SBI lures CAs, lawyers with hefty pay package

State Bank of India (SBI) is recruiting chartered accountants (CAs) at the entry level on contract by offering a salary that is considered hefty by public sector bank standards. The country’s largest bank will also dangle a carrot in the form of loyalty bonus on completing a certain number of years in service to CAs in an attempt to retain them. The CAs would be placed in departments such as risk management, treasury, accounts and compliance. During the probation period of six months, CAs will get a lump sum payment of Rs 50,000 a month. After completion of the probation, the salary will increase to Rs 9 lakh a year, which will be split into two components - 70 per cent fixed pay and 30 per cent variable pay. “Our experience has been that many professionals leave mid-way even when on contract. We want professionals to remain with us and that is the driving factor behind the decision to offer loyalty bonus,” a senior SBI official said. The direct recruit in the law officer category will get a maximum of Rs 3.5 lakh a year as salary. For them (law stream), the bonus will be paid at the rate of 20 per cent of the total remuneration. The bank expects to induct over 10,000 employees in the current financial year.

Govt to subscribe to SBI rights issue:

Finance minister P Chidambaram on Saturday said the Union government has decided to subscribe to the State Bank of India’s rights issue in a non-cash transaction [SBI,Bank] Confirming reports, the FM said, “the decision is a non-cash transaction which would see the bank (SBI) setting up a redemption fund that would comprise dividends and additional taxes that SBI would pay.” SBI’s Rs 17,000-crore rights issue will be one of the largest public offerings by an issuer in India. The government would need to pump in Rs 10,000 crore as its contribution to the offering. It holds controlling interest in the country’s largest bank after the shares were transferred to it from the Reserve Bank of India. If things go as per plans, the rights issue will be launched in the second week of February and the process will be over by the second week of March ’08. “If something on similar lines has to be done for other PSU banks, then it would depend on how the banks pay the dividends and additional taxes,” Mr Chidambaram added

Withdraw money on Moving Train !!!!!!!!!

Yes, Punjab National Bank is planning to install ATM on Delhi-Agra Shatabdi. [PNB,ATM] There is a new year gift from the Indian Railways to its commuters. After months of will-it-won’t-it speculations, the department has now decided to go ahead with the proposal for automated teller machine (ATM) facility on moving trains. As a beginning, the state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) will install an ATM on the Delhi-Agra Shatabdi Express, which is likely to be operational by February 15. PNB was awaiting final approval and communication from the railways after which the work of installation of the ATM would begin. The ATM should be installed and become operational by mid-February. After the project’s success, the railways plan to extend similar facility on other routes too. Meanwhile, the railways propose to rope in six nationalised banks, including Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank, Indian Bank, Dena Bank, Union Bank of India and Bank of Baroda, for setting up ATMs at various railway stations.

Karnataka Bank revises rates

Karnataka Bank Ltd has revised interest rates on term deposits with effect from January 1. The interest rate on term deposits of one year to less than two years would be 8/75 per cent (8.50 per cent) and of two years to less than three years would be 9 per cent (9.25 per cent). Interest rate on term deposits of three years to five years would be 9.25 per cent (9.50 per cent). Domestic term deposits of senior citizens with maturity period of one year and above would attract 0.75 per cent more compared to the deposits of the general public. [Karnataka BAnk, Interest]

There’s no one to blame if your ATM hands you a fake note!

What do you do if you find a counterfeit note while withdrawing money from an ATM? You may be shocked to learn this, but there is little you can do. Forget about losing money, you could even be booked for cheating or possessing a counterfeit note. This is what norms of several banks say. “There is absolutely no defined mechanism to fix the responsibility or to check the veracity of counterfeit note claims from the customers,” a top RBI official from Mumbai said. The gravity of the situation can be gauged from the fact that ATMs are rapidly emerging as an alternative to bank branches and currently there are 31,000 ATMs across the country. These ATMs on average register 300 transactions a day. The number of counterfeit Rs 500 notes had gone up from 12,014 in 2005-06 to 25,636 in 2006-07. “We take our own precautions. But if something is suggested or designed, we will be happy to implement,” Mr B. Samba Murthy, CMD, Corporation Bank said.

Finmin no to interest subsidy hike on crop loans

The finance ministry has ruled out an increase in interest subsidy, which at its present level of 2 per cent will cost the exchequer more than Rs 2,000 crore this fiscal, given for short-term crop loans. The government has been giving a subvention of 2 per cent with a ceiling of Rs 3 lakh on the principal amount of crop loans with effect from the kharif season of 2006-07. The scheme has been extended to this fiscal as well. The interest subsidy is provided by the government to public sector banks, cooperative banks and regional rural banks on the involvement of their own funds and concessional refinance to RRBs and cooperative banks through NABARD

SBI to open third branch in US

SBI is readying to open its third full-fledged branch in the US by end-fiscal, to widen its network abroad. The bank is likely to get the approval from the US Federal Reserve Board early next year and is understood to have received the first clearance from the New York State Banking Department. SBI has already two full-fledged branches in the US (New York and Chicago) and a representative office in Washington. The bank has a subsidiary in California - SBI California, which has six banks in the US - Los Angeles, Artesia, San Jose, Fresno, Congoa Park and San Diego. The third branch is expected to come up in New York and it will focus mainly on corporate lending.

Canara Bank redesigns brand identity

In an effort to fight the growing competition and to attract new customers, Canara Bank on Saturday announced a new brand identity. [Canara Bank, Brand] The new logo, which depicts interlocking triangles - one rich blue and the other a bright yellow - was unveiled by Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram at a function in Bangalore. Created by brand consultants Ray + Kesavan WPP, the logo symbolises the bond between the bank and its stakeholders, which includes its customers, employees, investors, institutions and the society at large, bank executives said. Canara Bank Chairman and Managing Director M B N Rao said it had become imperative to rebuild the brand in order to attract and retain customers, who now had a variety of alternatives. “We also have to take into account post-2009 scenario when foreign banks will have access to more organic and inorganic growth,” Rao said. He hoped that the new identity would particularly attract the younger generation

If you are frequent visitor to ATM, then read this..

Free ATM usage from April 2009 Recently RBI gave a statement that ATM usage charges across all banks will be free from April 2009. The customers feel happy about this because they are paying money on every transaction done through other banks ATMs ranging from Rs.10 to Rs.60, now they can save all those money. The banks are not happy because they were earning fee commission every time a non-customer used their ATMs and there will be drain on their profits. During the period when there was craze to open ATMs, Some of the banks joined hands to provide ATM services at reduced costs. Some smaller banks, to retain their customers joined hands with banks having wide ATM base. Some banks are refunding the charges incurred by their customers for using their banks ATM card at other banks ( only if they maintain some balance as stipulated by the bank) From here onwards banks will think twice before opening ATMs because of the costs associated with it. (rent, furnishing, power, machine, A.C., guard, security and many) The banks may force the customers to use ATMs for cash withdrawal. The charges for ATM card issue and annual charges may go up substantially. The other bank may not allow next banks customer to use his ATM. [ATM,Bank,RBI]

Intending to take Educational Loan, then read this...

The Educational Loan is going to be cheaper, say thanks to the government. The Government is thinking to bear interest burden on educational loans taken by students during moratorium period or the times when students are pursuing academincs and have not yet begun earning. The Manmohan Singh government is finalising a scheme in consulation with Planning commission. The corpus of the scheme is estimated to be Rs.4,000 crore and the Interest burden on the government is estimated to be Rs.650 crore a year. The above amount arrived by planners is based on that five lakh students from families earning Rs.2.5 lakh a year or less availed of the loans. The interest subsidy would be availabe for students meeting the economic bar set for beneficiaries and studying professional and technical courses at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels. The government is intending to implement the scheme from the next academic year 2008, also wants to ensure that the benefit should be available only for one loan. Untill now the education loans come with a clause which allows students not to pay interest during academic life. The interest for this period is added to the principal and repayment begin once the student availing of the loan starts working. This step by the government will be a breather to Banks who lend to students as they can lend more freely. This step is more useful to students as the courses take normally 3 to 4 years. By the time they complete the course and start earning their loan would have been increased by 30 to 50% by addition of interest. If the government takes this burden they will be relieved a lot.

Bank of Baroda Recruitment for Specialist in senior management category

BOB is recruiting for specialists in senior management category. Last date for applying 18.01.2008..http://www.bankofbaroda.com/recruitment.asp?artid=2102&modid=36

Deutsche Bank to infuse Rs 2,155 cr in Indian unit

Deutsche Bank said it will infuse an additional Rs 2,155 crore in its Indian operations. This includes Rs 1,470 crore Tier-I capital for the bank’s branches and Rs 685 crore towards equity of the newly formed non-banking finance company for which the Deutsche Bank group received approval recently. With this infusion, the group’s total capital in India will cross Rs 5,700 crore, making it among the highest capitalised foreign banks. The bank will use the additional funds for lending, both corporate and retail. Mr Gunit Chadha, Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Bank India, said, “The fresh capital will allow us to offer greater local balance sheet financing for our corporate, institutional and retail clients.”

SBI goes aggressive on stocks

State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest bank, is aggressively scaling up its equity investments, for the first time since banks were allowed to invest in company shares over a decade ago. Till March 2007, the bank had invested a total of Rs 1,973 crore in shares of companies. In the nine months since then, it has added Rs 3,000 crore to its investment kitty, making investments of over Rs 100 crore in a clutch of blue-chip companies including GMR Infrastructure, Godrej Industries, Maruti Suzuki, Cairn India and DLF, besides closest rival ICICI Bank. Last year, the bank’s equity book had expanded by Rs 455.46 crore. “We have never looked at equity the way we are doing in the last one year or so. We are building (our investment portfolio) gradually and we intend to (continue to) do it,” said a senior SBI official. “There has been a shift in the financing of companies to a combination of debt and equity. If the bank has to have a relationship with the corporate, then it has to be in the debt and equity segment together. We are taking part in nearly all issues unless we feel the valuation is too high,” said the official.

Encashment norms for joint term deposit holders eased

The Finance Ministry has relaxed encashment norms for joint holder type term deposits under the tax-saving ‘bank term deposit scheme’ framed last year. This scheme was developed to encourage flow of long-term deposits into the banking system. In the event of the death of the first holder, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has now allowed the joint holder to encash the term deposit before its maturity. Hitherto, the scheme did not permit any encashment of term deposits before the expiry of five years.

ING Vysya's new deposit scheme

Private lender ING Vysya Bank has hiked interest rate on 120-day deposits by 25 basis points to 7.75 per cent in a bid to attract more funds. The bank has created a new slab of 120 days for fixed deposits. This slab was earlier clubbed with 91-364 days, drawing 7.50 per cent interest rate. The new fixed deposit scheme has been effected from December 15.

Union Bank to enter MF biz

As part of its ‘Vision 2012’ programme, Union Bank of India is planning to diversify into mutual fund business and will also explore the possibility of entering the venture capital arena. Mr M.V. Nair, Chairman and Managing Director of the bank, told newspersons that the meeting also decided to look for a partner to get into credit card business. The ‘Vision 2012’ is aimed at making Union Bank of India one of the three largest banks in the country and also becoming a global player with its presence in at least 20 countries. As of now, the bank has a branch in Shanghai in China and a representative office in Abu Dhabi. These apart, a full-fledged branch will be opened in Hong Kong in February next year. The bank would choose ‘hot growth spots’ for locating its overseas branches. He said that the bank would recruit another 16,000 employees over the next four years to support its diversification plans as also keeping in view the tremendous growth expected in the financial sector.

Bank Unions submit Charter of Demand (Wage Settlement) to IBA

As we are aware the wage settlement expired on 31.10.2007 and new settlement is due from 01.11.2007 And the Bank Unions have already submitted their charter of demands to Indian Banks Association. The copy of same is available for you. Click here to read more.http://groups.google.co.in/group/the-bank-page/web/Charter+of+demands-wage+settlement-bank.pdf

SBI mulls VRS for 40K staff

State Bank of India (SBI) is planning to introduce a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for its subordinate staff in the next financial year. The proposed scheme aims to give chance to over 40,000 employees, who find it challenging to work in a computerised environment and competitive market conditions. "The nature of work has changed substantially due to introduction of core banking solutions (CBS) and automation. Besides, the work demands on staff are growing enormously to retain market share. Some of the subordinate staff should get a decent exit option," a senior SBI official said. He, however, ruled out any VRS for the clerical or officer cadre. There are three aspects related to VRS for this category of staffers. First, with computerisation and rollout of core banking platform, their role is limited. Second, even if some of them could be retrained, the cost incurred may not bring much benefit. Finally, they are not mobile.

RBI plugs loophole in forex management regulations

The Reserve Bank of India has detected and plugged a loophole in FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) regulations which some Indian companies were exploiting to raise funds abroad and bring to India. The regulations are related to repayment of advances that are paid by overseas investors to Indian companies for allotment of shares under automatic FDI route. Under these regulations, while Indian companies are allowed to receive advance payment from NRIs and overseas investors, no time limit was stipulated for issue of shares or refund of the amount. Taking advantage of this loophole, companies instead of allotting shares use the advance money for other purposes and refund it after two to three years, giving some vague reasons. On Friday, through a circular to banks and authorised foreign exchange dealers, RBI has plugged this loophole, stipulating that companies receiving funds from abroad as advance payment for allotment of equity shares or debentures should issue the instruments to investors within 180 days.

OBC is recruiting - Click here for more details

Oriental Bank of Commerce is Recruiting 200 Officers. Laste date to submit application is 14.01.2008http://the-bank-page.googlegroups.com/web/OBC-PO-2008.pdf