India along with Japan and China is among the top five countries in the Asia-Pacific region with the highest number of merger and acquisition deals in the first three months of this year, even as the economic downturn has impacted the overall M&amp;A activity in the region.

India among top five deal makers in Asia-Pac region in Q1

Press Trust of India

Kolkata-based UCO Bank has identified 270 branches, at around 130 centres in India for Nano booking.

Nano booking from 270 UCO branches

Business Standard

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said On Monday that the government&rsquo;s borrowing programme would be substantially higher in 2009-10 as against a year earlier, irrespective of whether the full budget will be presented by the new government or not.

Govt borrowings to rise this fiscal, says RBI

With low credit demand, the system is flush with liquidity with banks parking close to Rs 1,22,000 crore with the Reserve Bank of India through the reverse repo window.

Banks park Rs 1,22,000 crore with RBI

The global financial crisis appears to have claimed a new casualty: the Persian Gulf dream of creating a common Arab market in the next few years with its own currency, modelled after the European Union.

Crisis takes toll on Gulf currency plan

At a time when private equity players are finding it difficult to raise resources, the country&rsquo;s largest bank, State Bank of India (SBI), and the Macquarie Group today said that they have tied up over $1 billion for an infrastructure fund. In fact, both hope to raise the corpus to $2-3 billion during the course of the year.

SBI, Macquarie launch infra fund, hope to raise $2-3 billion

The crisis of confidence due to the global financial meltdown in September 2008 seems to have encouraged depositors to move their money to &lsquo;safer havens&rsquo;.

'Flight to safety' boosts govt banks' business

IDBI defers sale of home finance arm

State-owned lender State Bank of India has given a return of 9.7 per cent on provident fund deposits, which is over half a percentage more than the best among the private sector asset managers during the quarter ended December 2008.
The other three private fund managers, including HSBC Asset Management Company (AMC), ICICI Prudential AMC and Reliance AMC, gave a yield of 8.5, 9 and 9.1 per cent, respectively, from September 17 to December 31 in 2008, a source in the Employees&rsquo; Provident

SBI's returns on PF betters private managers'

The corpus of Rural Housing Fund (RHF), a scheme set up by the National Housing Bank (NHB) to provide refinance for rural housing, has been doubled to Rs 2,000 crore.

Rural housing fund corpus doubled to Rs 2,000 crore

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said he&rsquo;s prepared to oust executives and directors at banks that require &ldquo;exceptional&rdquo; assistance from the US government.

Geithner to oust execs at banks needing aid

Investors are depending on banks more than at any time in at least 60 years to lead the US out of the longest earnings slump since the Great Depression.

S&P 500 can&#39;t see enough money from banks to feed stocks&#39; rally

Interim pension regulator PFRDA will take up with the new Government the matter of tax exemption on withdrawal of money under the New Pension System.

PFRDA for tax exemption on pension withdrawals

The Indian insurance sector is lacking adequate specialised skilled professionals in areas like actuarial science and treasury management, the Rakesh Mohan Committee on Financial Sector Assessment said.

Insurance industry faces shortage of skilled force: report

At a time when crackdown on tax havens have acquired a political colour, data shows that Swiss banks held securities worth $3.35 trillion in 2008, with over half managed on behalf of foreign entities.

Swiss banks held securities worth $3.35 trn in 2008

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is averse to monetising the fiscal deficit as a measure to push private investment and sagging growth.

RBI averse to monetisation of fiscal deficit

Ahead of the annual monetary policy, Reserve Bank Governor D Subbarao will meet heads of leading Indian banks here tomorrow to discuss the emerging situation in the banking industry.

Subbarao may press banks to cut rates in meet tomorrow

British banking major Royal Bank of Scotland has said it will slash as many as 9,000 jobs worldwide in the coming days, including 4,500 positions in the UK, as part of its cost-cutting measures.

Royal Bank of Scotland to cut 9,000 jobs

Stung by rising non-performing assets (15 per cent in some cases), several banks have now started issuing cards linked to fixed deposits (FDs).

Want a credit card? Open a fixed deposit first

The working group formed at the behest of the G20 leaders to review the ongoing economic crisis has recommended that the financial regulatory framework within each country should use a system-wide approach to improve oversight and mitigate excess risks that are built over a period.

Need global platform to assess risks: G20 group

The West Bengal State Cooperative Bank (WBSCB) has sought more autonomy in opening branches in Coochbehar, North 24-Parganas and South 24-Parganas districts of West Bengal.

WBSCB seeks more autonomy

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