Issue: 1188
· RBI may introduce a 1-hour
delay for high-value UPI transfers (>Rs.10,000) and extra checks for senior
citizens to curb rising digital fraud.
· GIFT City sees massive
investment growth. Fund commitments surged to over $32 billion.
· Reserve Bank of India
introduces reforms to boost MSME credit and deepen money markets.
· AU Small Finance Bank reports
strong Q4 growth with ~25% rise in advances.
· Energy supply disruptions
impact LNG terminal utilisation in India.
US GDP growth falls from
4.4 % to 0.5 % in Q4 2025 amid tariff and war concerns: Amidst the global tensions and
US-Iran-Israel war, US economy grew at a slower pace than expected. According
to the latest data released on April 9th, real GDP increased at an annual rate
of 0.5% in the fourth quarter. This was lower than both the earlier estimate of
0.7% and the market expectation of 0.7%. The new figure shows that economic
growth lost momentum Income-based measures show a slightly better picture. Real
Gross Domestic Income (GDI) grew by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, higher than GDP
growth. This shows that earnings in the economy may still be relatively healthy
even as production slows. Corporate profits also increased strongly, rising by
$246.9 billion in the quarter.
(Financial Express)
Morgan Stanley sees 24%
upside in Sensex by December: Morgan Stanley India sees a
24% upside for the benchmark equity index Sensex at 95,000 points by the end of
the year, indicating a sharp recovery in the market. This would be supported by
stocks’ 12-month trailing performance, valuations, foreign investors’
positioning, and the resumption of earnings up cycle, it said in an equity
strategy report. Morgan Stanley’s bull-case target for the index is 107,000
points, which is a 40% rise from the current level.
(Financial Express)
West Asia oil shock
threatens India despite robust buffers: World Bank: Prolonged periods of elevated
oil prices can significantly impact the Indian economy, even though there were
ample buffers to cushion shocks due to prevailing geopolitical uncertainties,
World Bank economists said on Thursday. Speaking
at an event hosted by the National Council of Applied Economic Research
(NCAER), Aurelien Kruse, World Bank Lead Economist for India, highlighted how
the turmoil, marked by energy market disruptions and financial volatility, has
already dented growth momentum, entering the fiscal year from a position of
strength built on prior robust performance.
(Business Standard)
RBI pushes for same-day
credit in cross-border payments, issues new guidelines: RBI has directed banks to
ensure same-day credit of cross-border inward payments received during foreign
exchange market hours. The new guidelines aim to significantly reduce delays
and bring India’s payment systems in line with global standards. The
directive is part of RBI’s broader effort under its Payments Vision 2025 and
the G20 roadmap, which focus on making cross-border transactions faster,
cheaper, more transparent, and accessible. A key concern identified by the
central bank has been delays at the beneficiary bank level—particularly the lag
between receipt of funds and credit to customer accounts. To
address this, the RBI has laid down clear timelines. Banks must credit funds
received during forex market hours on the same business day, while payments received
after market hours should be credited on the next working day, subject to
compliance with FEMA regulations. In addition, banks are now
required to inform customers immediately upon receiving inward remittance
messages.
(Business Today)
RBI proposes one-hour delay
on high-value digital transfers to curb fraud: The Reserve Bank of India on
Thursday released a discussion paper proposing a series of measures to tackle
the sharp rise in digital payment fraud, including a mandatory time lag on certain
bank transfers, extra authentication for senior citizens making large
transactions, caps on suspicious accounts, and a one-click "kill
switch" for customers to instantly freeze all digital payments. Comments
on the paper are open until May 8, 2026. The Reserve Bank of India has
proposed a one?hour ?lag on
account-to-account transfers above 10,000 rupees through fast payment networks,
including ?the Unified Payments
Interface, to give customers time to cancel transactions.
(Economic Times)
A steep Rs 90,000 crore
price tag derailed IDBI stake sale: The bid for a strategic sale
of a 60.72% stake in IDBI Bank unravelled
because of a steep reserve price of Rs 90,000 crore, derailing a process
that began in March 2021, sources told FE. In strategic disinvestment, the
reserve price—set confidentially by an Inter-Ministerial Valuation Committee
(IMVC) based on independent assessments from the transaction adviser and
valuer—acts as the minimum acceptable bid. KPMG India served as the transaction
advisor for this deal. Many in the government were “surprised” by the “very
high” reserve price, which suggested an overestimation of the bank’s valuation,
sources said. IDBI Bank sale ended up as a missed opportunity to create a
template for future bank privatisations.
(Business Today)
Axis Bank to infuse Rs.389 crore in Axis Max Life to meet funding needs: Axis Bank, India’s third-largest private sector lender, will infuse Rs 389 crore in Axis Max Life Insurance to meet its funding requirements, and accordingly the board of Max Financial Services has decided to reduce its proposed fund raise to Rs 1,600 crore from the earlier stated Rs 2,000 crore for business expansion, according to an exchange filing.Earlier, the board of Max Financial Services had approved raising funds worth Rs 2,000 crore to support business growth and expansion plans, with the balance for general corporate purposes.
(Business Standard)
RBI allows NBFCs
access to term money market; volumes likely to rise: The Reserve Bank of India’s decision to
allow NBFCs into the term money market is expected to boost volumes, improve
price discovery, and strengthen the link between overnight and longer-term
rates, officials from shadow banks said. The move will diversify funding
sources and aid liquidity management beyond the volatile overnight segment.
However, given its unsecured nature, strict prudential limits and
counterparty-level safeguards will be key to managing risks, they said.
(Business Standard)
Axis Bank joins
interoperable netbanking platform Banking Connect: NPCI Bharat BillPay (NBBL) on Thursday
said that Axis Bank was live on the Banking Connect platform, joining other
major banks such as SBI, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank. It is also building features
such as Direct-to-Merchant Settlements, Third-Party Verification (TPV), and
mandate and lien capabilities, which will expand its utility for businesses
with more complex or high-volume payment requirements, it said. The
Banking Connect platform offers simplified onboarding, reduces time for
integration and allows payment aggregators to ‘activate merchants’ through
standardised application programming interfaces (APIs) and toolkits.
(Business Standard)
TCS Q4 net profit jumps 29%
QoQ to Rs 13,718 crore: The Tata Consultancy Services reported a robust set
of fiscal fourth quarter results, with strong sequential profit growth and
revenue beating Street expectations. TCS posted a Q4 FY26 consolidated net
profit of Rs 13,718 crore, a jump of nearly 29 percent from the previous
quarter, broadly in line with a CNBC TV18 poll estimate of Rs 13,727 crore.
Revenue from operations rose 5.4 percent quarter-on-quarter to Rs 70,698 crore,
ahead of the poll estimate of 3.4 percent growth. The company’s board has
proposed a final dividend of Rs 31 per share for FY26, subject to shareholder
approval at the annual general meeting. Total shareholder payout for the year
stood at Rs 39,571 crore in the form of dividends.
(Moneycontrol)
General insurance premium
grow 9% to Rs 3.36 lakh crore in FY26: India’s non-life insurance industry closed
FY26 with a 9% year-on-year increase in gross direct premium income at Rs.3.36
lakh crore, aided by strong traction in the health insurance segment following
the GST rate cut. In comparison, the non-life insurance industry had reported a
6% growth in gross premium to Rs.3.07 lakh crore in FY25. The combined gross
premium of general insurers rose 8% to Rs.2.79 lakh crore, according to
provisional data released by the General Insurance Council on Thursday. The
segment includes public sector and private general insurers, standalone health
insurers, and specialised public insurers.
(Financial Express)
India-US trade negotiations
to resume in Washington later this month: An Indian delegation will be travelling to
Washington later this month to further discussions on the interim trade pact
with the United States (US) in February. “Highly productive meeting with US
Trade Representative Ambassador (Jamieson) Greer to discuss advancing POTUS (President
of the US) trade priorities in South and Central Asia. The United States and
India have previously agreed to a trade deal, and we look forward to welcoming
an Indian delegation to Washington later this month,” US Ambassador to India
and Special Envoy to South and Central Asia, Sergio Gor said on X on Thursday.
(Business Standard)
Financial Intelligence
Unit-India and Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre sign landmark mou to
combat cyber fraud and financial crimes: In a significant step towards
strengthening India's fight against cyber-frauds and financial crimes, the
Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND) and the Indian Cyber Crime
Coordination Centre (I4C) signed a comprehensive MoU to enhance information
sharing and coordination. The MoU aims to enable both
agencies to establish robust feedback mechanisms for enhancing fraud detection
protocols at the national level, while also facilitating the development and
dissemination of guidelines and red flag indicators to financial institutions
to strengthen cyber fraud prevention efforts. This is a milestone in adopting a
“whole of Government” in approach toward the fight against cyber-crime.
(PiB)
Sanjay Khanna
appointed BPCL CMD; tenure till May 2029 approved: State-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation
Limited (BPCL) on Thursday said the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC)
has approved the appointment of Sanjay Khanna as chairman and managing director
(CMD). Khanna, currently director (refineries) and interim CMD, would retain
the new role till his superannuation on May 31, 2029, or until further orders.
(Business Standard)
Banks exit bulk
of India rupee arbitrage positions ahead of RBI deadline: Banks have exited the bulk of their
Indian rupee arbitrage trades to comply with central bank-imposed limits on onshore
positions aimed at reining in volatility and downward pressure on the currency,
three people familiar with the matter said. The Reserve Bank of India imposed
limits on banks on March 27, directing them to cap their net open positions in
the rupee in the onshore market at $100 million, requiring that they comply by
April 10.The measures were aimed specifically at curbing arbitrage trades
between the onshore market and the non-deliverable forward (NDF) market, per
bankers.
(Business Standard)
JUNIOR CAPITAL
POOL
§ A
junior capital pool (JCP) is a corporate capital structure that allows
early-stage startups to sell shares in the company before actually establishing
a line of business. This form of company financing is a Canadian invention and
is permitted only in Canada.
§ The
JPC is, essentially, a shell corporation with no assets other than cash, which
has not yet begun business operations. Their issues might be described as stock
options rather than stock shares, since their value remains to be determined at
a future date.
RBI KEY RATES
Repo
Rate: 5.25%
SDF:
5.00%
MSF
/Bank Rate: 5.50%
CRR:
3.00%
SLR:
18.00%
FOREX RATES (RBI REF. RATE)
INR
/ 1 USD : 92.7129
INR
/ 1 GBP : 124.1364
INR
/ 1 EUR : 108.0921
INR
/100 JPY: 58.3600
EQUITY INDEX
Sensex:
76631.65 (-931.25)
NIFTY:
23775.10 (-222.25)
Bnk NIFTY: 54821.70 (-882.20)
World Homeopathy
Day: April 10 is
primarily celebrated as World Homeopathy Day to commemorate the birth
anniversary of Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of the system. It is also
widely recognized as National Siblings Day to honor relationships with brothers
and sisters, and in some regions, it is observed as Siblings Day.
Historical
events: April 10 holds
significant historical milestones, featuring the 1875 establishment of Arya
Samaj in India, the 1982 launch of INSAT-1A, and the 1917 start of the
Champaran Satyagraha. Globally, it marks World Homeopathy Day, the 1866
founding of the ASPCA, and the 1998 Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland.
****Have a nice Day****
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