To boost liquidity in the system, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced Open Market Operations (OMOs) purchase of gilts worth Rs 8,000 crore to be held on Friday.

RBI to conduct open market operations worth Rs 8,000 cr

Business Standard

Rating agency Brickwork Ratings India has revised the outlook on Lakshmi Vilas Bank&rsquo;s Tier-II bonds from stable to negative. Now, these bonds carry rating of &ldquo;A&rdquo; with negative outlook. The rating agency cited the bank&rsquo;s falling asset quality, rising cost of funds, and pressure on profitability as reasons for the downgrade.

Brickwork cuts outlook on Lakshmi Vilas Bank's bonds to negative

The Bank of Israel reduced its benchmark interest rate to its lowest in more than two years amid a European debt crisis, uncertainty regarding the &ldquo;fiscal cliff&rdquo; problem and slowing domestic inflation.

Bank of Israel cuts prime rate to lowest point in more than 2 yrs

One of the promoters of IndusInd Bank -- IndusInd International Holdings -- on Monday offloaded 4.6 mn shares of the private sector lender for about Rs 196 crore through open market transaction.

IndusInd bank promoter sells 4.6 mn shares for Rs 196 cr

Press Trust of India

The pound weakened to the lowest level in nearly eight months against the euro as a report showed house prices fell for a sixth month in December, strengthening the case for the Bank of England to expand its stimulus.

Pound drops to 8-month low versus euro as UK house prices fall

Japanese government bonds are headed for the longest run of annual gains on record, buoyed by central bank purchases almost equivalent to Malaysia&rsquo;s economic output. The bonds have returned 2.1 per cent on an annualised basis in 2012, set for a ninth year of gains that&rsquo;s the longest streak since at least 1986, a Bank of America Merrill Lynch index shows.

Bank of Japan's $267-bn JGB buys spur record win streak 

Three Georgia counties have filed a lawsuit claiming that British bank HSBC cost them hundreds of millions of dollars in extra expenses and damage to their tax bases by aggressively signing minorities to housing loans that were likely to fail.

US counties sue HSBC claiming loss of tax base

IDBI Asset Management, the mutual fund subsidiary of IDBI Bank, has garnered about Rs 120 crore through its &lsquo;IDBI Gilt Fund&rsquo;, the company said in a release on Wednesday.

IDBI MF garners over Rs 120 crore from Gilt Fund

SREI Infrastructure Ltd plans to set up about 25,000 white label automated telling machines (ATMs ) in rural areas, taking benefit of the policy to throw open the segment for non-banking entities.

SREI to install 25,000 ATMs in rural India

As the deadline for direct cash transfer for subsidies in 43 districts nears, the government has started the mapping of gram panchayats to provide banking services in remote parts of the country. It has asked banks to have at least one bank branch or business correspondent agent (BCA) for every village or group of villages with 1,000 to 1,500 households.

Banks to have one branch per 1,000 people for direct cash transfer

2012 witnessed a lack of exits and tough fundraising in the PE/VC sector.

Looking back, looking ahead

Galleon Group LLC co-founder Raj Rajaratnam, who is serving 11 years in prison for insider trading, agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle a civil case brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Rajaratnam agrees to pay $1.5 mn to settle SEC civil case

The government has cleared a Rs 3,004-crore capital infusion into State Bank of India (SBI) this financial year. However, how this is to be done has not been decided.

SBI to get Rs 3,004-cr capital infusion before end-March

Despite the government auditor insisting Export Credit Guarantee Corp of India Ltd (ECGC) mandate banks to check the creditworthiness of foreign buyers of Indian goods, the latter says it is not in a position to do so due to the structure of the credit insurance products it sells.

Cannot mandate banks to check creditworthiness of buyers: ECGC

Public sector lender Bank of India on Thursday raised interest rate for bulk deposits by 50 basis points to nine per cent for one year to less than two-year tenure. Deposits of more than Rs 10 crore are known as bulk deposits. Earlier this week, old-generation private sector lender Federal Bank and state-run Dena Bank raised retail term deposit rates by 25-35 basis points.

BoI raises bulk deposit rates

The proposed guidelines by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) are likely to impact the profitability of these entities by 15-20 basis points (0.15-0.20 per cent) in the medium-term, according to a research report by rating agency Icra.

RBI norms may dent NBFC profit, says Icra

The Reserve Bank of India on Friday said the draft guidelines on bancassurance, which were released by insurance regulator Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda), may expose banks to reputational risks.

Bancassurance norms may expose banks to reputational risks

High inflation, slowing growth and rising fiscal and current account deficits had increased the risks to macroeconomic stability, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its Financial Stability Report (FSR) released on Friday.

Falling growth, inflation pose risk to stability

Raising concern on regulatory and data availability gaps on the shadow banking system, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday said plugging these was necessary for a full assessment of the size of the non-banking financial segment, and of the systemic risks posed by the latter. To address these, a working group with representation from all financial sector regulators is attempting to &ldquo;macro map&rdquo; the shadow banking sector, it said.

Panel to plug regulatory gaps in shadow banking

Berkshire Partners LLC, a Boston- based buyout firm that invests in mid-sized companies, agreed to acquire Lightower Fiber Networks and Sidera Networks in a $2 billion deal that will create a fiber-optic network operator serving 6,000 locations.

Berkshire to buy Lightower, Sidera for $2 bn

An official study issued on Friday by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), while decrying citizens&rsquo; preference for gold as a saving, also makes clear why it makes sense for so many. The price of gold carries an uncertainty premium arising from risk aversion among investors in recent years. This has caused an above-normal return, not sustainable in the long term, says the RBI&rsquo;s Financial Stability Report.

Above normal return from gold not sustainable in the long term

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