Page 46 - Finance Sector

Credit growth to moderate to 13.2 pc in FY24, NPAs to improve further: Icra

Credit growth in the banking system's will moderate to 12.1-13.2 per cent in the current fiscal from 15.4 per cent in the year-ago period, a domestic rating agency said on Thursday. Asset quality improvement will continue, while the Gross Non-Performing Assets (GNPA) ratio is expected to come down to 2.8-3 per cent by March 2024, as against 3.7 per cent at the end of the June quarter, domestic rating agency Icra said. Amid the high growth in unsecured credit, the rating agency said there is nothing much to be concerned about on the front, and the vulnerable retail book remains low and manageable. Icra Co-Group Head Anil Gupta termed the credit growth as "robust", despite the slight moderation from the percentage growth perspective, and added that the agency expects the quantum of credit to also be lower at Rs 16.5-18 lakh crore as against the Rs 18.2 lakh crore in the year-ago period. Banks will chase more deposits this year, and the overall deposit growth for FY24 is expected to c

Sidbi expects its loan book to hit Rs 5 trn this fiscal, 25% direct funding

State-owned Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) expects its loan book to reach Rs 5 lakh crore this fiscal and direct funding to touch 25 per cent of its total book over the next three years. The SME loan book (of commercial banks) as of March 2023 was Rs 25 lakh crore, while the total credit market stood at a little over Rs 148 lakh crore, according to the RBI data. "We closed FY23 with a loan book of Rs 4 lakh crore, and the demand for refinance and direct funding is so strong that I am confident of clocking 25 per cent growth in asset creation this fiscal, which will take our total loan book to Rs 5 lakh crore or more by March 2024," Sidbi chairman S Raman told reporters here on Tuesday on the sidelines of a Sidbi-organised global SME financing summit as part of the just-concluded the G20 Summit. Stating that direct financing is growing by leaps and bounds, he said that when he took over two years ago, direct financing was only 7 per cent of the book. This is today

China's Ant Group unveils finance-specific AI model as race heats up

The foray by Ant into financial AI is notable as the company founded by billionaire Jack Ma is China's biggest fintech firm, with more than 1 billion users worldwide for its Alipay payment app

ICICI Bank gets RBI nod to make I-Process Services wholly-owned subsidiary

ICICI Bank on Friday said it has received a green signal from the Reserve Bank to make I-Process Services (India) Private Ltd a wholly-owned subsidiary of the lender. The board of the bank had, at its meeting held on February 17-18, 2023, approved a proposal for making I-Process Services (India) Private Limited (iProcess) a wholly-owned subsidiary of the bank, subject to receipt of requisite regulatory and statutory approval. The bank has received approval from the Reserve Bank of India for making iProcess its wholly-owned subsidiary, subject to certain conditions, ICICI Bank said in a regulatory filing. The bank currently holds a 19 per cent stake in iProcess, it said. Started in 2005, I-Process Services (India) Private Ltd was set up to provide staffing solutions services for some of India's top financial institutions. With in-depth experience across recruitment, HR operations, payroll, compliance and training, I-Process can smartly negotiate market challenges and evolving socia

Banks can't use LOC as measure to recover money: Delhi High Court

Banks cannot use Look Out Circulars as a way to recover money, the Delhi High Court has said, holding LOCs can't be opened on mere possibility of a person being made an accused in a criminal case as they take away a person's right to travel abroad which is a fundamental right under the Constitution. A Look Out Circular (LOC), the high court said, is a measure to make a person surrender before investigating authorities or a court of law and can be issued only when there are sufficient reasons for it. The court made the observations while quashing the LOC issued at the insistence of Bank of Baroda against Nipun Singhal, a former director at Lloyd Electric and Engineering Limited which is facing a CBI probe over certain transactions. The court was informed that about 18 months after the petitioner had left the company, it was declared as a non-performing asset in November 2018, and in January 2022, the petitioner received a show cause notice from Bank of Baroda about having been declar

RBI okays appointment of Dipak Gupta as interim MD of Kotak Mahindra Bank

RBI through its letter dated September 7, 2023, approved Gupta's appointment for a period of two months with effect from September 2, 2023, Kotak Mahindra Bank said in a BSE filing

UN chief says global finance system fragmenting; Myanmar crisis worsens

He called for a mechanism to provide relief for debt-strapped developing economies, to include payment suspensions, longer lending terms and lower interest rates

Choosing to be non-executive HDFC chair my biggest challenge: Deepak Parekh

Veteran banker Deepak Parekh on Thursday said the biggest challenge for him was choosing to be a non-executive chairman of HDFC 13 years ago when he turned 65, a decision which he "still regrets, but is also happy about". In a fireside chat with BCG India Chairman Janmejaya Sinha on the third and final day of the Global Fintech Summit, Parekh also said that he has no such plans as he does not have the "thick skin to be a politician". He was responding to a query on whether he has any plans to enter politics. While mentioning about his decision to relinquish his position as the chairman in 2010, Parekh said the HDFC board as well as his family were against the move. "But I chose to do so because had I stayed on, it would have closed the door on my the next-in-line leadership to grow and move to the corner room in the Ramon House (HDFC headquarters in south Mumbai)," Parekh, now 78, said. "As a result, which I regret to some extent now, for the past 13 years ending June 30 this year

Governance mechanism can aid in sustainable growth of fintech: RBI official

Sustainable growth of the fintech ecosystem can be achieved by putting in place a governance mechanism and focusing on customer-centricity, a senior RBI official said on Thursday. On Wednesday, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had asked fintech companies to form a self regulatory organisation and improve governance standards. "What is needed for the sustainable development and growth of the fintech ecosystem is the right thrust on customer-centricity and better governance standards. These can be achieved by balancing the needs of tomorrow with the wants of today," Ajay Chaudhary, an executive director who heads the fintech department at the Reserve Bank of India, said. He was addressing the final day of the three-day global fintech summit here. Noting that fintech companies have vastly improved the efficiency of service delivery and customer experience, he said that what is needed is more focus on these matters which can be better achieved through the above points. Underlining the nee

International finance must take a lead in mobilising solar investments

India's G20 presidency is an opportunity to take steps in reforming international financial systems for climate action

HSBC India launches 'ONDC in a Box' to expand corporate offerings

HSBC India on Thursday announced the launch of 'ONDC in a Box', a one-stop-shop proposition for corporates towards seamless enablement on ONDC. With this launch, HSBC India becomes the first foreign bank in India to offer an ONDC-enabled proposition, the lender said in a statement. The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is an initiative by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, and Ministry of Commerce and Industry to build an open, interoperable network on which buyers and sellers can transact without needing to be present on the same platform. ONDC aims at fostering an inclusive, competitive, and open network, amplifying its impact across the business spectrum. "The 'ONDC in a Box' proposition by HSBC India is presented along with its ecosystem partners - Protean eGov Technologies Ltd (Protean) and Shayr Omnichannel Private Limited (Adya). As part of this proposition, banking services are offered by HSBC India and the ONDC Modules are offered by Protean a

Capital Group offloads NBFC Shriram Finance's shares for Rs 884 crore

US-based financial services company Capital Group on Wednesday offloaded shares of NBFC Shriram Finance for Rs 884 crore through open market transactions. Capital Group through its investment vehicles SmallCap World Fund Inc and New World Fund Inc sold the shares of Shriram Finance on the BSE. According to the bulk deal data available with the BSE, SmallCap World Fund Inc offloaded 20,26,102 shares and New World Fund Inc disposed of 26,77,660 shares of Shriram Finance in two tranches. The shares were sold at an average price of Rs 1,880.28, taking the combined transaction value to Rs 884.43 crore. Details of the buyers could not ascertained. Shares of Shriram Finance fell 1.64 per cent to close at Rs 1880.70 apiece on the BSE.

India pushes for crypto, financial issues, MDB reform deals at G20 meet

No consensus yet on issues like bringing 'climate resilient' feature in debt

India bond yields end flat as all eyes on RBI's I-CRR review this week

The I-CRR could be reduced to 5%-8% in a phased manner from the current 10%, treasury officials have said

High interest rates may impact borrowers' debt service capacity: FSB to G20

Ahead of the G20 Summit here, Switzerland-based Financial Stability Board (FSB) on Tuesday warned that higher interest rates alongside a slowing growth outlook, could impair the capacity of borrowers to service historically high levels of debt. The FSB has published two letters from its Chair, Klaas Knot, to G20 Leaders ahead of their Summit in New Delhi on September 9-10. The first letter outlines the work FSB has undertaken under the Leadership of India's G20 Presidency to address existing vulnerabilities in the financial system and enhance the resilience of the financial system to structural change. The second letter provides to G20 Leaders an update on the G20 Cross-border Payments Roadmap. FSB, in its communication to G20 leaders, stressed that a resilient and stable financial system is indispensable to sustaining economic growth, particularly in the current environment. FSB notes the challenging backdrop of strong and persistent inflation and slowing growth, and warns that .

Credit market on course to grow to $350 billion by year-end: Vivek Joshi

Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi on Tuesday said the credit market, led by the digital lending segment, is on course to grow to USD 350 billion (around Rs 3 lakh crore) by the end of the year. The digital lending segment stood at USD 270 billion at the end of 2022, Joshi said on the opening day of the fifth edition of the global fintech festival here. The official also said the country's fintech market is slated to grow three times to USD 150 billion by 2025-end from USD 50 billion in 2021. About 800 speakers and 50,000 delegates are attending the three-day global fintech summit.

Indian Bank collaborates with IBM to deploy new front-end banking apps

Public sector Indian Bank has collaborated with Nasdaq-listed IBM to deploy future ready infrastructure to enhance scalability and agility. The city-headquartered bank wanted to consolidate its front branch servers for better manageability and availability at Data Centres and Disaster Recovery centres under their 'Project Paradise' initiative. Project Paradise initiative of Indian Bank refers to -- Performance Augmentation by Resource Aggregation in Distributed Environment. IBM has collaborated with Indian Bank, to accelerate its modernisation path with flexible and secure infrastructure for deploying new front-end banking applications, while addressing the business growth of the Core Banking Solution workloads of the bank, a bank statement here said. Commenting on the partnership with IBM, Indian Bank chief general manager IT and Partnership, Deepak Sarda said, "We are thrilled to work with IBM to transform our core banking environment. With the proposed private cloud solution, we

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Quinag exits Manappuram Finance, sells entire stake for Rs 1,177 crore

Foreign fund house Quinag Acquisition on Thursday offloaded its entire stake in Manappuram Finance for Rs 1,177 crore through an open market transaction. According to the bulk deal data available with the BSE, Quinag Acquisition (FPI) disposed of 8,37,85,880 shares amounting to a 9.90 per cent stake in Manappuram Finance. The shares were offloaded at an average price of Rs 140.50 apiece, taking the transaction value to Rs 1,177.19 crore. At the end of June quarter, Quinag owned more than 8.37 crore shares which is equivalent to 9.90 per cent stake in the company, as per the shareholding data available with the BSE. Meanwhile, Bofa Securities Europe SA acquired 62.60 lakh shares and Chartered Finance and Leasi NG bought 50 lakh shares of Manappuram Finance. Shares of Manappuram Finance fell 2.64 per cent to close at Rs 142.25 apiece on the BSE. In a separate open market transaction on the BSE, promoter entity Sapphire Foods Mauritius pared a 2.5 per cent stake in restaurant operat

Brics' bank can finance African countries to tackle urgent challenges

Bank's president Dilma Rousseff also pointed to the need for joint infrastructure projects between several countries, noting that Africa has the world's greatest untapped hydroelectric potential