Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
2014)
RBI issues clarifications about its Clean Note Policy
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) dismissed rumours that it has stopped banks from
accepting scribbled currency notes from 1 January 2014 and announced that banks will
continue to accept currency notes with scribbling. However, it reiterated that writing or
scribbling on banknotes works against the Clean Note Policy (2013) to keep currency
notes clean and sought co-operation from public, institutions and others in keeping the
banknotes clean by not writing anything on them. It is worth mentioning that the Clean
Note Policy, 2013 has guidelines about doing-away with practices like stapling of
currency notes, writing (scribbling) on currency notes and re-issuing dirty notes to public
by banks.
Axis Bank becomes first Indian domestic private sector bank to have branch in
China
Axis Bank during January 2014 became the first Indian domestic private sector bank to
have a branch presence in China. This first branch of Axis Bank was opened in
Shanghai. The bank received permission from the China Banking Regulatory
Commission (CBRC) for opening this branch.
P.J. Naik Committee for reviewing the governance of bank boards in India
constituted
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) during January 2014 constituted an 8-member expert
committee led by former Axis bank Chairman and CEO PJ Naik to review the
governance of bank boards in India, which included examining the ownership and salary
structure of banks.
Deutsche Asset Management becomes first private sector fund house to launch
IIF
Deutsche Asset Management India (DAMI) during January 2014 became the first
private sector fund house to launch an inflation indexed fund that aims to provide
inflation-adjusted returns to investors. DWS Inflation-Indexed Bond Fund is an openended debt fund that opened for subscription on 16 January and closed on 27
January2014. Inflation indexed bonds (IIBs) are instruments where interest payment
and principal are linked to whole sale price index (WPI) inflation and these bonds are
currently available at an attractive yield of 3.6% above WPI. Government has been
issuing IIBs on a monthly basis since June 2013.
State Bank of India came out with plans to outsource some of its ATM operations
Indias largest commercial bank SBI came out with plans to outsource the management
of some of its ATMs by taking calls from vendors. During January 2014 SBI called for a
Request for Proposal (RFP) from vendors to manage about 7,843 cash dispensers
(ATMs).
FEBRUARY 2014
India Post announces plan to install 3,000 ATMs and 1.35 lakh micro-ATMs
India Post (Indian postal department) during February 2014 rolled-out its ambitious plan
to install as many as 3,000 ATMs and 1.35 lakh micro-ATMs at its post offices across
the country for savings account holders by installing three ATMs in Chennai, New Delhi
and Bangalore. Indias first Post Office Savings Bank ATM was inaugurated on 27
February 2014 by the then Finance Minister P. Chidambaram at Chennais Thiyagaraya
Nagar Head Post Office. This initiative of opening Post Office Savings Bank ATM is part
of the governments Rs. 4,909 crore IT modernisation scheme for the Department of
Posts specified in the interim budget for 2014-15The organisation plans to ramp up this
plan gradually and announced September 2015 as the deadline for installing these
ATMs and micro-ATMs. Under this plan, 1,000 ATMs with the India Post branding will be
put in within the first year, which will be ramped up massively to 3,000 in the next 18
months. To start with, the ATMs can be used only by 26 crore savings account-holders
who save with the postal department but India Post hopes that within six months of the
launch, it will get the interoperability permission from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Postal savings are worth around Rs 6.05 trillion.
During February 2014 the 7th Central Pay Commission was constituted by the Union
Govt. under chairmanship of Justice Ashok Kumar Mathur, former Judge of the
Supreme Court. The commission will put forward its recommendations for will revising
salaries of over 50 lakh central government employees and remuneration of 30 lakh
pensioners. The Commission has been mandated to submit its report in two years time
and its recommendations would be implemented from 1 January 2016. Earlier in
September 2013, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had approved setting up of
the 7th Central Pay Commission. The other members of the Commission, include, Oil
Secretary Vivek Rae (full time Member), NIPFP Director Rathin Roy (part-time Member)
and OSD in Expenditure Department Meena Agarwal (Secretary).
Archana Bhargava, the chairperson and managing director (CMD) of Kolkataheadquartered United Bank of India (UBI) took voluntary retirement on 20 February
2014. The UBI was undergoing huge trouble at the time of her quitting, with the banks
gross non-performing assets jumped 194% to Rs. 8,545.50 crore as at December-end
2013 against Rs. 2,902 crore as at December-end 2012.
MARCH 2014
RBI extends deadline for exchanging currency notes
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 3 March 2014 extended the deadline for the public
to exchange currency notes printed before 2005 up to 1 January 2015. The public would
be able to exchange currency notes printed before 2005 by 1 January 2015. The RBI on
22 January 2014 had announced that it would withdraw from circulation all pre-2005
currency notes from 1 April 2014. Post-2005 notes have added security features and
help in curbing the menace of fake currency.
RBI extends Basel-III deadline
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 27 March 2014 extended the deadline for
implementation of Basel III norms by the Indian banks to 31 March 2019 from the earlier
deadline of 31 March 2018. Under this norm Indian banks need to have a core capital
ratio of 8% and a total capital adequacy ratio of 11.5% against the present 9%. The
norm has been devised to strengthen the regulation, supervision and risk management
of the banking sector.
RBIs Inflation Expectations Survey
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) during March 2014 launched the 35 th round of Inflation
Expectations Survey. Under this survey the subjective assessments pertaining to
inflation were collected from about 5,000 households across 16 cities. The survey
sought qualitative responses from households on price changes (they foresee in
general prices as well as prices of specific product groups) in the next three months as
well as in the next one year and quantitative responses on current, three-month ahead
and one-year ahead inflation rates.
Central Bank of India sells entire stake in CIBIL
Central Bank of India sold its entire stake in credit information provider Credit
Information Bureau of India Limited (CIBIL) to Transunion International Inc (TII) during
March 2014. Central Bank had 5% stake in CIBIL while TII is the majority shareholder in
CIBIL at 27.5%. State Bank of India and ICICI Bank carry 10% each, while rest of 2.5%
is with Sundaram Finance Ltd. Among others, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Punjab
National Bank, Union Bank, Citicorp Finance (India), HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank,
Indian Overseas Bank and HDFC Ltd each hold 5% stake in CIBIL.
Union Govt. launch CPSE-ETF
Union Govt. on 18 March 2014 launched the exchange traded fund of Central public
sector enterprises (CPSE-ETF) hoping to raise Rs 3,000 crore. The long awaited
CPSE-ETF is an open-ended scheme comprising of shares of 10 Central public sector
enterprises and it includes ONGC, Coal India Limited, GAIL, Indian Oil Corporation
(IOC), Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), Oil India Limited (OIL), Container
Corporation of India Limited (CCIL), Power Finance Corporation (PFC), Engineers India
Limited (EIL) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). Goldman Sachs India MF is
managing this ETF, which tracks an index fund but trades like a stock on the exchange
and is yet another avenue for the Union Govt. for selling its stake in CPSEs.
Union Govt. sells stake in Axis Bank
Union Government on 21 March 2014 sold its 9% stake in private sector Axis Bank. The
stake was divested through the Specified Undertaking of UTI (SUUTI), which was
formed in 2003 is an offshoot of erstwhile UTI and held 20.72% in Axis Bank. The other
promoters of the bank are Life Insurance Corporation, General Insurance Corporation,
New India Assurance and National Insurance Company.
Aditya Puri Committee Credit Information Reports
HDFC Bank Chairman Aditya Puri headed the committee on Credit Information Reports
(CIRs), which submitted its report to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) during March
2014. This committee recommended that customers should be given a free copy of their
credit profile as it would help in promoting financial discipline among loan seekers. The
committee also recommended use of common data formats and a common data quality
index that could assist credit institutions in determining the gaps in data.
SREI Infrastructure receives RBI approval for White label ATMs
Infrastructure finance company SREI Infrastructure Finance Ltd during March 2014
received RBI approval to set up a minimum of 9,000 white label ATMs (WLAs) in the
next three years in rural India. The company received a certificate of authorisation from
the RBI to set up, own and operate a payment system for WLAs effective 25 March
2014. Through these WLAs, the infrastructure financial institution will be able to take
financial products and services of the sponsor bank to the doorstep of the rural
population.
Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) launched
An all-India inter-bank money transfer service through the m-Pesa platform was
launched during March 2014. This service was launched by the means of an
association of the Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) of the National Payments
Corporation of India (NPCI) with the Mobile Commerce Solutions Ltd (MCSL). MCSL is
a leading pre-paid/remittance provider associated with the m-Pesa platform. Under this
service an MCSL (m-Pesa) user can send money to customers of any IMPS-enabled
bank using NPCIs remittance platform. The National Payments Corporation of India
(NPCI) is the umbrella organisation of all retail payment systems in India, set up with the
support of the Reserve Bank of India and Indian Banks Association (IBA). Immediate
Payment Service (IMPS) is a remittance processing platform offered by NPCI that offers
instant, 24X7, electronic funds transfer through mobile, Internet or ATM between banks
and pre-paid providers.
Axis Bank launches its own Kisan Credit Card
Private sector bank Axis Bank on 27 March 2014 launched its own Kisan Credit Card
(KCC), which is aimed at helping farmers access liquidity round-the-clock. The bank
claimed that it is first new generation private sector bank to launch an electronic Kisan
Credit Card on the RuPay platform. The KCC scheme was introduced in August 1998
and since then, a host of banks, a majority of them in the state-run space, have
launched such cards.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued its first-ever bi-monthly monetary policy
statement on 1 April 2014. Before this the RBI was issuing quarterly monetary policy
reviews. Bi-monthly reviews were started so as to have greater control over monetary
aspects of countrys economy.
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Gandhi appointed new RBI Deputy Governor
Gandhi was appointed as the new Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
on 3 April 2014. He was appointed by the Union Govt. for a period of three years. The
appointment followed Anand Sinha relinquishing his charge as Deputy Governor in midJanuary 2014.
.
Arvind Mayaram appointed Finance Secretary
The Union Govt. appointed Arvind Mayaram as the new Finance Secretary on 15 April
2014. Before this he was the Economic Affairs Secretary. He replaced Sumit Bose who
retired on 31 March 2014.
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New Companies Act comes in force from 1 April 2014
The Companies Act, 2013 came into effect from 1 April 2014. It replaced the Companies
Act of 1956 which was being followed in the country for decades. Companies Act, 2013
is an Act of the Parliament of India which regulates incorporation of a company,
responsibilities of a company, directors and dissolution of a company. The 2013 Act is
divided into 29 chapters containing 470 clauses as against 658 Sections in the
Companies Act, 1956 and has 7 schedules. The President of India gave his assent to
this act during August 2013.
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IFC completes its first global rupee bond programme
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) on 11 April 2014 completed its first global
rupee bond programme worth $ 1 billion. Washington D.C. headquartered-IFC
completed this huge issue in three rounds and the third and final round of bond issue
totalling Rs 12 billion (about $ 194 million) was completed on 11 April. Under its global
rupee bond programme, IFC has also issued three-year bonds totalling Rs 30 billion
and five-year bonds totalling Rs 20 billion. This issue was launched to strengthen Indias
capital markets and attract greater foreign investment.
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RBI announces relief for loan takers
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 7 May 2014 announced major relief for loan takers
of housing, auto and personal loans by directing all the commercial banks not to levy
any penalty on pre-payment of loans under floating rate scheme that cover housing,
auto as well as personal loans. The RBI advised that banks will not be permitted to
charge foreclosure charges/ pre-payment penalties on all floating rate term loans
sanctioned to individual borrowers, with immediate effect. Floating loan products include
housing, corporate, vehicle and personal loans. During 2012, RBI had barred banks
from levying foreclosure charges or pre-payment penalties on home loans on floating
interest rate basis.
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RBI issues guidelines for minor bank operators
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 6 May 2014 issued the guidelines allowing minors
to operate bank accounts independently with a view to promote financial inclusion and
bring uniformity in opening of such accounts in banks. In these guidelines it prescribed
10 years as the age for minors to operate bank accounts. According to the guidelines
issued by the RBI, minors above 10 years of age can open and operate independently
savings bank account and use other facilities like ATM and cheque books.
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First co-branded cricket credit card launched
IPL franchisee Delhi Daredevils during May 2014 launched a co-branded cricket credit
card in partnership with Ratnakar Bank Ltd, a private sector bank. This was the first time
that a commercial bank and a leading cricket franchise came together to launch a cobranded cricket credit card. The card brings to its cardholders exclusive privileges like
meeting and greeting the Delhi Daredevils team, personal and original memorabilia,
coaching camps, free match tickets, talk shows, etc.
JUNE-JULY 2014
SBI launches sbiINTOUCH branches
State Bank of India (SBI) on 1 July 2014 launched six digital branches across the nation
to serve tech-savvy customers. These branches are named sbiINTOUCH. One of such
branches in Delhi was inaugurated on this day by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. These
sbiINTOUCH branches will include instant account opening with personalised debit
cards, instant loan approvals for education, car and home and remote expert advisors
available via video links. The new branches will be located in malls and will be primarily
aimed at youth, who look for digital banking.
in its report had recommended that banks actively manage their exposures to various
sectors, including priority sectors.
The revival of the Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) was announced in the Union Budget 201415 on 10 July 2014. The KVP was discontinued from November 2011 on the
recommendation of the Shyamala Gopinath Committee.
TCS becomes first Indian company to cross Rs. 5 lakh crore market capitalization
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on 23 July 2014 became the first Indian company to
cross market capitalization value of Rs. 5 lakh crore. TCSs market capitalization
crossed 5 lakh crore mark on account of appreciation in the price of TCS scrip following
good financial results and record dividend declaration by the company. State-held
ONGCs market cap of around Rs. 3.5 lakh crore is way behind that of TCS. It is worth
mentioning that TCS market cap is more than the combined market cap of its nearest
three rivals Infosys (Rs 1.90 lakh crore), Wipro (Rs 1.39 lakh crore) and HCL Tech (Rs
1.07 lakh crore).
Raja J Chelliah Committee of 1992 for abolishing this post. Raja J Chelliah was
instrumental in bringing about the early reforms to the direct taxation structure.
estimates had drawn flak in September, 2011 when in an affidavit to the Supreme Court
it was stated that households with per capita consumption of more than Rs. 32 in urban
areas and Rs. 26 in rural will not be treated as poor.
Mumbai to fast track prosecution proceedings launched by SEBI, as also to clear search
and seizure operations proposed by SEBI.
S.K. Jain, the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of public-sector Syndicate Bank
was arrested by the CBI on 2 August 2014 on charges of allegedly accepting a bribe of
Rs 50 lakh to enhance the credit limit of some companies. Jain was appointed CMD of
state-owned Syndicate Bank in July last year for a period of five years. He was one of
the youngest CMDs of a public sector bank and was due to retire in 2020.