FirstRand Bank, the second largest bank in South Africa in terms of market capitalisation, on Wednesday said it has commenced retail and commercial banking operations in India. The lender has opened its first branch in Mumbai.

FirstRand Bank starts retail operations in India

Business Standard

South Korea-based Woori Bank, a part of Woori Financial Group, has launched its first branch in India at Chennai, which would be the head office.

South Korea's Woori Bank sails in via Chennai

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is seeking bids for $7.49 billion of collateralized debt obligations linked to commercial mortgages it took on in the 2008 bailout of American International Group Inc.

Fed seeks bids for $7.49 bn of debt obligations

Country's second largest public sector bank PNB today announced cut in lending rate by 0.25%, a move that will make housing and corporate loans cheaper.

PNB cuts lending rate by 0.25%

Press Trust of India

Total new business premium of life insurance companies in the country declined by 9.2% to Rs 1,14,232.73 crore in 2011-12 fiscal, the regulator Irda said today.

Life insurers new biz premium down 9.2% in FY12

Fresh concerns over the euro zone and a high dollar demand from domestic oil companies dragged the rupee to 14-week lows on Thursday. There was no support from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) even as the currency broke the level of 52 against the dollar, traders said.

Re slips past 52, RBI may not intervene

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has come down heavily on banks that went for aggressive expansion of the top line around March-end to meet yearly targets. In the last week of March, bank deposits had risen by a whopping Rs 2 lakh crore, while loan growth stood at Rs 93,000 crore. Also, more than a fifth of the deposits collected in 2011-12 came in during this period.

Refrain from year-end window dressing: RBI

HDFC Bank, the second-largest private sector lender in the country, will not offer a higher rate on bulk deposits than it pays for retail deposits of similar maturities.

HDFC Bank sees no need to offer premium on bulk deposit rates

ITNL Offshore, an arm of IL&amp;FS, has raised $100 million by selling dim sum bonds, which are denominated in yuan and issued in Hong Kong.

IL&FS arm raises $100 mn via dim sum bonds

IndusInd Bank on Thursday said its net profit for the quarter ended March 31 expanded 30 per cent to Rs 223 crore, from Rs 172 crore a year ago, driven by higher fee income and rise in interest income from advances.

IndusInd Bank's Q4 net profit up 30%

Government securities (G-Sec) declined on fresh selling pressure from banks and corporates, and call rates also remained weak on overnight call money market here on Thursday due to lack of demand from borrowing banks.

Bonds, call rates decline on selling pressure

BlackRock, the giant money manager, said it would have no choice but to shift some of its business away from certain Wall Street firms if Moody&rsquo;s Investors Service went ahead with its threat to downgrade some of the country&rsquo;s biggest banks.

BlackRock may dump banks downgraded by Moody's 

With economic slowdown and stress on corporate balance sheets looming, bankers expect the pace of reference to corporate debt restructuring (CDR) fora to stay high for at least two quarters.

CDR references likely to stay high in FY13

The Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB), which has been under the administrator&rsquo;s rule since May last year, finally received the banking licence on Thursday from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

MSC Bank gets banking licence, scope for stronger business

Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), the second-largest foreign bank in the country in terms of branch network, has resumed offering unsecured loan products after more than two years.

HSBC revives unsecured lending

European Union lawmakers are considering rules to protect bank depositors that may stymie two of the main funding sources for the region's lenders.

EU mulls bank rules that may choke funding 

There is some relief for borrowers, as large banks have started reducing their lending rates across the board after a gap of three years. Punjab National Bank, the second largest lender in the country, and ICICI Bank, the largest private sector lender, on Thursday reduced their base rate by 25 basis points (bps) each to 10.5 per cent and 9.75 per cent, respectively. Another large public sector lender, Bank of Baroda, is likely to reduce its base rate by 25 bps to 10.5 per cent.

PNB, ICICI Bank reduce lending, deposit rates

The rupee fell below 52 versus the dollar to a new three-month low, though traders have not yet seen clear signs of intervention.

Rupee falls below 52, hits new 3-month low

Reuters 

In the wake of the Reserve Bank of India&rsquo;s (RBI) rate reversal signal, the ongoing and impending reductions in banks&rsquo; base rate &mdash; the benchmark lending rate to which all loans are linked &mdash; may deplete lenders&rsquo; margins. Especially those of public sector lenders, which had aggressively raised deposit rates only last month and which they have to service for at least a year.

Lending rate cuts likely to put pressure on banks' margins

Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), the largest mortgage lender in the country with nearly a third of the market share, is set to reduce its lending rates by 25 basis points (bps) early next week, people familiar with the development told Business Standard on Friday.

HDFC may cut rate by 25 bps next week

South Korea-based Woori Bank, a part of the Woori Financial Group, has launched its first branch in India, at Chennai, to provide assistance to Korean companies in the country in corporate banking and to serve local clients. The Chennai branch would be the head office of Woori Bank in India.

South Korea's Woori Bank sets up  its first branch in India

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