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☕ 19.06.2023 : Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance 

🍒   There is a need to mobilise domestic and international flows to meet India’s green finance requirements: SBI Chief Khara : There is a need to mobilise domestic and international flows from retail as well as institutional investors to meet the green finance requirements of the country, according to Dinesh Kumar Khara, Chairman, State Bank of India. Speaking at a seminar on ‘Climate Finance and Risk’, which was hosted by SBI under the aegis of the Department of Financial Services (DFS) in New Delhi, Khara also emphasised on the need for robust climate focused frameworks backed by central regulations. SBI, in a statement, said India ranks 7th among the world’s most affected countries by climate change, yet a relatively small share (about 7 per cent) of climate capital flows into the country. - Business Line

🍒   SBI chief: See huge opportunity to collaborate with fintechs : There is a huge opportunity for banks to collaborate with financial technology (fintech) companies going forward, said State Bank of India (SBI) chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara. He added that SBI is constantly on the lookout for opportunities to collaborate with these entities.  “The way forward needs to be collaborative. Financial technology offers a solution to a problem. Also, fintechs in isolation may not be a success because domain knowledge about finance and customers is available with the banking system,” he said at the Financial Express Modern BFSI Summit on Friday. “If fintechs and the banking system collaborate, perhaps very real opportunities will emerge. We are engaging with fintechs to figure out solutions for a wide range of customers through our innovation hub.” Even as various economies across the globe are ‘coupled’, Khara noted the Indian banks were relatively insulated from the US banking crisis due to tight regulations for Indian financial sector entities. Additionally, the capital adequacy of various banks has helped them absorb “shocks”. In this regard, SBI will continue to build internal reserves going ahead. - financial express

🍒   Bank of Maharashtra expects increase in deposits due to return of ₹2,000 notes : Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) expects a 10-20 basis points improvement in the current account, savings account (CASA) deposits due to the return of ₹2,000 banknotes by the public. The Pune-headquartered public sector bank has seen accretion of deposits amounting to ₹128 crore so far due to the return of ₹2,000 notes, according to Asheesh Pandey, Executive Director. On May 19, 2023, the RBI decided to withdraw ₹2000 denomination banknotes as they are not commonly used for transactions, and the stock of banknotes in other denominations continues to be adequate to meet the currency requirement of the public. The central bank said the withdrawal of these notes is in pursuance of its “Clean Note Policy” . - Business Line

🍒   RBI's hygiene step to bring much-needed clarity to FLDG arrangements : V  Raman Kumar, founder and chairman of CASHe, a digital credit platform for millennials, never tires of reminding anyone who cares to listen that his firm never got the valuations that fintechs typically command, because he was not clever enough. “But being clever can’t be a business model.” It’s like chugging along on someone else’s rails for an easy ride.  Last week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) drove home this point when it said that first-loss default guarantees (FLDGs) — financial buffers offered by unregulated fintechs to regulated entities (REs) against defaults on loans originated by the former — are to be capped at five per cent of such exposures. This is expected to arrest the tendency of REs going soft when underwriting credit, taking comfort from the FLDGs. - Business Standard

🍒   Urban co-op banks seek increase in gold loan limit from ₹2 lakh to ₹5 lakh : Urban co-operative banks (UCBs) have sought enhancement in the ceiling on loans against gold and gold jewellery from ₹2 lakh to ₹5 lakh under the bullet payment scheme in order to meet the funding requirements of small/marginal borrowers.  Jyotindra Mehta, President, National Federation Of Urban Cooperative Banks & Credit Societies (NAFCUB), observed that bullet payment method was permitted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) after persistent requests from the UCB sector. RBI permitted bullet repayment of gold loans up to ₹1 lakh to start with (in 2007), which was increased later (in 2014) to ₹2 lakhs, with the repayment being restricted to 12 months. “The time is ripe now for regulations in this regard to be more liberal and supportive to enable banks to face competition,” Mehta said. UCBs are allowed to extend gold loans under Bullet repayment and Equated Monthly Instalment (EMI) repayment routes for 12 months. - Business Line

🍒   RBI allows HDFC Bank to hold CPs issued till date by HDFC till their maturity : The Reserve Bank of India has allowed HDFC Bank to hold the commercial papers (CPs) that were issued till date by Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd (HDFC) till their maturity.  The bank cannot roll over or reissue any commercial paper after the effective date of the proposed amalgamation of HDFC with the former, per the Bank’s regulatory filing. The bank said it will also approach the RBI with the crystalised amounts of all the liabilities of HDFC as of the effective date. HDFC Bank’s Board of Directors at their meeting held on April 4, 2022, approved a composite scheme of amalgamation, for the amalgamation of HDFC Investments Ltd and HDFC Holdings Ltd, with and into HDFC Ltd; and thereafter HDFC Ltd into HDFC Bank Limited (“Bank”). The share exchange ratio is 42 equity shares of face value of ₹1 each of the Bank for every 25 equity shares of face value of ₹2 each of HDFC. - Business Line

🍒   IndusInd Bank, Wise partners to enable NRIs transfer fund to India : IndusInd Bank has announced its collaborative move with Wise to enable online inward remittance services to Non Resident Indians (NRIs) residing in US and Singapore, as per company statement. Indus Fast Remit (IFR), bank’s own multi-partner remittance service platform, and Wise Platform have partnered to offer multi-currency inward remittance service to NRIs. Indus Fast Remit is a multi-partner digital platform facilitating remittances to India especially by NRIs. Customers can opt from multiple Exchange Houses or Money Transfer Companies offering competitive rates with a single sign on and an end-to-end digital solution. - Business Line

🍒   IRDAI to strengthen consumer protection, enhance grievance redressal in insurance sector : Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) is looking to strengthen and enhance the system for addressing grievances and protecting consumers, ensuring faster and more efficient settlement of claims and resolution of other policyholderconcerns, said Chairman Debasish Panda.  According to Chairman Debasish Panda, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) aims to enhance and enhance the system for addressing grievances and protecting customers, ensuring faster and more efficient settlement of claims and resolution of other policyholder concerns.- Business Line

🍒   RBL aims to expand NIMs; credit cards, MFIs to outpace overall loan book growth :  RBL Bank is targeting to expand its net interest margin (NIM) to over 5.2 per cent by the end of FY24 by upping the share of higher-yielding assets in its loan book, a top official has said.The private sector lender will continue to maintain the share of unsecured loans like credit cards and microfinance by growing them at over the 20 per cent overall loan book increase targeted for every year till FY26, R Subramaniakumar told PTI. The bank had reported an expansion in NIMs to over 5 per cent in the March quarter, in line with the industry trend. "NIM will be 5.2-5.3 per cent by the end of the year (FY24). The mix of products will deliver the higher yield," he said. - economic times

🍒   Banks need to collaborate and create policies for mobilizing capital towards green finance: Joshi : Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi on Saturday asked banks to collaborate and create policies for mobilizing capital towards green finance. Speaking at a seminar on 'Climate Finance and Risk', Joshi highlighted the fact that the financial sector is well positioned to incite a behavioural change in corporates and contribute towards building a sustainable society. He stressed the steps taken by India to address the climate change issue and urged banks to collaborate and create policies for mobilizing capital towards mitigation and adaptation finance. - economic times

🍒   LIC announces relaxations for victims of Biparjoy Cyclone : Following insurance regulator Irdai directive, LIC on Saturday announced concessions to mitigate the hardships of the claimants of policies and also of Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana affected by the Cyclone Biparjoy. LIC in a statement said it is reaching out to the affected people to provide assistance although the loss of lives has been minimal. Nodal officers have been nominated at Divisional level to liaison with Chief/Secretary/Officer concerned of the State Government in this regard, it said. LIC has also created a portal link for the online submission of claims arising due to Biparjoy Cyclone. - Economic Times

🍒   RBI denies reports of missing banknotes, assures proper accounting and systems in place : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has refuted recent reports regarding missing banknotes printed by banknote printing presses. The RBI clarified that these reports were inaccurate and based on a misinterpretation of information obtained through the Right to Information Act, 2005.Officials from the RBI emphasized that all banknotes supplied from the printing presses to the RBI are duly accounted for."These reports are based on an erroneous interpretation of information collected under the Right to Information Act, 2005 from the printing press," officials said. - economic times

🍒   Sovereign Gold Bond scheme 2023-24: 1st tranche opens for subscription from Monday : The Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme (SGB) 2023-24 - Series I - will open for subscription from Monday, June 19. The issue price is Rs 5,926 per gram of gold while there is a discount of Rs 50 for those investors who subscribe it online. The subscription period closes on Friday. The nominal value of the bond is based on the simple average of closing price published by the India Bullion and Jewellers Association Ltd (IBJA)) for gold of 999 purity of the last three working days of the week preceding the subscription period. In this case it is June 14, June 15, and June 16, 2023. - economic times

🍒   Direct tax collections at Rs 3.8 lakh crore, up 11.2% so far in FY24 : The government has collected Rs 3.8 lakh crore in the form of direct taxes in the first two-and-a-half months of 2023-24, the finance ministry said on June 18. As per the ministry, as on June 17, the direct tax collected was 11.2 percent higher compared to the same period last financial year. This comprised of corporate tax mop-up of Rs 1.57 lakh crore and personal income tax - including Securities Transaction Tax - of Rs 2.22 lakh crore. The overall rate of growth is faster than what the government had anticipated. In the Union Budget for 2023-24, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, direct tax collections were seen rising 10.5 percent from 2022-23. - moneycontrol.

🍒   PFRDA plans to introduce systematic withdrawal plan under NPS by Sept: chairman Deepak Mohanty :  Pension fund regulator PFRDA plans to come out with a systematic withdrawal plan which will provide flexibility to pension account holders to withdraw a lump sum fund as per their choice on completion of 60 years. "It is at a very advanced stage. Hopefully, by the end of next quarter we should be able to come out with a scheme like that," PFRDA Chairman Deepak Mohanty told PTI in an interview. Currently, National Pension Scheme (NPS) subscribers after turning 60 years withdraw up to 60 percent of the retirement corpus as a lump sum while the remaining 40 percent of the corpus mandatorily goes into buying an annuity. However, a systematic withdrawal plan will allow NPS subscribers to opt for periodic withdrawal; either monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, or annually; till the age of 75 years - moneycontrol.

🍒   ZEE-Sony Merger: Chairman Emeritus, MD of large listed company diverted public money, says SEBI : The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in its reply in the matter of Zee Enterprises to Securities and Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has pointed out that Chairman Emeritus Subhash Chandra and Managing Director and CEO Punit Goenka of this large listed company have diverted public money to private entities.  "In the instant case, we have a situation before us where the Chairman Emeritus and the Managing Director and CEO of this large listed company are involved in a myriad of different schemes and transactions through which vast amounts of public money belonging to listed companies are diverted to private entities owned and controlled by these persons," IANS quoted SEBI as saying in its reply to SAT. - economic times

🍒   Cross-border transactions a priority, says NPCI MD : National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is currently working on deepening cross-border transactions, said managing director & CEO Dilip Asbe. “I think cross-border transactions are a priority for us and banks,” he said at the Financial Express Modern BFSI Summit on Friday. “It is a long journey. There is an opportunity. It depends on how quickly we are able the reach out to the governments and central banks of other countries to get the MoU. Then NPCI and banks can play an execution role.” - financial express.

🍒   Mcap of 6 of top-10 most valued firms climbs over Rs 1.13 lakh crore; Reliance biggest winner : Six of the top-10 most valued domestic firms together added Rs 1,13,703.82 crore in market valuation last week, with Reliance Industries emerging as the biggest gainer, in an overall bullish trend in the equity market. Last week, the BSE benchmark jumped 758.95 points or 1.21 per cent. The 30-share BSE index zoomed 466.95 points or 0.74 per cent to settle at a record closing high of 63,384.58 on Friday.While Reliance Industries, Hindustan Unilever Limited, ITC, Infosys, HDFC and Bharti Airtel were the gainers, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India faced erosion from their market valuations last week. Reliance Industries added Rs 63,259.05 crore taking its valuation to Rs 17,42,415.47 crore. - moneycontrol.

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