ICICI Bank, the country&rsquo;s largest private sector lender, is likely to restructure Rs 1,300 crore of loans in the current January-March quarter. Key accounts expected to be part of the exercise include those of GTL and 3i Infotech.

ICICI to recast Rs 1,300-cr loans this quarter to cover GTL, 3i Infotech debt

Business Standard

The insurance regulator is determined to make agents graduate into &ldquo;advisors&rdquo; and is coming up with a detailed guideline that would make sale of a life insurance policy &ldquo;need&rdquo; or &ldquo;suitability&rdquo; based.

Irdas teaching guide for insurance agents 

State Bank of India (SBI), the country&rsquo;s largest lender, said interest rates may ease before the central bank reduces the policy rates, as higher rates have started hurting the industry.

Lending rates may fall before RBI's rate cut, says SBI

The Reserve Bank of India is not looking at giving banks a one-time leeway on provisioning towards non-performing assets at the moment, Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty said on Wednesday.

RBI may not give one-time leeway on NPAs' provisioning 

After backing SKS Microfinance, Sequoia Capital is now betting on another microfinance player, Bangalore-based urban poor-focused Ujjivan Financial Services, a member of the Grameen Network, Bangladesh. Sequoia Capital on Wednesday said it had participated in the fifth round of equity financing by Ujjivan, and was now the single-largest shareholder, with a stake of around 15.7 per cent.

Sequoia Capital bets on another microfinance player

Bangalore-based public sector lender State Bank of Mysore (SBM) on Thursday reported 15.9 per cent drop in net profit at Rs 110.9 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, compared to the corresponding quarter last year. The drop in net profit was mainly on account of a 6.8 per cent drop in net income, which stood at Rs 413.4 crore compared to Rs 443.7 crore in the year ago period.

SBM net drops 16%

After the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rejected the proposal to provide an &lsquo;SLR&rsquo; status to bonds, lenders have now agreed to convert Air India&rsquo;s loan into non-convertible debentures (NCDs). But, there is an important caveat: the government must guarantee the entire loan and the interest rate, so that there is no additional provisioning requirement.

Lenders to convert Air India loan into NCDs with govt guarantee

US private equity firms Carlyle Group and Warburg Pincus took advantage of recent market gains to pare stakes in two financial companies in deals worth $440 million, a sign of investor wariness about the sustainability of the rally.

PE players see market ripe to exit

At least 38 private equity deals worth nearly Rs 4,500 crore ($890 million) were sealed in January, according to Research firm Four-S Services. In the largest deal of the month, online retailer Flipkart raised Rs 750 crore ($150 million) from existing investors Accel Partners and Tiger Global Management. This is so far the largest deal in the online retail space in India.

PE deals worth Rs 4.5k cr in Jan

Indian Bank has exposure to the tune of around Rs 39 crore towards 2G licences, which according to Bank's senior official is safe.&nbsp;The money was given to Videcon&nbsp;Industries by the bank.

Bank's exposure to 2G licence is safe: Indian Bank CMD

Public-sector lender Andhra Bank witnessed a decline of 8.5% in net profit at Rs 303 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2011, due to higher provisioning towards non-performing assets (NPAs).

Andhra Bank Q3 net down 8.5% at Rs 303 cr

Press Trust of India

State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender, today said it has an exposure of Rs 4,500 crore in the telecom companies whose licences have been cancelled by the Supreme Court in connection with 2G scam.

SBI says it has Rs 4,500 cr exposure in telcos

To prevent adverse impact of volatile forex market movement on corporates and their lenders, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed banks to evaluate risks from unhedged foreign currency exposure of companies while extending them credit facilities.

RBI asks banks to evaluate risk of unhedged forex

With credit growth not picking up owing to a high interest rate regime, many banks are now apprehensive about meeting their priority sector lending (PSL) target for the current fiscal.

Banks not sure of meeting priority sector lending target

There is no room for aggressive rate cuts in India in the current situation, Subir Gokarn, a deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India, told CNBC-TV18 on Friday.

No room for aggressive rate cuts: Gokarn

Reuters 

The Reserve Bank of India's choice of securities to buy in open market operations is not aimed at reducing the cost of borrowing for the government but to ensure an adequate supply of liquidity in the banking system, Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn said.

OMOs not aimed at helping govt: RBI Deputy Guv

Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp (SMBC) completed a $300 million loan deal for ICICI Bank, JBIC said in a statement on Friday.

ICICI Bank signs $300 mn loan deal with Japan banks

The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday asked banks to consider policies to limit unhedged foreign-currency exposures of clients to reduce potential credit losses.

Check forex exposure of clients: RBI to banks

The finance ministry will be infusing Rs 18,000 crore in the current financial in 12 banks, including the State Bank of India (SBI), and will be seeking supplementary grants from Parliament in the Budget session.

Govt to infuse Rs 18,000 cr in 12 PSU banks

Public sector lender, Andhra Bank, witnessed a decline of 8.45 per cent in its net profit at Rs 303 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2011, as compared to Rs 331 crore in the same quarter of the previous year. This is due to the high level of provisions made towards restructuring accounts, primarily from the telecom sector.

Andhra Bank net dips 8%

Manappuram Finance Limited has declared a net profit of Rs 161.37 crore, up 117 per cent in the third quarter of the current financial year compared to Rs 74.53 crore for the same period, last year. Net profit for the nine months up to December is up by 124 per cent at Rs 404.5 crore, compared Rs 180.8 crore. V P Nandakumar, executive chairman, announced the results on Thursday. The company&rsquo;s aggregate gold loan disbursements during the quarter increased to Rs 10,371.80 crore.

Mannapuram Finance profit rises 

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