Though the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) continued its hawkish stance during the mid-quarter review of monetary policy last week, and declined to give any signs of pause, economists have started advocating as concerns over domestic growth deepen coupled with heightened global macroeconomic uncertainty.

Time for RBI to pause, say economists

Business Standard

Mangalore-headquartered Karnataka Bank has set a target of 25 percent growth in business in 2011-12, and plans to achieve it by focusing more on the retail segment.

Karnataka Bank bets big on retail

Online and mobile banking is changing the way in which basic transactions happen. Sudeep Yadav, Citi's managing director and head of global transaction services for South Asia, talks to Arijit Barman and Somasroy Chakraborty on the changing landscape in basic banking transactions.

Q&A: Sudeep Yadav, Citi, South Asia

State-run National Housing Bank (NHB) plans to set up a mortgage finance company by the end of this financial year. The housing finance watchdog, wholly owned by the Reserve Bank of India, will compensate banks and housing finance companies in case of default by home loan borrowers.

NHB to set up mortgage finance firm by FY12-end

AGS Transact Technologies Ltd (ATTL), an ATM outsourcing and systems integration company, plans to set up 5,000 ATMs in the next 18 months and double headcount to 2,600 by March 2013 to support its expansion plans.

AGS Transact to set up 5,000 ATMs

Investors have pulled more money from US equity funds since the end of April than in the five months after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, adding to the $2.1-trillion rout in American stocks. About $75 billion was withdrawn from funds that focus on shares during the past four months, Bloomberg data from the Investment Company Institute, a Washington-based trade group, and EPFR Global, a research firm in Cambridge.

Fund withdrawals top Lehman at $75 bn

Bonuses at UBS AG's investment bank may be at risk after the company suffered a $2.3 billion loss from what it described as unauthorised trading.

UBS bonuses at risk after $2.3-bn trading loss

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) today said it would come out with guidelines for initial public offering (IPO) of life insurance companies within a week.

Final IPO norms for life insurers within a week: Irda

Press Trust of India

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) today relaxed norms for insurance agents by removing certain riders at pegging the persistency ratio, which refers to retention of clients, at 50%.

Irda relaxes persistency norms for insurance agents

Amid the current uncertain macro-economic environment, inorganic growth seems to be the mantra for multi-national corporations looking to establish a foothold in India.

Outbound M&As decline in 2011, inbound deals surge 

Hit by rising input costs, hardening interest costs and the policy conundrum, corporate capital expenditure would continue to be low in 2011-12. The low pace of capital expenditure would mean a moderation in credit demand from companies. It would also make the task of keeping economic growth between 7.5 per cent and 8.5 per cent difficult.

India Inc's capex likely to remain dismal in FY12

Bank of India (BoI) has sought capital infusion of Rs 4,000 crore from the government to fund its growth for the next two-three years. The government holds 65 per cent stake in Bank of India.

BoI seeks Rs 4,000 cr from Centre 

They begin delaying payments, many talk of need for govt help.

Depreciating rupee pinches importers

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) might relax the debt investment norms for Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).

Debt investment norms for LIC may be relaxed 

It was his passion for examining raw data to draw conclusions from a set of information that persuaded Mohan Jayaraman to join Experian after a stint of almost eight years with ICICI, the country's largest private sector bank.

BS People: Mohan Jayaraman

As many as 26 co-operative banks failed in 2010-11 which resulted in credit insurance companies paying over Rs 268 crore to depositors.

26 co-operative banks go belly up in 2010-11

State Bank of India (SBI), the country&rsquo;s largest lender, on Wednesday said it would offer a discount of 25 basis points (bps) to prospective floating home loan customers during the festive season. The move follows leading home loan players like ICICI Bank and HDFC launching fixed-cum-floating home loans to attract customers during the festive season.

SBI offers discount of 25 bps on home loans

Amid a strengthening dollar and the global risk aversion, the rupee has fallen by 9.5 per cent in the last two months. While there are fears that a weakening rupee may further fuel inflation, the central bank&rsquo;s intervention , aimed at supporting the currency, may not be of much help.

RBI's forex intervention may not prevent rupee's slide

If the deal between CIC and Virgin Money is agreed, it will be the first major investment from China in the British banking sector. CIC will also be joining a group of investors &mdash; they include US private equity firms Carlyle and General Atlantic Partners and the Universities Superannuation Scheme, Britain&rsquo;s second-biggest pension fund &mdash; which have agreed to part-fund Virgin Money&rsquo;s retail banking expansion in the UK. Virgin Money currently has interests only in the credit card and mortgage businesses in the UK. A successful bid to buy UK government-owned Northern Rock would enable it to enter the highly competitive retail banking sector in the UK.

Chinese fund may help Branson finance bid for Northern Rock

Usha Thorat, chairperson of the Reserve Bank of India&rsquo;s (RBI) panel on finance companies, on Wednesday said she did not favour allowing financial companies to raise funds through external commercial borrowing( ECBs), since lending by external agencies is actually carried out keeping the government&rsquo;s comfort level in mind.

ECB window for finance firms not advisable: Thorat

Loans grew faster than deposits during the fortnight ended September 9, indicating an increase in credit demand during the festive season. The growth in loans has been slow so far this financial year, owing to steep rate rises by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Festive season sees loans grow faster than deposits

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