The effect of economic slowdown continues to weigh negatively on credit demand. Bank disbursement of loans shrunk for the second fortnight in a row, in January.

Credit growth dips further in January

Business Standard

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today assured market participants that bond purchases under open market operations (OMOs) have not been discontinued and are very much on the table.

'No decision yet, to stop bond purchases through OMO: Gokarn 

Government-owned Air India, which is to issue non-convertible debentures (NCDs) to raise funds for repaying its debt mountain, has begun informally sounding Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India, mutual fund houses and government-owned non-life insurance companies to subscribe to the issue, bankers said.

Air India begins sounding LIC and mutual funds for bond sale

The government has nominated department of financial services Secretary D K Mittal on the board of directors of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), taking the number of government nominees on the board to two.

D K Mittal on RBI central board

Public sector lender Bank of India will revamp up to 350 key branches in metro and large cities to project these as &ldquo;Branch of the Future&rdquo; over the next 18 months to scale up the retail business.

BoI to revamp 350 large city branches

Credit Suisse posted a surprise fourth-quarter net loss after taking almost 1 billion Swiss francs ($1.1 billion) of charges to speed cost cutting and offload risky assets to meet stiffer capital rules.

Credit Suisse slumps to Q4 loss

Reuters 

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is to wind down some parts of its equities operations as part of a broader cutback of its investment banking operations, with thousands of jobs already set to go as part of the restructuring.

RBS to wind down some equity units, jobs to go

At a time when the finance ministry is taking pro-active steps to smoothen the process of top-level appointments in banks, the insurance sector senses no chance of such a reform.

Govt approval eludes insurance sector

The biggest US banks will provide about $25 billion in relief to distressed homeowners, as state and federal officials hold lenders responsible for taking illegal shortcuts during foreclosures and for other deceptive practices.

Mortgage settlement reached with top banks

A quick rebound after a sharp fall in the rupee has baffled the financial satraps of India Inc, now only taking a short-term view on hedging strategies. Having burnt their fingers in the second half of calendar year 2011 by taking longer term bets on the domestic currency, they&rsquo;ve started hedging for smaller durations. Some are even leaving their foreign exchange exposures unhedged.

India Inc bats for short-term hedging strategies

Pressed to meet priority sector lending target, banks have stepped-up securitisaton deals, with the non-Andhra Pradesh portfolio boosting the demand.

MFIs step up  securitisation deals 

Suspected dollar sales by the Reserve Bank of India helped the rupee recover all intraday losses on Friday, but the currency still posted its biggest weekly fall in nine weeks. Traders said intervention triggered a wave of long-dollar position liquidation.

Rupee's 9-week big fall

Thursday was a big payday for Deutsche Bank (DB), which ended its tumultuous relationship with the Mumbai-based Lodha Group. For DB, the exit was a windfall &mdash; a neat 55 per cent profit in four years.

Builders feel investor heat, bite buyback bullet

Reliance Industries (RIL) has raised $1 billion (nearly Rs 5,000 crore) by selling foreign currency bonds to investors abroad through its arm, Reliance Holding USA. The bonds carry a coupon of 5.4 per cent, payable semi-annually and unconditionally guaranteed by RIL.

RIL raises $1 billion

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) on Friday said it was time to have a relook at the country&rsquo;s insurance sector, particularly in the light of a significant downturn and 15 per cent &ldquo;degrowth&rdquo; the industry registered in December last year.

Time to relook at insurance sector: Irda chairman

Banks with a large network of automated teller machines (ATM) will now be able to generate additional revenue by advertising financial products offered by other institutions.

Now, ATMs can advertise financial products

India&rsquo;s foreign exchange reserves fell by $177 million to $294 billion for the week ended February 3, 2012, after rising marginally for the previous two consecutive weeks.

Forex reserves down

Public sector Bank of Baroda (BoB) will expand its overseas network by increasing up its presence in Africa, Middle East and entering New Zealand for the first time, a top company official said.

Bank of Baroda to expand overseas network

Press Trust of India

UniCredit SpA, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA and Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA were among 34 Italian financial firms downgraded by Standard &amp; Poor&rsquo;s, after the credit-ratings company reduced the nation&rsquo;s grade last month.

S&P downgrades ratings of 34 Italian banks

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised its bank rate to 9.5% from 6% with immediate effect, to align it with the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate, the central bank said.

RBI raises bank rate to 9.5%

A week after he took charge of Dhanlaxmi Bank, PG Jayakumar decided to cut costs to strengthen the financial position of the Thrissur-based private lender. The austerity drive would include salary cuts, reduction in travel expenses and decrease in discretionary spends.

Dhanlaxmi Bank on austerity drive, to cut staff salary

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