Banknet India

Rural India has great potential for insurance cos

Rural India offers tremendous growth opportunities for insurance companies, says assocham.

SEBI clarifies on mandatory PAN requirement

SEBI has clarified on the issue related to exemption from mandatory PAN requirement.

Hiring by Indian banks is expected to go up

Hiring in PSU banks will increase due to branch expansion and impetus on rural, retail banking.

SBI inaugrates 101 branches in a single day

State Bank of India's network of branches has now touched 10486.

Need for a new macro-financial stability framework

Policymakers face the difficult task of damage control, says BIS Annual Report.

Insurance premium grew fastest in emerging markets

World insurance premium income grew 3.3% in real terms in 2007, reaching USD 4061bn, says Swiss Re.

RBI and Bank of Japan sign currency swap deal

Reserve Bank of India, Bank of Japan have signed bilateral swap arrangement.

Indian commodity market to grow by 30%

Indian commodity market to grow by 30% to Rs.74,000,00 crore by 2010, according to assocham.

Five new insurance companies to enter Indian market

IRDA in May-June 2008, has permitted five new companies to undertake insurance business in India.

Indian economy to adversely affect by inflation

Inflation over 8.5% Could Slow India's GDP Growth To 7.8% in 2008-09, says Standard and Poor's.

SEBI simplifies Issuance and Listing of Debt Securities

SEBI has simplified regulatory framework for issuance and listing of non-convertible debt securities.

RBI hikes the repo rate and CRR by 50 basis points

Reserve Bank of India hikes the repo rate and CRR by 50 basis points to regulate inflation.

India to see highest growth in foreign investments

India is likely to see the highest growth in foreign investments, according to KPMG Global Survey.

SEBI notifies Intermediaries Regulations, 2008

SEBI has notified SEBI (Intermediaries) Regulations, 2008.

Securitised Debt Instruments Regulations notified

SEBI notifies Public Offer and Listing of Securitised Debt Instruments Regulations, 2008.

RBI defers introduction of credit derivatives

Reserve Bank of India has again deferred introduction of credit derivatives in India.

Financial services provide maximum jobs

Financial services become lead job provider, according to assocham.

Canara, HSBC and OBC launch life insurance company

Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) Life Insurance Co. Ltd has become operational.

Branch licensing norms for Co-op Banks liberalised

RBI has liberalised branch licensing norms for Urban Cooperative Banks in India.

Saraswat Bank to acquire three cooperative banks

Saraswat Co-operative Bank plans to acquire three more cooperative banks in India.

Microfinance industry could face greater risks

Fitch Ratings says that the fast growing microfinance industry could be exposed to greater risks.

RBI hikes the repo rate under LAF by 25 bps to 8.00%

Reserve Bank of India has hiked the repo rate under LAF by 25 basis points to 8.00%.

Banks advised to focus on underserved segments of population

TowerGroup call Banks and FIs to focus on the underserved segments of the population.

Banks asked to extend all facilities to visually challenged

Reserve Bank of India ask banks to extend all the banking facilities to the visually challenged.

Doing Business with India is fourth top choice of Europeans

Ernst and Young survey has ranked India as fourth most attractive business location for European business houses.

Fx derivative losses unlikely to affect Indian Banks' ratings

Fitch Ratings says losses in forex derivatives are unlikely to affect the equity of Indian banks.

State Bank of India enters the custody services

SBI and Societe Generale Securities Services form a joint venture to offer custody services in India.

Credit outlook for the Indian banking system is stable

Fundamental credit outlook for the Indian banking system is stable, says Moody's Investors Service.

RBI has liberalized the overseas investment norms

RBI has rationalisation the overseas investment norms for energy and natural resources sectors.

Indian Service sector now eligible for ECBs

Borrowers in the Indian service sector are now eligible to avail External Commercial Borrowings.

External Commercial Borrowings Policy Liberalised

Indian Government has relaxed norms for External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs).

SEBI relaxes norms for Foreign Investors

Securities and Exchange Board of India has relaxed norms for Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs).

Indian insolvency legislation favours debtor

Fitch Ratings views positively the legal reforms and self-help remedies introduced under Indian laws.

RBI expands definition of wilful default by borrowers

Reserve Bank of India expands definition of wilful default by the borrowers.

Two international climate investment funds proposed

Developing and Donor Countries agree to common vision for Climate Investment Funds.

OTC derivatives market shows steady growth

The OTC derivatives market showed relatively steady growth in the second half of 2007, according to BIS statistics.

Credit disbursement of Indian banks slows down

According to assocham study, banks fail to grow credit disbursement despite robust deposit base.

Two more states sign MOU with RBI

Meghalaya and Manipur sign MOU with Reserve Bank of India for Urban Cooperative Banks.

RBI approves merger of CBoP with HDFC Bank

Centurion Bank of Punjab merged with HDFC Bank with effect from May 23, 2008.

Robust growth expected in Indian service economy

KPMG Business Outlook Survey anticipates robust growth in the Indian service economy.

Fitch affirms ratings of State Bank of India

Fitch Ratings has affirmed the ratings of State Bank of India (SBI) with stable outlook.

Norms liberalized for insurance business by Co-op Banks

Reserve Bank of India has liberalized norms for insurance business by Cooperative Banks.

IFC and Stanchart launch new product for Microfinance

IFC and Standard Chartered Bank launch new product to improve financing for Microfinance Sector.

Banknet releases findings of Financial Systems Survey 2008

Risk Management, Customer Centricity and Basel II are the top priorities for Indian Banks.

Banknet to accredit talents in the Indian Banking Industry

Criteria and selection procedure for 'Banknet Excellence Awards' announced at CTO-CXO Summit.

Call for reducing foreign exchange settlement risk

Central bankers have highlighted the need for further action to reduce foreign exchange settlement risk.

Asian Banks have commenced preparations for Pillar2

Financial Insights Survey indicates that 90% of Asian Banks have commenced preparations for Pillar 2 (Basel II).

Summit to address the challenges in new age banking

Banknet CTO-CXO Summit to address the challenges in New Age Banking and Technology on 15th May 2008 at Mumbai.

Indian Government completes the Budgetary Exercise

The Finance Bill, 2008 receives the assent of the President of India and both the Houses of Parliament.

Banknet institutes Excellence Awards for bankers

Banknet Excellence Awards to be launched at CTO-CXO Summit on 15th May 2008 at Mumbai.

Defaults in U.S. to accelerate through 2008

U.S. Corporate defaults rev up as leverage unwinds says Standard and Poor's

Federal funds rate reduced to 2 percent

U.S. Federal Reserve in the seventh rate cut since September 2007, lowered the federal funds rates by 25 basis points.

RBI announce Annual Policy Statement 2008-09

Reserve Bank of India credit policy announced on 29th April 2008, keeps repo rates unchanged but CRR is hiked by 25 bps to 8.25%.

Macroeconomic and Monetary Developments 2007-08

Macroeconomic and Monetary Developments 2007-08 released as a backdrop to Reserve Bank of India's Annual Policy Statement being announced on April 29, 2008.

Joint Forum releases Risk Concentrations paper

Paper highlights critical issues in firms ability to identify risk concentrations.

Banks to engage correspondents to extend services

Banks in India permitted to engage correspondents to extend banking services.

Measures suggested for improving SME credit

Reserve Bank of India has released Report of Working Group on Rehabilitation of Sick Small and Medium Enterprises.

Steps announced to strengthen the banking system

The Basel Committee has announced steps to strengthen the resilience of the banking system.

Citi reports first quarter net loss of $5.1bn

Citigroup Inc. reported a net loss for the 2008 first quarter of $5.1 billion, or $1.02 per share.

Facilitating Setting Up and Doing Business in India

Banknet has released the revised and updated second edition of its Bestselling publication 'Doing Business in India' which is available on www.banknetindia.com.