Weekly BeeBooster 1st Dec to 8th Jan 2020 Finance and Banking RBI directs UCBs having deposits above ₹ 100 crore to set up Board of Management Reserve Bank of India directed Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) with deposit size of ₹ 100 crore and above to constitute a Board of Management (BoM). This is directed to facilitate professional management and focused attention to their banking-related activities. • According to the RBI, it will be mandatory for UCBs with deposit size of ₹ 100 crore and above to constitute BoM for seeking approval to expand their area of operation and/or open new branches. • These UCBs will also require prior approval of the RBI for appointment of their CEOs. • The BoM will have minimum five members and maximum 12. The CEO would be a non-voting member. A member of BoM can be appointed in more than one bank, subject to a maximum of three, provided that there is no overlapping in area of operation. • The BoM will report to the Board of Directors (BoD) and exercise oversight over the banking related functions of the UCBs, assist the BoD on formulation of policies, and any other related matter specifically delegated to it by the BoD. RBI launches mobile app MANI for visually challenged to identify denomination of currency notes Reserve Bank of India has launched a mobile app, MANI, Mobile Aided Note Identifier, to help visually challenged people to identify denomination of currency notes. • The visually challenged can identify the denomination of a note by using the application, which can also work offline once it is installed in mobiles. • Through the downloaded app, users can scan the notes using the camera. The audio output will give the result in Hindi and English. BoB joins hands with JM Financial for co-lending to home buyers Bank of Baroda (BoB), an Indian Multinational, public sector Bank has signed a co-lending partnership agreement with JM Financial Home Loans Limited (JMFHL), the housing finance arm of JM Financial Group, to provide retail loans to home buyers. • This tie up will boost the credit delivery to customers & also promote home buying field in India. Lakshmi Vilas Bank appoints S Sundar as interim MD and CEO Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) has appointed S Sundar, its chief financial officer, the interim managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) effective January 1, 2020. 1 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or [email protected] Weekly BeeBooster 1st Dec to 8th Jan 2020 • As part of this, he resigned from the post of CFO. He has also been appointed an additional director of the bank. • In August 2019, the bank’s MD & CEO, Parthasarathi Mukherjee, resigned from the position and the post was lying vacant since then. Shivalik Mercantile Cooperative Bank Limited, first UCB to convert into SFB Shivalik Mercantile Cooperative Bank Limited has become the first urban cooperative bank (UCB) that has been granted ‘in-principle’ permission to convert into a small finance bank by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). • This is the first such approval after the central bank came up with a ‘Scheme on Voluntary Transition of UCB into an SFB’ in September 2018. • The in-principle approval granted is valid for 18 months to enable the applicant (Shivalik Mercantile Cooperative Bank, which is a multistate UCB) to comply with the requirements under the scheme, the guidelines for ‘ontap’ Licensing of SFBs in the private sector , and fulfil other condition. SBI announces 'residential builder finance with buyer guarantee' scheme Country's largest public sector bank, State Bank of India has announced a 'residential builder finance with buyer guarantee' (RBBG) scheme. It aims at giving a push to residential sales and improve homebuyers' confidence. • Under this scheme, SBI will issue a guarantee for completion of select residential projects to customers who have availed home loans from it. The scheme will focus on affordable housing projects priced up to 2.50 crore rupees in 10 cities initially. • Under RBBG, the guarantee would be given by the bank till the project gets the occupation certificate (OC). • The guarantee will be available for RERA (Real Estate [Regulation and Development) Act], registered projects and a project will be considered stuck after it crosses the RERA deadline. Karur Vysya Bank CEO, MD PR Seshadri resigns Karur Vysya Bank's chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD) P R Seshadri has resigned, citing personal reasons. • The bank has informed stock exchanges that Seshadri will continue to function till the end of this financial year 2019-20. HDFC gets IRDAI nod to acquire stake in Apollo Munich Health Insurance Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd (HDFC), India’s largest mortgage financier, has received approval from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) to 2 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or [email protected] Weekly BeeBooster 1st Dec to 8th Jan 2020 acquire 51.2% stake in Apollo Munich Health Insurance – a joint venture between Apollo Hospitals and German reinsurer Munich Re Group. • The Corporation and HDFC Ergo have received all requisite approvals for the acquisition including competition commission of India (CCI), Reserve Bank of India and the last being from Irdai • The total deal size of ₹1,347 crore for the entire 51.2% stake values Apollo Munich Health Insurance at 1.2 times the gross written premium for fiscal 2019. • HDFC runs HDFC Ergo General Insurance Co, a joint venture with Ergo International AG, the primary insurance entity of Munich Re. Separately, Munich holds 49% stake in Apollo Munich Health Insurance. RBI allows banks to offer round-the-clock rupee trading The Reserve Bank of India has allowed banks to offer foreign-currency transactions outside of local market hours, a move aimed at boosting trading volumes at home. • Interbank deals, as well as those with customers in and outside India, can be undertaken by banks or their overseas branches and units at all times, the RBI said in a statement. • It stopped short of saying whether the timing of the onshore over-the-counter market has been extended from the current 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. • The move is in line with recent recommendations to reverse the trend of the partially convertible rupee being traded more abroad than in India. • London has overtaken Mumbai to become the top center for trading the rupee, adding to a sense of urgency among local authorities to deepen the onshore market. • Average daily volumes for rupee in the UK soared to $46.8 billion in April, a more than fivefold jump from $8.8 billion in 2016, according to a survey from the Bank for International Settlements published in September. That exceeded the $34.5 billion recorded in India. RBI revises norms for faster resolution of Urban Cooperative Banks' bad assets The RBI revised the Supervisory Action Framework (SAF) for urban cooperative banks to ensure expeditious resolution of financial stress being faced by some of them. • The move comes in the backdrop of the scam in Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank causing distress to over 9 lakh depositors. • The central bank will monitor asset quality, profitability and capital/net worth of UCBs under the revised SAF. • As per the revised norms, a UCB may be placed under SAF when its net NPAs exceed 6 per cent of its net advances. An urban cooperative bank could also be placed under SAF when it incurs losses for two consecutive financial years or has accumulated losses on its balance-sheet. 3 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or [email protected] Weekly BeeBooster 1st Dec to 8th Jan 2020 • Further, issue of show cause notice for cancellation of banking license may be considered by the Reserve bank when continued normal functioning of the UCB is no longer considered to be in the interest of its depositors/ public. Two Indian banks to cease operations in Sri Lanka The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has permitted Indian private sector lenders Axis Bank and ICICI Bank to close their operations in the island nation, according to online news portal Colombo Page. • This follows requests by their parent banks. The licenses issued to them will be cancelled once the winding-up operations are complete. • Colombo Page said the two banks are no longer permitted to carry on banking operations, including accepting deposits from the public. Indian Bank sings MoU with Women Entrepreneurs Welfare Association to provide credit Indian bank has signed a MoU with the Welfare Association of Women Entrepreneurs (WEWA), Tamil Nadu, to offer training and credit linking to women members/entrepreneurs of the association to establish businesses. • The bank, which has dedicated products especially designed for women customers, said WEWA members would get support for loans at special discounted rates. • The bank emphasizes that WEWA should facilitate prompt repayment by their members. • WEWA aims at adding 1,000 members by 2023 and requested the bank to provide the skill training to their members as per the interest and choice of the members FDI inflows rose 15% to $26 Bn in 1st half of FY2020 Foreign direct investment (FDI) into India rose 15% to $26 billion during the first half of FY2020, according to latest data. Inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) during April-September of 2018-19 stood at $22.66 billion. • Sectors, which attracted maximum foreign inflows during April-September 2019-20, include services ($4.45 billion), computer software and hardware ($ 4 billion), telecommunications ($4.28 billion), automobile ($2.13 billion) and trading ($2.14 billion).