Recent Banking & Finance Points - PO exam 2014

1. India recently launched its own payment gateway 'RuPay', equivalent of Visa and Mastercard, which will work on ATMs and merchant outlets and help in reducing cash transactions.

Note: i. RuPay, which works on three channels ‐‐ ATMs, Point of Sales (POS) and online sales, is the seventh such payment gateway in the world.

ii. The RuPay platform ‐‐ developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)‐‐ is being used by certain banks like ICICI, State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, among others, for clearing and settlement.

2. India became third‐largest economy in 2011 from 10th in 2005: World Bank.

3. Note: India emerged as the world’s third‐largest economy in 2011 from being the 10th largest in 2005, moving ahead of Japan, while the US remained the largest economy closely followed by China, latest figures have revealed.

4. Govt accepts Sahoo panel report on review of depository receipts scheme. The key recommendations of the committee include allowing issuance of depository receipts against any underlying securities — equity or debt, by any issuer ‐ listed or unlisted.

Note: Depository receipts are receipts denominated in foreign currency created by a depository in the country of listing. There are two popular types of depository receipts — global depository receipts and American depository receipts.

5. ING Vysya Life Insurance Company Ltd has become Exide Life Insurance Company. The insurance company will continue to honour its commitments and obligations under the insurance policies issued to customers in the name of ING Vysya Insurance Company Ltd.

6. Switzerland and Norway are the world's most expensive economies, followed by Bermuda, Australia and Denmark, according to a new ranking by the World Bank

7. SBI launches 3 Digital banking facilities for its customers”

i. Tab Banking for Saving A/C ‐ Opening Savings a/c at Customer’s door step using tablet PC provided to the Bank’s Sales Staff (who visit the Customer’s home).

ii. TAB Banking for Home Loan ‐ In‐principle approval for the home loan at customer’s door step using tablet PC provided to the Bank’s Home Loan Sales Team which will capture on the tablet KYC details and details.

iii. e‐KYC ‐ Generates e‐KYC (Know Your Customer) identity document.

8. The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) launched an Institutional Trading Platform (ITP) to help Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and start‐up companies to list on the bourses without an Initial Public Offer (IPO).

9. Basel Committee issued Final standards to curb exposures of banks to customers. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision on 15 April 2014 issued Final standards for measuring and controlling large exposures of banks to customers. These standards will take effect from 1 January 2019

10. Bank of India (BOI) has become the first Indian bank to extend a bridge loan of $200 million to Air India to finance the purchase of two Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.

11. India leads global remittances with USD 70 bn in 2013. India's neighbour China follows second with USD 60 billion, said the World Bank report

12. World Trade Organisation (WTO) projected that the world trade will grow by 4.7 percent in 2014.

13. The World Bank give loan Pakistan 12 billion dollars over the next five years to help lift its economy,

14. Qatar based Doha Bank announced it’s First branch in Mumbai. The branch in Mumbai will be opened as a full‐fledged bank in May 2014.

Note: Bank of Bahrain & Kuwait, Abu Dhabi Bank are the two other banks from Arab countries to have operations in India before Doha bank.

15. Bank of India (BOI) launched Instant Money Transfer (IMT) scheme in Mumbai.

Note: IMT scheme allows customers to withdraw cash without using either debt card or credit card at BoI's IMT‐enabled ATMs. This is the first‐of‐its‐kind initiative launched by a public sector bank.

16. Kotak Mahindra launches accounts integrated with Facebook, Twitter.

17. ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund has bagged Morningstar India’s best fund house award in the debt, equity and multi‐asset category.

18. ADB pegs India GDP growth rate for 2014‐15 at 5.5 pc

19. Inflation based on Wholesale Price Index (WPI) reached a 3‐month high of 5.7% in March 2014.

20. Wholesale Inflation falls to 9‐month low of 4.68 per cent in Feb

21. Kotak Mahindra Bank announced the launch of Jifi, a first‐of‐its‐kind fully integrated social bank account that transcends normal digital banking by seamlessly incorporating social networking platforms like Twitter and Facebook with mainstream banking.

22. Export‐Import Bank of India extended a Line of Credit of $89.90 million to the Government of Republic of Congo, for development of transportation system in the Republic of Congo.

23. Central Bank of India has sold its entire stake in credit information provider CIBIL to Transunion International Inc. Central Bank had a 5 per cent stake in CIBIL while Transunion is the majority shareholder in CIBIL at 27.5 per cent.

24. Canara Bank names cricketer Shikhar Dhawan as its brand ambassador.

25. Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) Bank set World record for Blood collection in a single day. The blood donation camp organised by HDFC Bank on 6 December 2013 was recorded in the Guinness Book of Records.

26. The World Bank has said it would provide up to $3 billion in aid for Ukraine in 2014 to help the country deliver much‐needed economic reforms.

27. Max Life Insurance has tied up with Toyota Financial Services India Ltd to provide insurance cover to car loan customers.

28. Bihar emerges as fastest growing state (15.05 per cent) in 2012‐13: CSO Report.

Note: According to the CSO data, Gujarat ranked 6th with growth rate at 7.96 per cent, behind Bihar and Madhya Pradesh with 9.89 per cent, Goa 8.47 per cent, Kerala 8.24 per cent and Odisha 8.09 per cent. The all‐India growth rate in 2012‐13 was 4.47 percent.

29. Indian Bank has bagged national award for excellence in lending to micro enterprises for 2012‐2013, for the consecutive second year.

30. Corporation Bank has bagged the awards for lending to MSE (micro and small enterprises) and to micro enterprises from the Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) for 2012‐13.

31. The Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait, BBK, plans to expand its operations in India by opening its fourth branch in the country in New Delhi.

32. Interest rate on Post Office FDs increased by up to 0.2 per cent from 8.2 percent to 8.4 percent.

33. India’s 1st post office savings bank ATM inaugurated in Thyagaraya Nagar, Chennai.

34. SEBI approved the new Corporate Governance norms. The new corporate governance norms would become applicable for all listed companies with effect from 1 October 2014.

35. Wholesale inflation eased to a seven‐month low of 5.05 per cent in January, on decline in the rate of price rise in food articles, mainly vegetables.

36. Retirement fund body EPFO decided to increase the rate of interest on Provident Fund deposits to 8.75 percent from 8.5 percent.

37. The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development has sanctioned Rs 348.63 crore to Karnataka under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF).

38. Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided $400 million first tranche line of credit to India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) to help accelerate infrastructure growth through increased private sector investment.

39. Asian Development Bank will provide USD 275 million loan for improving rural road connectivity in five states including Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal in the country.

40. Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) and SBI Cards have joined hands for roll‐out of credit cards to customers of India’s first womenfocused commercial bank

41. Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB), the first all‐women bank, tied with New India Assurance to launch health insurance products for women account holders of the bank.

42. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) and RBI concluded an agreement that expands the maximum amount of the bilateral swap arrangement (BSA) between the two countries to USD 50 billion.

Note: BOJ Governor is Haruhiko Kuroda and RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan

43. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has reduced refinance rate for banks and other lending agencies by 0.20 per cent to promote rural credit and rural infrastructure.

Note: The revised rate of interest on refinance for a period of five years for commercial, state cooperative, regional rural and primary urban cooperative banks will be 9.70 per cent, down from 9.90 per cent.

44. SEBI grants new status to three clearing corporations to National Securities Clearing Corporation, Indian Clearing Corporation and MCX‐SX Clearing Corporation.

45. IMF projected 5.4 percent economic growth for India in 2014‐15

46. WB (World Bank) projected economic growth rate of 5.7% for India in 2014‐15 fiscal

47. World Bank will provide $250 million loan to construct disaster resilient houses and roads in disaster‐hit Uttarakhand.

48. World Bank will provide $500 million loan for water supply and sanitation projects in the rural areas of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.

49. World Bank will provide 50 million dollar assistance to Afghanistan to support the government's efforts to improve access to credit for micro, small and medium enterprises.

50. LIC has re‐launched its “Jeevan Anand” plan, a participating non‐linked plan which offers an attractive combination of protection and savings.