending in ealrier insurance policies. The petitioner in the present case is Dravia Finance, an NBFC owned by Ketan B Mehta, the person who won both the ealrier cases in the Bombay High Court against LIC over the same issue. Assignment or transfer is a method by which a policyholder can transfer his rights and benefits in the life insurance policy to another entity. The assignee entity can be a family member, relative, friend, a lending institution like a bank or a non-banking finance company (NBFC). The case has been filed in the Bombay High Court on grounds that Section 38 of the Insurance Act does not permit any insurer to exceed a fee of Re 1 for an assignment.
10. Indian Bank is gearing up to further its financial inclusion initiatives and increase penetration into rural areas. The public sector bank, the first one to implement a financial inclusion project (which involves instilling the banking habit among the lesser privileged of urban and rural India), expects to open five lakh “no-frills accounts” to encourage rural savings and business ventures by the end of this financial year. It has already opened over 4.5 lakh such accounts.
