The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) had sent a letter to about half a dozen banks last month, seeking details on how they had determined the interest rate increases on their housing loans.
Banks had raised the interest rates on loans by as much as 350 basis points although the cost of deposits had increased by a maximum of 200 basis points. With the deposit rates having softened from the April 2007 levels, banks have decided to pass on the benefits but only to the new borrowers.
Banks would soon be able to determine whether a property is already mortgaged when a borrower approaches them for a loan against it and this would help in checking the increasing instances of housing loan frauds.
SBI is planning one man branches and FSCs to tap the mass affluent and HNI customers in cities.
Foreign banks operating in India want the Reserve Bank of India to prepare a vision document on policy changes they can expect after March 2009.
State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Bank of Baroda and Bank of India are set to book mark-to-market losses on the exposures of their foreign offices to credit derivatives, with the spreads on these widening since international lenders turned risk-averse following the crisis in the US subprime (or high-risk home loan) market. Credit derivatives are instruments for which the underlying asset is a loan or a bond.
State Bank of India's (SBI) two-year-long wait to expand its operations in the United States is set to end with the New York State Banking Department (NYSBD) clearing the bank's application for opening another branch, senior SBI officials confirmed.
At the start of April, State Bank of India (SBI) and ICICI Bank, the country's two largest banks, reviewed the situation. They felt the resource-raising madness was over and that interest rates on bulk deposits would drop automatically with credit growth expected to temper between June and September.
The sub-prime mess has presented the foreign units of domestic banks with lucrative investment opportunities. Global banks, struck by a severe liquidity crunch and risk aversion, are selling a lot of their investments in debt of Indian companies at a discount.
Till March 2007, the bank had invested a total of Rs 1,973 crore (Rs 19.73 billion) in shares of companies. In the nine months since then, it has added Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 3 billion) to its investment kitty, making investments of over Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) in a clutch of blue-chip companies including GMR Infrastructure, Godrej Industries, Maruti Suzuki, Cairn India and DLF, besides closest rival ICICI Bank.
The focus on instances of excesses by banks in their attempts to recover money has had the unintended effect of encouraging some borrowers to dare banks to take steps to recover loans.
Banks plan to charge a levy on unutilised portion of credit.
Banks are sensing warning signals of potential loan defaults from gems and jewellery exporters as the appreciating rupee continues to dent their profits. Loan accounts of a few diamond and jewellery exporters are already showing signs of stress, with banks receiving delayed payments.
The interest rates on deposits continue to be high despite ample liquidity due to monetary policy uncertainty and expectations that liquidity would tighten later this year. Banks are still offering peak interest rates of 9 to 9.5 per cent on deposits
The loan portfolio of banks has grown by Rs 54,908 crore (Rs 549.08 billion) till September 14, representing only 3.6 per cent growth. During the same period last year, banks had lent Rs 147,657 crore (Rs 1,476.57 billion), a rise of 10.5 per cent.
Banks are facing increasing delinquencies by overleveraged mid-sized companies, now caught in hardships due to changes in their operating environment.
In their first step towards introducing a pension scheme based on defined contribution, public sector banks have in-principle decided to introduce such a scheme for new recruits in the officer cadre.
Manish Khera, chief executive officer, Fino, tells Shriya Bubna that the smart card technology platform of Fino can help banks cut operational costs by one-third and MFIs, but connectivity remains an issue.
Public sector banks have asked the Centre to intervene as talks with bank unions for allowing half of their employees a second chance to opt for pension instead of provident fund have reached a deadlock.
Central bank fears corporate credit is finding its way to the bourses.
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