Weekly Top Economy-Banking-Finance News Free GA Ebook
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Weekly Top Economy-Banking- Finance News 31 AUGUST- 6 SEPTEMBER 2020 FOR RBI GRADE B & SEBI GRADE A Weekly Top Economy-Banking-Finance News Free GA eBook Weekly Top Economy-Banking-Finance News 31st August – 6th September 2020 1. Edelweiss arm secures $350 Million investment from Ontario Teachers' Pension • Edelweiss Group said it secured an investment of $350 million from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, Canada’s largest single-profession pension plan, in its alternate investment arm. • The investment, about Rs 2,600 crore in rupee terms, will be deployed in Edelweiss Alternate Asset Advisors’ (EAAA), a platform that manages about $3.8 billion of assets under management in performing credit, distressed credit, and infrastructure yield funds. • EAAA is part of Edelweiss Asset Management, which manages customer assets of about Rs 1 trillion across alternatives, mutual funds, and distressed assets. The fund will be utilised to “focus on performing and distressed private credit investment opportunities in the Indian market,” Edelweiss said in a statement. • Global companies that have invested in EAAA include Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ) and Allianz Investment management. 2. Unacademy raises $150mn funding led by SoftBank, valuation reaches $1.45 bn • Edtech firm Unacademy on Wednesday said it has raised an investment of $150 million (approximately Rs 1,098 crore) in a round led by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, increasing the Bengaluru-based firm's valuation to $1.45 billion. • Existing investors General Atlantic, Sequoia Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, Facebook, and Blume Ventures also participated in the round. 3. NCLT approves sale of IL&FS' education assets to Falafal Technology • The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has approved the sale of Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services' (IL&FS) education assets to Falafal Technology Private Limited, a subsidiary of Lexington Equity Holdings Ltd (LEHL). • As a part of the deal, Falafal has agreed to acquire 73.90 per cent of the shares of Schoolnet India Limited, in which IL&FS currently holds 68.93 per cent, IL&FS Employee Welfare Trust holds 4.73 per cent and the rest is held by LEHL. The deal will Weekly Top Economy-Banking-Finance News Free GA eBook essentially mean that LEHL will service Schoolnet’s entire debt of Rs 600 crore and pay a small equity to IL&FS to the tune of Rs 7.36 crore and deferred purchase consideration of Rs 6.29 crore. LEHL has also agreed to give an upside amount to IL&FS, subject to it realising an amount in excess of Rs 171.62 crore from the sale of 100 per cent of the equity shares of Schoolnet. 4. Gita Gopinath confirms India's GDP most affected among G-20 countries • International Monetary Fund's chief economist Gita Gopinath on Wednesday tweeted a graph suggesting India's gross domestic product (GDP) may have shrunk the most among G-20 countries in the April-June quarter, at 25.6%, when compared with the previous quarter. • Graph puts G20 growth numbers on a comparable scale, quarter-on-quarter non- annualised. Should expect rebounds in Q3 (September quarter) but 2020 overall will see major contractions. China recovers strongly in Q2 after collapse in Q1 (March quarter). 5. No corporate insolvency proceedings once debt converted into capital: NCLAT • The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) said that insolvency proceedings cannot be triggered on the basis of debt which has been converted into capital such as equity of a company. Weekly Top Economy-Banking-Finance News Free GA eBook • The appellate tribunal also said that any investment cannot be "financial debt" and the provisions of Section 7 of the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code provide for initiation of CIRP by a financial creditor only and that too if there is "debt" and "default". • CIRP is Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process. 6. Fintech deals double to $1.17 bn during Jan-Jun despite slowdown: Report • In spite of massive disruptions to economic activities across the globe, the domestic fintech space was overactive in the first half of 2020 with the deal value more than doubling to USD 1.7 billion across 70 deals from USD 726.6 million in the year-ago period, according to a report. • Total investments by venture capital funds, private equity players and also mergers and acquisitions by large corporates in the domestic fintech space saw USD 1,052.4 million worth of deals closing in the first quarter of 2020 across 38 transactions, the report by KPMG International said. 7. 66% year-on-year spike in household demand for MGNREGA work in August • Demand for MGNREGA work has dropped by almost 24 per cent in August 2020 as compared to the previous month, maintaining a trend that started in July, as labourers begin sowing operations while some who migrated from cities return to their original workplaces. • Despite the drop, however, around 24.2 million households have demanded work under the scheme in August 2020 as per MGNREGA website accessed on September 2 which is a staggering 66 per cent more than the same month in 2019 and the highest in last seven years for August. 8. India jumps 4 places on Global Innovation Index to enter top 50 league • India has moved four places on the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2020 to rank at 48 since 2019. This makes it the third-most innovative lower middle-income economy in the world, according to the report. India at the 48th place also retains the highest rank in the central and southern Asia region. • The index, compiled by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), along with Cornell University and the INSEAD Business School, presents the latest global innovation trends and annual innovation ranking of 131 economies. Weekly Top Economy-Banking-Finance News Free GA eBook 9. India mulling anti-dumping duty on acrylic fibre from EU, Peru, others • India may impose anti-dumping duty on a certain type of fibre imported from European Union, Belarus, Ukraine, and Peru as the commerce ministry's arm DGTR has recommended for the same after conducting a probe. • Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) in its findings concluded that acrylic fibre from these countries has been exported at below its associated normal value, which has resulted in dumping. • The domestic industry has suffered material injury due to dumping of the product by these nations, according to a notification of DGTR. Weekly Top Economy-Banking-Finance News Free GA eBook 10. 98% of exporters, especially MSMEs will benefit under MEIS: Piyush Goyal • Ninety-eight per cent of exporters, especially MSMEs will benefit under Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) with reward cap of Rs. 2 crore/ Importer Exporter Code from September 1 to December 2020. 11. Credit-to-deposit ratio fell to 73.1% in Q1, from 76% in Q4FY20 • The credit to deposit ratio fell to 73.1 per cent in the June quarter, from 76 per cent in the preceding quarter as the nationwide lockdown imposed in March-end brought economic activity to a near standstill. • While for private banks, credit growth moderated to 7.2 per cent in Q1FY21, from 9.3 per cent in Q4FY20, public sector banks (PSBs) and regional rural banks saw a rise. • For PSBs credit growth moved up to 5.7 per cent, from 4.2 per cent, while for RRBs it rose from 6.1 per cent to 6.7 per cent. 12. At 14%, Indian households among the lowest invested in equities globally • The exposure of Indian households to equity assets in their financial balance sheet is among the lowest in the world at 14 per cent, says the September 2 report by Motilal Oswal Securities. At the other extreme is the US, where the exposure to equities stands at 45.5 per cent, followed by Spain, Canada, and China. The report analysed the calendar year 2019 (CY19) data for all countries except China (CY16), Taiwan (CY18) and India (FY19). Weekly Top Economy-Banking-Finance News Free GA eBook 13. RBL Bank launches cardless cash withdrawal facility through ATMs • RBL Bank said it has launched cardless cash withdrawal facility from ATMs, leveraging the Instant Money Transfer (IMT) system. • The private sector lender said it has tied-up with Empays Payment Systems, a global financial technology provider, to offer this service. • RBL Bank customers can withdraw cash without their debit cards from 389 IMT- enabled automated teller machines (ATMs) of the bank or more than 40,000 other bank ATMs across the country, it said in a release. • To avail the service a customer has to log into RBL Bank's MoBank app to locate an ATM that supports the IMT function and initiate cash withdrawal by either using his or her mobile number linked to the account or by following a few easy steps on the app. • The customer selects the IMT button on the mobile app, gets a code, and uses it to withdraw money from the ATM. 14. EESL to procure 250 EVs from Tata Motors, Hyundai for govt bodies • Energy Efficiency Services (EESL) has selected Tata Motors and Hyundai Motor India in an international bidding process for procurement of 250 electric vehicles (EVs) for government entities. • Tata Motors will supply 150 Nexon electric compact SUVs and Hyundai will supply 100 Kona electric premium SUVs. • The total tender value is Rs 41.6 crore. For the procurement, EESL would utilise the $5 million (around Rs 37-crore) grant recently provided to it by the Asian Development Bank. 15. APEC expects 40% increase in apparel exports led by medical textiles • The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) expects that exports from the country will increase by 40 per cent, mainly led by medical textiles.