Union Bank of India, the nation's sixth-biggest state-run lender by assets, reported a smaller-than-expected 22 percent fall in quarterly profit even as bad loans rose. Net profit fell to 5.19 billion rupees ($81 million) during its fiscal first quarter to June 30, from 6.64 billion rupees reported a year earlier, the Mumbai-based lender said. Analysts on average had expected a net profit of 4.99 billion rupees, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters. Gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans rose to 5.53 percent in the June quarter from 4.96 percent in the previous three months and 4.27 percent in the same period a year earlier.
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Bank of India, the nation's third-biggest state-run lender by assets, reported a sharply bigger-than-expected 84 percent fall in quarterly profit as bad loans surged. Net profit fell to 1.3 billion rupees ($20.3 million) for its fiscal first quarter to June 30, from 8.06 billion rupees reported a year earlier, the Mumbai-based lender said. Analysts on average had expected a net profit of 3.31 billion rupees, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters. Gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans rose to 6.8 percent in the June quarter from 5.39 percent in the previous three months and 3.28 percent a year earlier. (Reuters)
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Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc is in talks to sell its Indian private banking business to Sanctum Wealth Management, a firm set up by its local private banking business head Shiv Gupta, a spokeswoman for the bank said on Monday. Switzerland's Union Bancaire Privee said in March it was buying the overseas business of British wealth manager Coutts from RBS, as part of the bank's drive to pull back from foreign markets and focus on UK retail and commercial banking. RBS' India private banking business was not part of that deal. RBS has signed a non-binding framework agreement and is now in discussions to sell the Indian private banking unit to Sanctum Wealth, the spokeswoman said in an e-mailed statement, without giving details. "This marks another step towards delivering the strategy to make RBS a stronger, simpler, more sustainable business, more aligned with the needs of our customers in the U.K. and Western Europe," the statement said. A source with knowledge of the transaction with Sanctum said RBS India private banking managing director Gupta could rope in some private investors in Sanctum Wealth after the transaction was completed. In India, RBS competes with global banks including Barclays Plc, Citigroup Inc, Standard Chartered Plc as well as a host of domestic financial firms in the wealth management business. Many foreign wealth managers had scrambled to open up shop in India a few years back and aggressively ramped up operations to take advantage of robust economic growth, only to find themselves struggling. Although Asia's third-largest economy has been minting millionaires at a strong pace, it has failed to translate into profits for the banks that have set up teams of well-paid bankers to help manage those riches. Cut-throat competition, high staff costs and weak markets are squeezing revenue of the top private banks, while growth opportunities are limited by regulations that restrict product offerings. Faced with these challenges, Morgan Stanley <MS.N> in 2013 decided to sell its India wealth management unit to Standard Chartered, after entering the fiercely competitive market about four years ago. Some industry executives, however, say that the long-term prospects of the private banking business in India remains attractive, as a pickup in the country's economic growth is expected to boost the number of high net worth individuals. (Reuters)
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Hinduja Group-promoted IndusInd Bank on Monday (27 July) said it has completed acquisition of Royal Bank of Scotland's diamond and jewellery financing business in the country."IndusInd Bank has completed the acquisition with the entire business portfolio migrating to the bank. The acquired loan book is approximately Rs 41 billion (Rs 4,100 crore," IndusInd Bank said in a BSE filing.In April this year, IndusInd Bank said it has entered into an agreement with Royal Bank of Scotland to acquire the latter's diamond and jewellery financing business in the country for an undisclosed sum.IndusInd Bank is already into diamond and jewellery financing business and this acquisition is expected to enhance its position in the segment.RBS has been trying to exit its operations in India since its UK-based parent went into a government bailout after the 2008 global credit crisis.After the Reserve Bank in 2012 allowed RBS to sell its retail banking business to rival HSBC, the UK based bank had said it would wind down its business gradually.RBS has merely 20 branches in the country spanning just 10 cities.In August 2013, RBS had sold its credit card business, mortgage and commercial banking portfolios to mid-sized private sector lender Ratnakar Bank. The deal included acquiring about 1,20,000 customers and employees.RBS still retains its presence in the wholesale business and offers financing, risk management, investment banking, cash, payments, trade finance and wealth management solutions to its clients.(PTI)
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RBI has asked the I-T department to get a 'tax angle' verification done for four dozen corporate entities seeking licence to operate small finance and payment banks in the country. RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan had recently written to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the apex policy making body of the Income Tax department, to expedite the matter and provide the banking regulator with inputs about individuals at the helm of these entities with businesses spread across the country and abroad, officials said. CBDT has asked its investigation and regular assessment ranges across the country to "quickly" collect the data and submit them so that RBI can take a final view on the grant of licences to eligible parties. "The inputs sought relate to financial and tax history of close to 50 entities, their owners and senior executives who have applied for getting RBI's licence to run small finance and payment banks," they said. It has been instructed by RBI and CBDT, the officials said, that any adverse record or observation about financial dealings of these entities, found out either by way of an earlier action by the taxman or through regular mechanism of intelligence and data gathering, should be reported. "In case there is no adverse finding, the I-T will send an all okay report," one of the officials said. Those entities for which tax clearances have been sought include Intellecash MicroFinance Network Company Private Ltd., SKS MicroFinance Limited, Capital Local Area Bank Limited, Electronica Finance Limited, Repco MicroFinance Limited, SE Investments Limited, RGVN (North East) Micro Finance Limited, Ujjivan Financial Services Private Limited, and Ashika Global Securities Private Limited. . Vodafone M-Pesa Limited, NSDL, Cholamandalam Distribution Services Limited, Kishore LaxmiNarayan Biyani, RIL, NSE Strategic Investment Corporation, Aditya Birla, Airtel M Commerce Services Limited, Videocon D2H, and Sonata Finance Private Limited are also among the entities about which clearance has been sought from the tax authorities. Rajan had earlier said the Reserve Bank of India would be able to announce new sets of bank licences, or at least one set of them, by August-end. The RBI had received 72 applications for small finance bank licences and 41 applications for payment bank licences. The objective of licencing small banks is to promote financial inclusion by offering saving vehicles and credit to small business units and other unorganised sector entities. Small finance banks will primarily undertake basic banking activities of acceptance of deposits and lending to unserved and under-served sections, including small business units, small and marginal farmers, micro and small industries and unorganised sector entities. Payment banks would be allowed payment and remittance services through various channels. However, such lenders cannot issue credit cards or undertake lending activities. (PTI)
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Indian-origin banker Anshu Jain, Deutsche Bank's former co-chief, has got a clean chit from the German financial watchdog BaFin, on charges of allegedly lying to the regulators about the interbank rate rigging scandal. Jain, who quit as co-CEO of Deutsche Bank with effect from June 30, was earlier accused of having "knowingly made inaccurate statements" to Germany's central bank, Deutsche Bundesbank, thus misleading regulators on what he knew about the alleged manipulation of inter-bank rates such as Libor. As per reports, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) had criticised Deutsche Bank and Jain in its report on investigations into the rate fixing scandal. Bafin and Deutsche Bundesbank together share the supervision of banking business in the country. A report in business daily Financial Times, however, said on Saturday that BaFin has dropped "a key strand of its investigation" and has cleared Jain of allegedly lying to the central bank about what he knew about the rate manipulation. On its part, Deutsche Bank said, "We continue to work with our regulator to bring this inquiry to a conclusion." In a letter written to Jain earlier this month, BaFin President Felix Hufeld said that the regulator was "dropping that part of its probe into Libor-rigging at Deutsche after considering that the 'probable' interpretation of the evidence weighed in Jain's favour," the report said. "The suspicion that you made knowingly incorrect statements to a regulator seems unsubstantiated to me... This aspect will therefore no longer be relevant in the continued assessment by BaFin," Hufeld wrote in his letter to Jain. The BaFin President, however, added that all other allegations against Jain and Deutsche Bank were still being evaluated by the regulator. Jain, 52, had reportedly told the central bank that he had no knowledge of rumours of possible rigging in 2008. Deutsche Bank had said last month that Jain's comments were taken out of context. "Jain disputes as baseless the allegation that he misled the Bundesbank in his 2012 interview. "He understood Bundesbank's question about when he first learned of rumours of possible LIBOR rigging to mean rigging at Deutsche Bank itself which he learned of in 2011, not rigging in the marketplace which was publicly reported on in 2008," the bank had said in a statement on June 27. The bank paid USD 2.5 billion earlier this year to settle probes in the US and the UK into alleged manipulation of Libor and Euribor benchmark rates by its traders. Jain had joined Deutsche Bank more than 20 years ago and he served as a co-CEO for three years.(PTI)
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Axis Bank Ltd, India's third-biggest private sector lender by assets, reported a better-than-expected 19 per cent increase in quarterly profit even as bad loans rose. Net profit rose to Rs 1,978 crore ($310 million) for its fiscal first quarter to June 30 from Rs 1,667 crore a year earlier, the bank said in a filing. Analysts on average had expected a net profit of Rs 1,939 crore, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters. Gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans rose to 1.38 percent in the June quarter from 1.34 per cent in the previous three months.(Reuters)
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Newest bank in UK, Atom, comes with global tech giant FIS to offer digital banking, reports Haider Ali Khan To serve banking customers on the go, Atom, the UK banking market partnered with FIS, a global banking and payments technology, consulting and outsourcing solutions. The Atom business model has been designed entirely for digital use with customers conducting their banking through an app that is supported by FIS core systems. The Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority has recently authorized Atom to be the newest entrant in the UK banking. FIS is located in the United States. They provide banking technology worldwide that are already supporting 8 of the world’s 10 largest banks and 14,000 clients across the world. Their data centres in the UK they will provide and manage a fully integrated banking and payments platform for Atom through a totally outsourced delivery model. Stewart Bromley, Atom director of customer experience said, “Designed entirely for the digital age, with an app the likes of which have not been seen in the UK banking market, Atom is perfectly positioned to provide outstanding service and value for personal and for business customers. As a fully-fledged bank Atom offers complete control and protection to our customers as well as holding true to our principles and values all the way through the business. Partnering with FIS allows us to plug our products and systems into a proven back-end solution with global credentials that streamlines our efforts so we can focus on growth without worrying about underlying technology. Atom Bank’s model, built on its partnership with FIS, is the next step forward from thin skim fintech apps that have been filling the void before the arrival of the truly digital banks.” Explaining the importance of the partnership, Edward Twiddy, Atom chief operating and innovation officer said, “We have always been determined to offer customers control and assurance over service quality. We are not interested in designing a great front end simply to bolt this onto all the cost and reputational issues of an existing High Street bank’s operating model. To do this we need an unparalleled quality of service and depth of partnership with our core technology partner; we have found that in FIS.” Peter Schurau, EVP, global financial solutions at FIS said, “Atom needed a partner with proven capabilities in delivering banking-on-demand solutions. Outsourcing its banking infrastructure to FIS allows the bank to get to market faster and better compete with traditional high street banks, while building its business and delivering the best possible service to customers. We are thrilled to be confirmed as Atom’s core technology partner and to be so closely involved in bringing this exciting new digital-only bank to market.”
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