Coins worth Rs 11 cr missing from SBI vaults; CBI takes over investigation

 

State Bank of India (SBI) had approached the Rajasthan High Court seeking a CBI probe into the matter as the missing amount was higher than Rs 3 crore, the threshold for seeking a probe by the agency.

The CBI has taken over the probe into the case of coins worth Rs 11 crore going missing from the vaults of the SBI branch in Mehandipur Balaji in Rajasthan, officials said on Monday.

State Bank of India (SBI) had approached the Rajasthan High Court seeking a CBI probe into the matter as the missing amount was higher than Rs 3 crore, the threshold for seeking a probe by the agency.

On the high court's directions, the CBI has taken over the FIR earlier registered by the Rajasthan Police.

The matter came to light after the SBI branch decided to carry out counting of money after a preliminary enquiry indicated discrepancy in the cash reserve at the bank.

Supreme Court to begin hearing SBI’s plea against Anil Ambani today

A banker said Ambani has objected to the SBI invoking personal guarantees under the Corporate Debtors Regulations, 2019

Indian lenders are keenly watching the outcome of a petition filed by State Bank of India (SBI) in the Supreme Court, which invoked the personal guarantees of Anil Ambani. The SC will hear the petition from Thursday. A banker said Ambani has objected to the SBI invoking personal guarantees under the Corporate Debtors Regulations, 2019. Till November, the IBC only covered Indian companies and not promoters. The new rules are applicable against the personal guarantors given to loans above Rs 1,000 crore or more by promoters.

“As Ambani’s will be the first case where personal guarantees have been invoked and is now in SC, it will decide the fate of 40 other top defaulters who were sent to NCLT since IBC law came into effect in 2017,” said a banker. In its petition to the SC, SBI said several promoters have moved the Delhi High Court after their personal guarantees have been invoked. The fate of dues worth Rs 45,000 crore, including to the Chinese banks, will be decided by the NCLT where the matter is still pending, and the personal guarantee matter will be heard by the top court.

On September 7, the SBI also invoked the personal guarantees of Sanjay Singal, promoter of Bhushan Power & Steel, as the company defaulted to loans worth Rs 48,000 crore. The debt resolution of the company is almost ready in the NCLT, with JSW Steel declared the highest bidder with a Rs 19,700-crore offer. The matter is currently pending in the SC after JSW Steel sought its intervention on not holding the firm liable for any criminal acts of the previous promoter. The SC will come out with its verdict on this issue this month.

SBI moots VRS for employees who don’t get promoted; will seek govt nod

Officers protest, say they were kept in dark; lenders say VRS is optional and that it won’t push employees to take it

The country’s largest bank, the State Bank of India, has mooted a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) that gives an option to employees who do not get promoted beyond a certain level to move out. SBI executives said the framework (scheme) is developed and would be discussed with the government, its majority shareholder.

But they refused to elaborate on details. “This is a pyramid organisation. People who do not get to move beyond a certain level need to have option to move out. A certain respectful exit is required for them. The bank is not going to push employee to take VRS,” official said. After the Covid-19 outbreak, many employees with co-morbidities and other disorder had indicated they would prefer to stay home and avoid venturing out. Some weren’t inclined to move from one city to another. Such employees have expressed desire for such scheme, the official said.

ALSO READ: Old SBI hand Dinesh Khara faces new challenges amid Covid-19 pandemic

The another driver behind such an offer was the plan to reduce the average age of the organisation. That would help in renewal when people move up ladder faster and fresh talent is absorbed, the official said. Meanwhile, the All India State Bank Officer’s Association, in a communication to the chief development officer said the development was sudden and unwarranted, and had come as a shocker to the staff…

Covid-19 relief: You can defer 3 EMIs but that may be a very costly option

SBI informed customers that in some cases, deferring 3 EMIs on a home loan may force the borrower to pay 8 more EMIs

After RBI allowed commercial banks to provide their customers a moratorium of three months for repayment of term loans, public sector banks have sprung into action. Public sector banks have informed their customers about deferment of EMIs and interest dues to help soften the blow due the coronavirus crisis. The deferment may come at a price though.

The country’s largest lender State Bank of India on Wednesday warned borrowers that deferment of equated monthly instalments (EMIs) offered under the RBI’s relief package on account of COVID-19 could put an additional cost on them. The lender also advised borrowers to repay their loans if they are in a position to do the same. SBI said on its website that deferring the EMIs for a home loan of Rs 30 lakhs with a remaining maturity of 15 years, the net additional interest would be approximately Rs 2.34 lakhs, which is equal to eight EMIs. In other words, if customers defers three EMIs then they will end up paying 8 EMIs more.

Last week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) gave a relief package for retail borrowers and businesses, by way of announcing a three-month moratorium on payment of all term loans due between March 1, 2020, and May 31, 2020.The dispensation is aimed to mitigate the burden of debt servicing brought about by disruptions on account of COVID 19 pandemic and to ensure the continuity of viable businesses. “In terms of RBI COVID-19 regulatory package, SBI has initiated steps to defer the instalments and interest/EMIs on term loans falling due between March 1, 2020 to May 31, 2020 and extended the repaymentperiod by 3 months. The interest on working capital facilities for the period March 1, 2020 to May 31, 2020 is also deferred to June 30, 2020,” country”s largest lender SBI said.

YES Bank gets Rs 60k-cr line of credit from RBI to resume operations

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday had said the regulator was ready to offer liquidity if required

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended a credit line of Rs 60,000 crore to YES Bank to ensure that the bank is able to meet its obligations to depositors as it resumed its full-service operations on Wednesday, according to sources familiar with the development. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday had said the regulator was ready to offer liquidity if required.

“YES Bank has enough liquidity to meet any requirements. If required, the RBI will provide necessary liquidity support to it,” he said. “Never in the history of banks (in India) have depositors lost money. The point is, depositors’ money is absolutely safe,” Das had said in a conference, adding that the central bank’s support should come as a “comforting factor for depositors”.

However, this is a case of the RBI being the “lender of the last resort”, and, in accordance with the terms of the arrangement, the bank will have to use its immediate liquid assets before it can touch the credit line, sources said. This is perhaps for the first time that the RBI has come with such an arrangement. YES Bank gets Rs 60k-cr line of credit from RBI to resume operations In the past it preferred merging troubled banks with solvent ones. There is a technical reason for that even as the RBI officials did not spell it out in the press conference on Monday.

SBI lowers lending rate by up to 15 bps; 10th cut in current fiscal

Overnight and one-month MCLRs have been reduced by 15 basis points to 7.45 per cent each. Three-month MCLR has been revised to 7.50 per cent from 7.65 per cent

The country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) on Wednesday said it has reduced its marginal cost of fund-based lending rate (MCLR) by up to 15 basis points across various tenors, effective March 10. The bank has reduced its one-year MCLR by 10 basis points to 7.75 per cent from 7.85 per cent earlier, the SBI said.

This is 10th consecutive cut in MCLR by the bank in the current fiscal. Overnight and one-month MCLRs have been reduced by 15 basis points to 7.45 per cent each. Three-month MCLR has been revised to 7.50 per cent from 7.65 per cent. The new two-year and three-year MCLRs stand reduced by 10 basis points to 7.95 per cent and 8.05 per cent, respectively.

On Monday, another state-run lender Union Bank of India had announced cut in its MCLR by 10 basis points across all tenors, effective March 11. This is the ninth consecutive rate cut announced by the Mumbai-based bank, since July 2019. The bank has cut its one-year MCLR to 8 per cent from 8.10 per cent. The overnight MCLR has been revised to 7.55 per cent, while the new one month rate stands at 7.60 per cent, the bank had said.

RBI had no objection to issuance of electoral bonds through SBI, says FM

She said the Committee of the Central Board (CCB) of RBI in its meeting held on October 11, 2017 indirectly agreed for electoral bonds to be issued if it is done by the SBI.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said in Rajya Sabha that the RBI had no objection to issuance of electoral bonds through the State Bank of India (SBI). Replying to a supplementary during the Question Hour on electoral bonds through the SBI, the Finance Minister said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) being a stakeholder was involved in extensive consultations with the government at the stage of conceptualisation. “During the consultation process they had questions about the particular platform for its issuance as to who is going to issue. And also the proforma with which it is going to be issued.

“These consultations were recorded but at the end of it as long as the bonds were going to be issued by the SBI, they did not have any objection,” Nirmala Sitharaman said. She said the Committee of the Central Board (CCB) of RBI in its meeting held on October 11, 2017 indirectly agreed for electoral bonds to be issued if it is done by the SBI. The Bank in the CCB meeting and other internal fora would have discussed the multiple facets of the Electoral Bonds schemes.

She said the proceedings of CCB mention that “the CCB supported the Bank’s stand on not issuing the EBs in scrip form and observed that if the Government decides to issue EB in scrip form through SBI, the Bank should let it be.” The main reasons for issuing EBs in bearer form are to bring in transparency to funding in the political system, she said…

India’s banks wrote off Rs 2 trillion worth of bad loans in 2018-19

Even as banks have written off more loans than before, recovery of bad loans has also improved substantially in the past couple of years

India’s 42 scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) collectively wrote off Rs 2.12 trillion worth of loans in 2018-19, according to figures given by the finance ministry in Parliament. Not only was this 42 per cent higher than the Rs 1.5 trillion written off the previous year, but also about 20 per cent of all their non-performing assets (NPAs).

Banks generally take NPAs off their books to make their balance sheets look cleaner — with reduced liabilities and potential losses. According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines, “non-performing loans, including, those in respect of which full provisioning has been made on completion of four years, are removed from the balance sheet of the bank concerned by way of write-off.” Since 2014-15, when the Narendra Modi-led government first came to power, Indian banks Loans have written off Rs 5.7 trillion worth.

So far as the country’s 21 public-sector banks (PSBs) are concerned, the amount of bad loans taken off their balance sheets has increased progressively over the years. In 2018-19, these banks wrote off Rs 1.9 trillion worth of bad loans — about 90 per cent of the total for all SCBs, and four times their own write-offs in 2014-15. Only a third of SCBs reported lower write-offs in 2018-19 than the previous year; and only three of those that did were PSBs, show government statistics…

Electoral bonds: FinMin knew serial number could reveal donor’s identity

Ministry was reluctant to assign serial numbers initially, but relented after SBI raised concerns about internal control and reconciliation

The finance ministry was initially reluctant to put up serial numbers on electoral bonds, saying they had the potential to reveal the identity of the donors, but agreed later on, after concerns were raised by State Bank of India (SBI).

After being entrusted with the task of issuing electoral bonds, SBI had raised certain concerns with the finance ministry, according to official documents accessed through the Right to Information (RTI) Act by activists Commodore Lokesh Batra (retired) and Anjali Bhardwaj. This was after the Union government issued the framework for electoral bonds, a financial instrument for making anonymous donations to political parties, on January 2, 2018.

In a letter dated January 19, 2018, SBI said that though the bonds will not carry the name of the buyer they “will necessarily need a serial number” as it will leave no audit trail for internal control and reconciliation and identifying the genuineness of the electoral bonds will become difficult at the branch level.

To this, the finance ministry drafted a clarification saying “putting a serial number would establish a link between the donor and the political party. This could discourage them to use such bonds. Hence, SBI may think of other security features, including holograms, to establish the genuineness of electoral bonds.”

SBI account holder? Know new ATM withdrawal, loan rules kicking in today

SBI will use repo rate as the external benchmark to price all new floating-rate loans for MSMEs, housing and retail loans and credit for medium-sized enterprises from today

Starting today (October 1), State Bank of India has revised its service charges and also adopted the repo rate as the external benchmark for its floating-rate loans. Here are some of the most important changes that you must know about if you are an SBI customer:

New ATM withdrawal rules: According to new rules, SBI will allow 8-10 free ATM transactions in a month for its customers with average monthly balance (AMB) of up to Rs 25,000 in their savings accounts. For customers with AMB above Rs 25,000, State Bank of India will allow unlimited transactions at its own ATMs. The free limit at other banks’ ATMs would remain the same for all customers — three transactions in metro cities and 5 transactions at ATMs in other cities and towns.

Customers who exceed the number of free transactions will have to pay a fee ranging from Rs 5 plus GST to Rs 20 plus GST. Cardless cash withdrawals at ATMs will be charged at Rs 22 plus GST. SBI salary account holders will continue to enjoy unlimited free transations at all ATMs.

Cash withdrawal: SBI account holders with AMB of up to Rs 25,000 are allowed two free cash withdrawals at bank branches. Those with AMB between Rs 25,000 and Rs 50,000 will get 10 free cash withdrawals...

RBI slaps Rs 7-crore penalty on SBI for violating various regulatory norms

This is one of the highest penalty amounts on any bank in the recent past

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has forced a punishment of Rs 7 crore on State Bank of India (SBI) for resistance with administrative standards, for example, salary acknowledgment and resource order (IRAC) and sharing data. This is one of the most elevated punishment sums on any bank in the ongoing past.

SBI, the nation’s greatest bank, likewise neglected to consent to headings on opening and working current records, announcing of information to the Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC), and detailing of fakes. The Reserve Bank of India had completed the statutory investigation to survey SBI’s money related position on March 31, 2017. The review uncovered resistance with headings on IRAC standards, sharing of data about clients with different banks, revealing of information, misrepresentation chance administration, and arrangement and announcing of fakes.

Following the investigation, the RBI issued a show-cause take note. Subsequent to thinking about the bank’s answer and oral entries, the RBI reached the resolution that charges of rebelliousness were substantiated and justified burden of financial punishment. The RBI said the punishment has been forced in exercise of forces vested under different areas of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. This activity depends on lacks in administrative consistence. It isn’t planned to articulate upon the legitimacy of any exchange or understanding went into by the save money with its clients, the RBI said.

Rs 10-lakh fine on Union Bank

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has forced a punishment of Rs 10 lakh on Union Bank of India for non-compliancewith the bearings on digital security system. The RBI inspected the digital security structure of the bank, following reports of seven deceitful messages (of $171 million) produced through the SWIFT arrangement of the bank in 2016.

Jet Airways stares at shutdown, board meets today as lenders refuse funds

Lenders fail to infuse emergency fund after a crucial meeting on Monday

Companies News: India’s first private aircraft Jet Airways is going towards an all out establishing and a choice could be taken as right on time as Tuesday after a gathering of its top managerial staff. Left with no money, a seven-plane armada and fuel to run tasks just till Tuesday evening, the end is unavoidable, said sources near the improvement. “Fly can’t be spared now. It’s on the ground,” another source aware of everything said.

This pursues Monday’s no-agreement crisis meeting of the loan specialists’ consortium, driven by State Bank of India, to settle on implantation of Rs 1,000 crore right away. Before long, the suspension of the global tasks was stretched out till in any event April 18. As banks neglected to inject the required assets, the Jet administration will illuminate the board on Tuesday morning about the “basic improvements” before a call is assumed the eventual fate of the carrier, as indicated by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Vinay Dube.

SBI, which has been at the front line of the goals plan, said late on Monday evening that the declarations of enthusiasm for purchasing stake in Jet were being confirmed by a lawful group and imminent bidders would be shortlisted by SBI Caps soon. “The proposed value change by banks, assuming any, will be embraced as a temporary system to encourage the offering cum deal process,” the SBI said. 

In a harm control work out, the bank said that important help to encourage the procedure was being reached out by the loan specialists in the consortium. “Participation by and support from the various partners will be the way to the achievement of the procedure,” it said. On the off chance that Jet goes down, it will be the second dish Indian administrator to go tummy up. Kingfisher Airlines was grounded in 2013…

Jet pilots appeal to SBI to release Rs 1500 cr, ask PM to save 20,000 jobs

The airline is operating just 6-7 planes, with almost its entire fleet being grounded due to non-payment of rentals to lessors amid severe paucity of cash.

Companies News: Jet Airways pilots body, the National Aviator’s Guild, Monday appealed the State Bank of India (SBI) to release Rs 1,500 crore, which was proposed to be infused in the ailing carrier as part of a debt-restructuring plan last month.

The airline is operating just 6-7 planes, with almost its entire fleet being grounded due to non-payment of rentals to lessors amid severe paucity of cash. “We would like to appeal SBI to release Rs 1,500 crore funds for the airline to help it continue operations. We also appeal Prime Minister Narendra Modi to save 20,000 odd jobs at the airline,” National Aviator’s Guild ( NAG) vice president Adim Valiani told reporters at the airline’s headquarter, Siroya Centre, here Monday.

Earlier, the airline’s pilots, engineers and cabin crew members assembled at the headquarters to show their solidarity. The airline’s pilots along with engineers and senior staff were last paid for December, 2018. This apart, the airline has also defaulted on the March salary of other categories of employees as well. Last month, an SBI-led consortium of lenders had taken management control of the airline post a debt-recast deal, following which the lenders had proposed to infuse as much as Rs 1,500 crore to the carrier to keep it afloat till the time it gets a investor.

The Monday meeting with lenders is reportedly expected to take a final decision on the quantum of funds to be infused immediately to avert a possible shut down. A meeting between the airline management and its major lender SBI last Friday could not take a decision on the fund infusion issue…

Rajnish Kumar to be new SBI chairman

Kumar is at present one of the four managing directors at SBI, looking after the National Banking Group

economy news : Rajnish Kumar become on Wednesday named the new chairman of countrybank of India (SBI), the country’s biggest lender. He would take over from modern-day Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya, who will complete her 4–yr time period on Friday.


Rajnish Kumar, 59, is at introduce one of the four overseeing chiefs at SBI, caring for the National Banking Group — which covers the retail, SME and horticulture business verticals. He had joined the bank in 1980. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet affirmed his arrangement as the SBI director for a time of three years from the date of assuming control over the charge on or after October 7, a request issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said.

Handling the issue of progressing determination of terrible advances and HR to guarantee smooth working of operations after the merger of partner banks will be the two best needs all through his innings. Supporting development through expanded loaning would likewise figure unmistakably on motivation, SBI aggregate officials said.

He is considered more to be a practitioner with an emphasis on activity, said a center level SBI official. | Readmore…