Interest rates reduced on Housing Loan & Overdraft to employees of Primary Coop Societies

The Govt. of Kerala (vide circular number 42/2011 dated 16.06.20110) has reduced the interest rates on Housing Loan and Overdraft limit sanctioned to the permanent employees of Primary Coop Societies of Kerala.  Now onwards, the interest rates on the Employees Housing Loan and Overdraft will be fixed at the maximum interest rate that is paid by the bank/society to the depositors.

The earlier circular (No. 8/2010 dated 12.02.2010) says that the interest rates on these loans are to be fixed at the same interest rate which is fixed for an ordinary customer availing the same facilities.


(a regretful note : we were not able to put a downloadable circular due to some technical reasons)

Shyamala Gopinath on four decades with the RBI

an interesting piece of NDTV video

(Interview with Mrs. Shyamala Gopinath, who retired from the post of Deputy Governor, RBI recently)

There is a lot of satisfaction in contributing to public policy

The RBI has been fortunate to have as Governors persons of great intellect and intellectual integrity, who were also committed to the cause of the common person.

Ms Shyamala Gopinath retired on Monday as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India after nearly a four-decade stint with the central bank.

Joining the RBI as a direct recruit officer on probation in April 1972, Ms Gopinath concedes, with a smile, that she did not think she would reach this pinnacle at that time. She has risen through the ranks and handled some of RBI's most critical portfolios, including financial markets, financial regulation, forex reserves, government debt and exchange rate, banking supervision and regulation.

Modest and shy, Ms Gopinath has earned great appreciation from peers, market participants as well as the Government. Mr P. Chidamabaram, during his tenure as Finance

Free market never drives growth: Shyamala Gopinath

Shyamala Gopinath, deputy governor, the Reserve Bank of India, post spending almost four decades in the institution, is now looking forward to pursuing her interest in Carnatic music after retirement. She had joined the RBI as an officer in April 1972 and has worked in various capacities, including as executive director, until her elevation to the position of the deputy governor. She also served for two years (2001–2003) on deputation to the International Monetary Fund. Ms Gopinath, who retired on Monday, spoke to ET on her stint in Mint Street. Excerpts: 

What are the challenges for RBI going forward?
You are right that RBI has to be braced to deal with the challenges that would come with the changes in the regulations, including new bank licences and the holding company structure. Clearly, the one challenge that RBI and the entire banking sector faces is that of human resource management. Developing skills and expertise to face these challenges is one area we need to focus. There is a need for more research in areas relating to finance and that is one reason why we have set up Centre for Advanced Financial Research and

Siddharth Sahakari Bank's licence cancelled

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cancelled the licence of Pune-based Siddharth Sahakari Bank Ltd as it had ceased to be solvent and all efforts to revive it had failed. The apex bank had also requested the registrar of co-operative societies, Maharashtra to issue an order for winding up the bank and appoint a liquidator for the bank.
In a statement issued on

Visa & MasterCard gone. Rupay card, bring it on

Finally it's here! The much talked about India card which will replace global payment players MasterCard and Visa in India. CNBC-TV18's Gopika Gopakumar finds out more about the Rupay Cards.

It may not be long before the logos of Visa and MasterCard disappear from your plastic cards. Instead these will be replaced by an Indian name Rupay. This is the new card payment scheme launched by the National Payment Corporation of India, a company started three years back by 10 banks, to oversee all retail payment systems in India. Currently, all card payments are routed

Are we close to end of rate tightening?

Despite a quarter percentage point rate hike—the 10th hike in past 16 months—and a reasonably hawkish mid-quarterly monetary policy review statement from the Indian central bank, bond yields dropped last week and prices rose.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year, 7.8% government paper maturing in 2021, ended 11 basis points (bps) lower at 8.29% on Thursday, down from 8.4% the previous day. The drop in the five-year benchmark swap rate was even more spectacular—it ended 21 bps down; at 7.68% against 7.89% a day ago. The next day, the 10-year yield dropped further to 8.26% and five-year swap to 7.66%. One basis point is one-hundredth of

Mahesh Bank now member of NEFT

Mahesh Urban Cooperative Bank has finally become a member of National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) system of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Now customers of the bank will be able to enjoy fund transfer facilities to any location in any bank.
This will enable customers to transfer their funds, even small amounts across India instantaneously.”
The bank has also received approval from RBI to set up three more branches at Champapet, Seethaphalmandi and Chintal.
Apart from this two more branches in Banjara Hills and Attapur at Hyderabad are also planned to be opened soon.

Source / Courtesy : www.indiancooperative.com

The Hindu : Business / Economy : Home, auto loans to become costlier as RBI hikes key rates

The Hindu : Business / Economy : Home, auto loans to become costlier as RBI hikes key rates

Saraswat Bank to hire 6000 staff in 5 yrs

Armed with a licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate all over India, Saraswat Co-operative Bank, India's largest urban cooperative bank has announced plans to hire 6,000 staff in the next five years to more than double its branch network in the country.

"The pan-Indian permission has opened up vast opportunities for us and we have decided to grow our branch network to 500 by 2016 from 216 currently," said Eknath Thakur, chairman, Saraswat Co-operative Bank.

"We will recruit more people in the

Chairman and Directors of Closed Chopda UCB robbed the bank

Is canceling of licence enough for the wrong doers? The Chairman and Directors of the Chopda Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd, Jalgaon, Maharashtra has robbed the bank by indulging into all kinds of unfair means.
The bank had sanctioned large loan limits titled as personal surety and cash credit and the loan amount was credited in savings account, which was subsequently allowed to be transferred to societies which were related to the Chairman / Directors of the bank.
All efforts to revive  the Bank  in close consultation with

Big UCBs from outside plans to open branches in Kerala

The Hindu BusinessLine says :

Mumbai, June 7: 

India's top three urban co-operative banks — Saraswat Co-operative Bank, Cosmos Co-operative Bank and Shamrao Vithal Co-operative Bank — may soon spread their wings across the country and give private sector banks tough competition.

Following the Reserve Bank of India's nod for expanding its area of operations, the Mumbai-headquartered Saraswat Bank is drawing up plans for an all-India footprint.

Currently, the area of operation of India's largest UCB is restricted to six States — Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi. It has a network of 217 branches.

“We have already applied to the RBI for issuing licences at 96 locations. Our target is to reach a business (deposits plus advances) level of Rs 50,000 crore by March-end 2016 from Rs 27,313 crore as on March-end 2011,” said Mr Eknath Thakur, Chairman, Saraswat Bank.

The RBI is amenable to granting permission to well-managed

Bust co-op banks deplete deposit insurance fund

In April, a year and two months after the Reserve Bank of India cancelled the license of their bank, the depositors of Kolhapur-based Ichalkaranji Urban Co-operative Bank were paid back their deposit sums up to a maximum of Rs 1,00,000 per depositor amounting to an aggregate sum of Rs 48.74 crore.

In FY12, this has been the only deposit insurance claim paid out by Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) as per the company’s website. An FCRB analysis of deposit insurance claims in earlier financial years reveal an interesting picture of banks’ failure and the sums involved (see table).

DICGC’s insurance benefit is only available to the extent of Rs 1,00,000 per depositor across a depositor’s deposits

'അനര്‍ഹമായി' കൈപ്പറ്റിയ ക്ഷാമബത്ത തിരികെ നല്‍കണം : ജി ഓ ഇറങ്ങി.

'അനര്‍ഹമായി' കൈപ്പറ്റിയ ക്ഷാമബത്ത തിരികെ നല്‍കണം : ജി ഓ ഇറങ്ങി.  

2011 june 6 ലെ  സര്‍ക്കാര്‍ ഉത്തരവ്         ഇവിടെ        ഡൌണ്‍ലോഡ് ചെയ്യാം..

Urban co-op banks allowed to lend to self help groups

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today allowed urban cooperative banks (UCBs) to give loans to self help groups (SHGs), a move that will help in promoting financial inclusion in the country.
"With a view to further expanding the outreach of UCBs and opening an additional channel for promoting financial inclusion, it has been decided to allow UCBs to lend to SHGs and Joint Liability Groups (JLGs)," an RBI notification said.
The central bank in its recent monetary policy had proposed to allow UCBs to lend to the two segments.
Lending to SHGs and JLGs would be considered as normal business activity of the bank. UCBs will be required to frame a comprehensive policy on lending to SHGs and JLGs.
The maximum amount of loan to SHGs should not exceed four times of the savings of the group, the RBI said.
It further said JLGs were not obliged to keep deposits with the bank and hence the amount of loan granted to them would be based on their credit needs and the bank's assessment of the credit requirement.
SHGs are micro entrepreneurs having homogeneous social and economic background who voluntarily come together to save small amounts regularly and mutually agree to contribute to a common fund to meet their emergency needs.
The main purpose of JLG is to facilitate mutual loan guaranteeing and execution of joint liability agreement, making them severally and jointly liable for payment of interest and repayment of loans obtained from the bank.

Download the RBI Circular Here 


Courtesy : PTI and Business Standard

Saraswat Bank plans to acquire coop bank in K'taka

Saraswat Cooperative Bank is aiming to acquire another bank as part of its expansion plans. The bank is eyeing an urban cooperative bank (UCB) in Karnataka in this regard.

For taking ahead the process, the bank would be signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the UCB in this regard, said Mr E.K. Thakur, Chairman, Saraswat Co-operative Bank.
The name of the bank has however not been disclosed yet. It has 39 branches in Karnataka and a total business of Rs 350 crore.
Saraswat Bank is in heavy growth phase and has so far acquired 7 UCBs in the period between 2006 to 2009.

RBI cancels licence of Chopra Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India has cancelled the licence of Jalagoan-based Chopda Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd as it had ceased to be solvent and depositors were being inconvenienced by continued uncertainty.

The banking regulator delivered the order cancelling the bank's licence after close of business on May 24, a release said here today.

The Registrar of Co-operative Societies, Maharashtra, has also been requested to issue an order for winding up the bank and appoint a liquidator for it, the release said.

On liquidation, every bank customer is entitled to repayment of his/her deposits up to a monetary ceiling of Rs 1 lakh from the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) under usual terms and conditions.

Consequent to the RBI order, the Chpda Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd is prohibited from carrying on 'banking business' as defined in Section 5(b) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (as applicable to co-operative societies), including acceptance and repayment of deposits, it added. 

Courtesy / Source : The Economic Times