The country's second largest private lender HDFC Bank today appointed Donald D'Souza as the head of its equity capital markets in the investment banking division.

HDFC Bank names Donald D'souza equity capital mkts head

Press Trust of India

Public sector banks' gross bad debt jumped over 51% to a whopping Rs 103,891 crore in 2011, Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena said today.

PSU banks NPAs up 51% to Rs 1 lakh cr

Country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) today said its shareholders have approved Rs 7,900 crore capital infusion by the government.

SBI shareholders approve Rs 7,900-cr capital infusion

ICICI Bank plans to raise up to $1 billion through a 10-year overseas bond issue as early as this month, two sources with direct knowledge said, signalling a pick-up in overseas bond issuances on improved global liquidity.

ICICI Bank picks banks for up to $1 bn bond issue

Reuters 

Now, returns on your savings account have become more lucrative. You can claim an additional deduction of Rs 10,000 worth of interest income on the account.

Don't let money lie idle in banks

Business Standard

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Andhra Pradesh can now breathe a sigh of relief. The deadline for new provisioning and asset classification norms, which threatened their existence, has been extended by a year. This allows non-banking finance company microfinance institutions (NBFC-MFIs) more time to get their act back together.

RBI offers breather to MFIs

The government on Tuesday said a shortfall of Rs 26,106 crore in receipts from disinvestment pushed the fiscal deficit for 2011-12 up 0.29 per cent. &quot;Because of shortfall of Rs 26,106 crore from disinvestment, the fiscal deficit got aggravated by 0.29 per cent (in 2011-12),&quot; Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

Shortage of divestment receipts 

Microfinance loans are set to turn dearer, owing to the increase in the service tax rate. While the increase may not appear significant because of the small-ticket size of the loans, industry players fear it would hit demand, especially in markets outside Andhra Pradesh, which have been relatively immune to the microfinance crisis.

Higher service tax rate to add to burden on small borrowers

The Reserve Bank of India will respond appropriately to the market demands, if needed, Governor D Subbarao said on Tuesday. &quot;I cannot really comment on it (general inflation)... If we find that markets needs response, we will give a response ... But I cannot really speculate on the fiscal movements outside the schedule,&quot; he said.

'RBI may respond to market demand'

Debt restructuring proposals of small micro-lenders in Andhra Pradesh have hit a roadblock, as banks are not confident of extending repayment tenures, converting part of the loans into equity and recovering money from the firms, even if the rates are cut.

Small MFIs' loan recast plan hits roadblock

State Bank of India (SBI), which has the largest banking network in Uttar Pradesh of over 1,200 branches, is expanding the alternative channels of banking.

SBI 'banking' on alternative channels

Lending a helping hand to the government in recapitalising public sector banks may have brought Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India in the good books of the finance ministry, but the move has irked the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda). The insurance regulator is opposed to LIC&rsquo;s decision to increase its stake in state-run banks to more than the regulatory cap of 10 per cent.

LIC's move to raise stake in PSBs to more than 10% irks Irda

International Finance Corporation (IFC) will invest about $20 million in Nereus India Alternative Energy Fund, a $250-million fund that would focus on renewable and clean energy companies in India. It is the country&rsquo;s first fund dedicated to renewable energy.

IFC to invest $20 mn in India's first clean energy fund Nereus

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday said despite the high global crude oil prices, Budget proposals and moderating economic growth would help lower inflation.

'No immediate steps for rupee convertibility on capital account'

The Reserve Bank has deferred the deadline on implementation of asset classification and provisioning norms for non-banking financial company-micro finance institutions (NBFC-MFIs) to April 1, 2013 from April this year.

RBI extends deadline for MFI provisioning norms

&quot;With a view to facilitating accounting of all government transactions of the current financial year (2011-12). All regional offices of Reserve Bank of India and branches of agency banks have been advised to conduct &quot;Special Clearings&quot; with same day return clearing in the evening or night of March 31, 2012,&quot; the central bank said in a notification.

RBI offices to stay open on Mar 31 for special clearings

State-owned Bank of India today announced increasing fixed deposit rates of select maturities by up to 0.75 percentage point.

Bank of India raises FD rates by up to 0.75%

State-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) today said its shareholders have approved raising capital up to Rs 2,875 crore by preferential issue of share to government and LIC.

PNB shareholders approve preferential issue to govt, LIC

The country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank on Wednesday launched a credit card targeted at the super affluent. The card christened Sapphiro is the third offering in its Gemstone collection and is aimed at super affluent segment and the bank's wealth management clientele, the city-based bank said in a statement. Customers will get two different cards, one each from payment gateways American Express and MasterCard, but both will be linked to a single card account, it added. Details on who qualifies to get the card and membership charges, if any, were not specified by the bank in the statement.

ICICI Bank's new credit card

Reserve Bank of India has said there was a need to strengthen the database non-performing assets (NPA) through more effective utilisation of the existing data systems of banks. &quot;.... The need to strengthen the database on areas like regional and sectoral distribution of non-performing assets through more effective utilisation of the existing data systems of banks,&quot; the RBI said in a notification on Wednesday. Recently, in a conference (Annual Statistics Conference 2012) held at Chandigarh, the RBI deliberated on issues in coverage of banking data, need for its improvement and develop micro-level, granular and consistent data to enhance its utility in policy making.

Strengthen NPA database: RBI

LIC Housing Finance on Wednesday said it has raised Rs 810 crore by issuing preference shares to its promoter, LIC. Three crore equity shares of face value of Rs 2 each at a premium of Rs 268 per share were issued to LIC on preferential basis, LIC Housing Finance said in a filing on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The fund infusion would help raise capital adequacy ratio.

LIC Housing raises Rs 810 crore

Finance News: Latest investing news and finance headlines straight from Business Standard.

Page 3290 - Finance News