Public sector banks to obtain Rs. 35,000 crores from center

News Desk — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:19:54 +0000

Over the next 2 years, public sector banks will get Rs. 35,000 crores from Center. This measure has been taken in order to meet the credit needs of the economy.

According to the RBI norms, at least 6% Tier I capital must be kept by the banks. The planned capital infusion will let the banks keep an 8% Tier-I capital adequacy ratio (CAR).

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IDBI bank offers perpetual bonds to raise capital of Rs. 3,00 crores

News Desk — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:18:23 +0000

IDBI Bank intends to raise Rs. 300 crore this month by issuing perpetual bonds. Mr. P Sitaram, chief financial officer, IDBI Bank said, “The amount raised will be to meet Tier-I capital requirement of the bank.”

A perpetual bond is a bond without a maturity or redemption time. The holder of this bond can earn coupons permanently. As there is no necessity of redeeming these bonds they are as good as equity instead of debt.

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Visa, RBS, Global Payments shorlisted by SBI for POS

News Desk — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 06:01:05 +0000

State Bank of India (SBI) has shortlisted 3 applicants as prospective associates for a joint venture to install 5 lakh swipe machines for credit and debit cards throughout the country. These applicants are Visa, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Global Payments.

SBI has been looking to reach leadership position in electronic networks. SBI has more than 20,000 automated teller machines, and has long beaten ICICI Bank in ATMs.

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New base rate to be made effective from 1st July

News Desk — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 05:37:54 +0000

Giving in to the banks’ demand, the Reserve Bank of India has delayed the date of implementation of the planned base rate system to 1^st July and also removed 3 types of loans from the new model. This means the rates on old home loans will not change till 1^st July.

Usha Thorat, RBI Deputy Governor said, “Yes. We have allowed that it (the base rate) will start from July 1. All concerns of banks (regarding the implementation of the base rate model) have been addressed.”

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And the winner is - The 5 L income earner

BankBazaar.com — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 03:05:19 +0000

This piece will try to look at the numbers post budget 2010 and compare it with the tax laws prevailing in 2009-2010 to see which part of the Indian junta will laugh its way to the bank in 2010-11.

There have been countless discussions on how the budget is pro-middle-middle class (the repetition of middle is intentional to define a new creed- the people in the 4 lakh to 8 lakh taxable income). Let’s look at actual numbers to see how much you and me stand to save post budget 2010 vis-à-vis 2009-10.

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Tax 2010-11: Should you invest in the infrastructure bonds?

BankBazaar.com — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 02:56:34 +0000

This article will try to look the pros and cons of investing in Infrastructure bonds for the sake of tax saving. The analysis will be from the perspective of the different “tax groups” post budget 2010. For the sake of parameters we will have to make an assumption on the lock-in period (as nothing has so far been announced by the Finance Minister). As is generally the case with most tax saving instruments we can assume two scenarios - 3 year lock-in and 5 year lock-in

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The Budget - Promises kept and not…

BankBazaar.com — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 02:54:05 +0000

Reams of paper and millions of words are used to discuss the budget every year, but, by the time the next budget has come many of these experts are more involved about thinking of what should be done in the upcoming budget rather than what has been done that was promised in the last year.

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Health insurance plans – new types for tax benefits!

BankBazaar.com — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 02:48:40 +0000

Health insurance plans get benefit under section 80D in the form of deduction from taxable income upto Rs.15,000/- for non-senior citizens and upto Rs.20,000/- if senior citizens are covered. But many a times for a normal household with parents under the age of 45 and 2 children, the premiums may not come upto the levels at which one can maximise the Section 80D benefits.

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StanC’s Indian arm earns $1-b net profit

News Desk — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 23:53:33 +0000

The profit from Indian arm of Standard Chartered has exceeded the $1 billion mark for the 1^st time. The profit before tax for the year 2009 went up by 19% to 1.06 billion from $891 million last year. Actually, the Indian arm of the emerging markets bank is turning out to be the biggest profit center for the bank.

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ICICI Bank employees have a reason to cheer

News Desk — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 23:42:33 +0000

The year 2010 has brought a smile on the face of the ICICI bank employees as the bank is likely to offer bonuses to most of its 36,000 employees for the period 2009-10 by April.

The bank had not offered bonuses in 2008-09 due to the worldwide financial crisis. In this year, it is for the first time in the history of the bank, it saw a reduction in its annual profits.

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