Banking services including branch operations and treasury operations were hit hard as staff and officers belonging to some bank unions on Wednesday went on a two-day strike protesting against reforms in the sector.

Strike hits forex, money and banking ops

Business Standard

Uncertainty around buyback arrangements has put private equity (PE) firms, struggling to exit their investments, in troubled waters. The number of buybacks so far this year has halved compared with 2010 numbers, and the value of these deals has declined about 90 per cent.

Regulatory issues pose hurdle on buyback route

IDBI Bank on Wednesday launched a term deposit scheme that offers floating rate of interest.

IDBI starts floating-rate term-deposit scheme

Annual growth in bank advances fell moderately below the projection of 17 per cent set by the Reserve Bank of India in the monetary and credit policy for the current financial year.

Credit growth slips below RBI projection

India and Pakistan have agreed to allow two banks each from both the countries to set up branches across the border, Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, Yaseen Anwar said on Wednesday.

SBI, BoI allowed to operate in Pak

Press Trust of India

Magma Fincorp Ltd (MFL) has appointed Sachin Khandelwal, a key ICICI Bank executive, as head of housing finance business, and Sandeep Walunj as chief marketing officer of MFL.

Sachin Khandelwal quits ICICI, joins Magma's arm

The government on Wednesday relaxed external commercial borrowing (ECB) norms significantly in a number of areas &mdash; including corporate bonds, low-cost housing and refinancing of rupee loans by infrastructure and manufacturing sectors &mdash; and permitted the Small Industrial Development Bank of India (Sidbi) to access ECB.

Sidbi gets funding access

Rising for the fourth day in a row, the rupee added 28 paise to Rs 55.21 against the dollar in early trade today on the Interbank Foreign Exchange as the American unit weakened against euro and other currencies overseas.

Rupee up 28 paise to Rs 55.21/dollar

India is looking to make it easier for companies to raise funds by allowing them to issue rupee bonds that are guaranteed from offshore entities, while easing some of its overseas borrowing rules.

India eases domestic, overseas borrowing regulations

Reuters 

Domestic, overseas borrowing regulations eased

State-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) has filed an application with the Reserve Bank to open branches in Lahore and Karachi, while SBI and Bank of India have also expressed keenness to start operations in Pakistan.

PNB files application to open branches in Lahore, Karachi

The Rajkot District Co-operative Bank (RDCB) has decided to waive interest on loans given to nearly two lakh farmers for agriculture purposes, following a rain deficiency in Saurashtra region.

Rajkot co-operative bank waives interest on loans to farmers

The positive intent shown by the government recently on key reforms such as foreign direct investment in key sectors such as insurance, retail, aviation and urban infrastructure seems to have enthused the country&rsquo;s central bank.

Growth may be back on track next year, says RBI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has come down heavily on banks for charging pre-payment penalty on dual-rate home loans, and has issued a circular banning such a penalty.

Teaser home loan pre-closure fee lifted

State Bank of India (SBI) chairman has called for a change in non-performing assets&rsquo; (NPAs) norms, and reiterated the need for ending the practice of banks keeping reserves with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

SBI chief wants NPA rules tweaked

State Bank of India holds 33 per cent of the total non-performing assets (NPAs) held by public sector banks, according to the finance ministry.

SBI has 33% of PSBs' NPAs

The Reserve Bank of India today cautioned that increasing dependence on imported coal and rising global prices of the dry fuel could impact growth and inflation.

'More coal imports can impact inflation'

ICICI Bank, India&rsquo;s largest private sector lender, today rolled out 25 &ldquo;electronic branches&rdquo; across 18 locations in the country.

ICICI Bank starts 25 e-branches

The Mahapatra Committee report had recommended an increase in provisioning on restructured assets from 2% to 5%. But bankers have resisted the move as it will erode their profitability. Final guidelines on restructuring would be released later, but the Reserve Bank said the intention to suggest higher provisioning was to avoid any fragility in the banking system due to cyclical downturns.

Asset quality worry

Several ATMs ran out of cash causing hardship to the common man on the second day of the two- day strike called by PSU bank unions to protest against reforms and outsourcing of non-core activities.

Day-II of bank strike: Cash crunch hits ATMs

Public sector lender IDBI Bank will double its medium-term note (MTN) programme to $3 billion from $1.5 billion, to raise foreign currency resources and meet the growing long-term fund demand of Indian companies.

IDBI Bank to double bond plan to $3 bn

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