Page 32 - Finance Sector

L&T Finance, L&T Infra Credit, 5 NBFCs surrender registration certificates

L&T Finance, L&T Infra Credit, and five other non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) have surrendered their certificates of registration to the Reserve Bank of India. Following this, the central bank cancelled their Certificate of Registration (CoR) as they ceased to be a legal entity after amalgamation, merger, dissolution or voluntary strike-off. In December last year, L&T Finance Holdings (LTFH) had announced the completion of merger of subsidiaries L&T Finance, L&T Infra Credit, and L&T Mutual Fund Trustee, with itself. The other five NBFCs which surrendered their CoR are Marudhar Food & Credit Ltd, Creative Intra Ltd, Jinvani Trading & Investment Company, Manjushree Fincap, and Shruti Financial Services. In another statement, the RBI said it has cancelled CoR of four NBFCs -- Nimisha Finance India, R.M.B. Finance Company, Suyash Finovest, and Kamdhar Leasing and Finance Ltd. These four companies cannot transact the business of a non-banking ...

Complaints under RBI's ombudsman schemes soar 68% to over 7 trn in 2022-23

The number of complaints filed under the Reserve Bank's ombudsman schemes increased by over 68 per cent to 7.03 lakh in the fiscal 2022-23, according a report released on Monday. The complaints pertained to mobile/electronic banking, loans and advances, ATM/debit cards, credit cards, pension payments, remittances, and para banking, among others. The Annual Report of the Ombudsman Scheme 2022-23 is the first stand-alone report under the Reserve Bank Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (RB-IOS), 2021 elucidating the activities of the 22 Offices of the RBI Ombudsman (ORBIOs), Centralised Receipt and Processing Centre (CRPC) and the Contact Centre during the year. "Under RB-IOS, 2021, there was a significant increase in number of complaints and a total of 7,03,544 complaints were received at the ORBIOs and CRPC in 2022-23, showing an increase of 68.24 per cent, due to intense public awareness initiatives and the simplified process for lodging of complaints under RB-IOS," the report ...

RBI takes delivery of $5 bn dollar/rupee swap to bolster liquidity: Bankers

Bankers reckon that the central bank opted to take delivery, thereby removing $5 billion out of the system and injecting proportionate liquidity

REC to finance power, infra projects worth Rs 1.20 trillion in Rajasthan

Government-owned power sector financier REC Ltd on Monday said it has signed an agreement with the Rajasthan government to provide up to Rs 1.2 lakh crore in six years for power and infrastructure related projects. REC Ltd, under the power ministry, has signed an agreement with the government of Rajasthan on March 10, according to a statement. As per the agreement, REC will finance up to Rs 20,000 crore per annum for a period of six years projects across power and non-power infrastructure sectors. Vivek Kumar Dewangan, CMD, REC Ltd, said in the statement, "We are proud to collaborate with the government of Rajasthan in its mission to enhance infrastructure development across the state. Through this partnership, we aim to support sustainable growth and address the evolving energy needs of the region along with development of other infrastructure sectors." Under this agreement, REC will provide loans of up to Rs 20,000 crore annually for the next six years to various departments, ...

Rs 820 crore Uco bank scam: CBI conducts second round of searches

The CBI has conducted searches at 67 locations in seven cities of Rajasthan and Maharashtra in connection with the Rs 820-crore IMPS scam in UCO bank, officials said Thursday. The case pertains to over 8,53,049 IMPS (Immediate Payment System) transactions that took place between November 10 and November 13 last year in the bank. "IMPS inward transactions initiated from around 14,600 account holders of seven private banks were wrongfully posted in the accounts of over 41,000 UCO Bank account holders. This resulted in Rs. 820 crore being credited to UCO Bank accounts without actual debiting from the originating banks," the CBI Spokesperson said. The searches in Rajasthan and Maharashtra on Wednesday focused on people who received the money and withdrew it rather than returning it to the bank, officials said. This is the second round of searches. "Earlier in December 2023, searches were conducted at 13 locations involving private individuals and UCO Bank officials in Kolkata and ...

Global banking watchdog to crack down on 'window dressing' by big banks

The rules were introduced a decade ago after many lenders were bailed out by taxpayers in the global financial crisis

RBI tightens norms for credit, debit cards used with business accounts

Last month, the RBI had ordered Visa to stop using an unauthorized route to make business-to-business card payments which used fintech companies as an intermediary

Fairfax India agrees to give IIFL Finance up to $200 mn liquidity support

NBFC's stock falls another 20% after RBI bars it from disbursing gold loans

8 NBFCs to raise $2 bn through ECB after positive outlook for Indian firms

Overseas borrowing by Indian corporates and high-rated non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) is likely to grow as hedging costs are low and there is a softening bias of global interest rates

India's P&I club for coastal shipping likely to start on domestic waters

Overseas marine insurance covers amounts running into billions of dollars, which India's entity would not be able to undertake initially

'Mahindra Finance aims to nearly double non-vehicle loan book in FY25'

Currently, non-vehicle finance comprises 5%-6% of the company's loan book. The target will be met in phases and may not exceed 10% in 2024-25, Iyer said

30 banks join RBI UDGAM to search for recipients of unclaimed deposits

The Reserve Bank on Tuesday said 30 banks are facilitating people to search their unclaimed deposits/accounts through UDGAM portal, and the remaining banks are in the process of getting on-boarded. UDGAM -- Unclaimed Deposits-Gateway to Access inforMation -- is an online portal developed by RBI. It facilitates the registered users to search unclaimed deposits/accounts across multiple banks in one place in a centralised manner. All unclaimed deposits/accounts that are part of the Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund of RBI can be searched in the UDGAM portal. "As on March 4, 2024, there are 30 banks, which are part of UDGAM portal, and they cover around 90 per cent of unclaimed deposits (in value terms) in DEA Fund of RBI," the central bank said in a set of Frequently Asked Questions on UDGAM portal. A user is required to register on the portal by providing his/her name and mobile number. The portal facilitates only the search of unclaimed deposits/accounts across multiple

Ex-LIC chief MR Kumar joins Bank of India as non-executive chairman

Bank of India on Tuesday announced the appointment of MR Kumar, former chairman of LIC, as the non-executive chairman and Rajiv Mishra as an executive director. Kumar, a science graduate from the University of Madras, also serves on the board of Ambuja Cements. He joined Life Insurance Corporation in 1983 and was its chairman from 2019 to March 2023. Kumar had also served as a director on the boards of Kenindia Assurance, Kenya, and ACC India. His other leadership roles include the chairmanship of the governing board of National Insurance Academy, president of Insurance Institute of India, and as chairman of Council of Insurance Ombudsman. The bank also announced appointment of Mishra as an executive director. An MBA, Mishra led Union Bank of India's digital transformation, highlighted by the launch of the Vyom mobile app. He had also served on the boards of Kashi Gomti Samyut Gramin Bank in Varanasi, and UBI Services.

RBI bars JM Financial Products from financing against shares, debentures

"This action is necessitated due to certain serious deficiencies observed in respect of loans sanctioned by company for IPO financing as well as NCD subscriptions," RBI said

Ananya Birla's Svatantra to get Rs 1,930 cr capital from Advent, Multiples

Private equity majors Advent International and Multiples on Monday committed to invest Rs 1,930 crore in Ananya Birla-promoted microlender Svatantra Microfin for an undisclosed stake. Birla, the daughter of billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla, will continue to hold a "significant majority stake" in the microlender even after the infusion, a statement said, claiming this to be the largest investment in any microfinance institution. At present, Svatantra and its wholly-owned subsidiary Chaitanya have a team of 17,000 employees serving 42 lakh customers in over 20 states. The microfinance lender, which was founded in 2013, acquired Chaitanya India Fin Credit for Rs 1,479 crore in August last year. Advent's past investments include a bet on Aditya Birla Capital, the Kumar Mangalam Birla-led Aditya Birla Group's non-bank lending arm. In a statement, Ananya Birla termed the investment as a "momentous occasion" and added that it will propel it towards its goal of becoming the "most impactful

British accounting watchdog fines KPMG $1.9 mn over Saatchi audit failings

KPMG and its partner Adrian Wilcox failed to audit with sufficient professional skepticism, according to the Financial Reporting Council, which published a decision notice on Monday

RBI may undertake comprehensive review of architecture of payment banks

Governance standards, viability of biz among priorities

Reserve Bank of India widens scope of BBPS to non-bank payment aggregators

Number of participants on BBPS to go up with participation of PAs

Digitalisation needs banks to prioritise employee adaptability: RBI's Rao

He said investing in employee development is essential for financial institutions to thrive

India Ratings lowers MFI sector outlook to 'neutral' from 'improving'

Flagging caution on overleveraging, the rating agency revised the outlook on the microfinance sector to 'neutral' from 'improving'