The Hindu Business Line : Wednesday, August 06, 2008

MONEY & BANKING

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS: Lakshmi Vilas Bank to offer board seat to Federal Bank
To withdraw Rs 250-cr QIP proposal. In discussions with some shareholder groups today, Lakshmi Vilas Bank agreed to withdraw its proposal for a Rs 250-crore Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) issue. ...

DERIVATIVES MARKETS: Exchange-traded currency futures: 3 show interest
Framework for launch in place; RBI norms any time now. As many as three entities have so far evinced interest in launching exchange-traded currency futures, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairman, Mr C.B.Bhave, said here on ...

FINANCIAL POLICY: No write-back of provisions on farm loans waived
Only after full repayment by Govt, says RBI. Bangalore, Aug 5 For banks that hoped to make their balance sheets presentable in the second quarter, the Reserve Bank of India has quietly slipped a spanner in the ...

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS: Rupee likely to strengthen further
The Rupee moved in the narrow band between 42.1 and 42.6 in the sessions following the Monetary Policy review. The comatose equity markets and fairly stable crude prices contributed to this somnolent state in the currency. FIIs continued to be ...

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: ‘Banking sector offers huge scope for tech cos’
IBM bets on long-term deals involving outsourced data centres. Hyderabad, Aug. 5 After a series of large transformational and infrastructure deals in the telecom sector such as Bharti and Vodafone, it is the turn of the banking sector to ...

INSIGHT: Revitalise the Lead Bank Scheme
To have an “area approach” for targeted and focused banking, the Lead Bank Scheme (LBS) was introduced in 1969, based on the recommendations of the Gadgil Study Group. The banker’s committee, headed by F. S. Nariman, concluded ...

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE: StanChart India operating profit rises 89% to $606 m
Results include proceeds from sale of bank’s asset management biz. Mumbai, Aug 5 Standard Chartered Bank India has reported an 89 per cent jump in operating profit at $606 million in the first half of the calendar year 2008 from January ...

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: Competition will force faster tech adoption
Hyderabad, Aug. 5 Most of the bank managements including public sector have either contemplated or have very firm views on rapid implementation of new technologies to stay competitive. ...

GENERAL INSURANCE: ICICI Lombard portal for students
New Delhi, Aug. 5 ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company has announced the launch of E-Solutions portal, a unique online 24x7 initiative in the travel insurance segment. ...

CREDIT CARDS & DEBIT CARDS: HDFC Bank upbeat on card biz
Hyderabad, Aug. 5 HDFC Bank is expecting a 35-per cent growth in its credit card portfolio this year despite concerns over the impact of increasing interest ...

FOREX: Rupee gains 24 paise

SHORT TERM INSTRUMENTS: Call rates tad higher

PEOPLE: New IBA chief executive
Mumbai, Aug. 5 Dr K. Ramakrishnan, who retired as Chairman and Managing Director of Andhra Bank, took over as the Chief Executive of Indian Banks’ Association on August 4, said a press release issued by the association. ...

INSIGHT: Monetary Policy — Taking the right call
Domestic macroeconomic landscape is characterised by spiralling inflation, high growth in money supply, over-leveraging of borrowing limit by some banks and potentially destabilising fiscal position with the farm loan waiver, implementation of ...

INTEREST RATES: SBT hikes deposit, lending rates
Thiruvananthapuram, Aug. 5 State Bank of Travancore (SBT) has raised the interest rate for domestic term deposits and non-resident ordinary term deposits for six months to less than one year from eight per cent to 8.5 per cent with effect from ...

M-COMMERCE: Mobile banking pact
Obopay Inc, US-based mobile payment service provider, has entered into an alliance with Grameen Solutions, a technology company founded by Prof. Muhammad Yunus to provide basic financial services to the poor.While Obopay will provide the ...

GOVT BONDS: Bond market turns bullish
The bond market was very bullish as oil and base metal prices came off highs. This meant lower commodity prices and, therefore, lower inflation, said a bond dealer with a private bank. Total traded volumes on the order matching system were higher ...

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