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The Banking Frontline 20 May 2026

Issue: 1222


·    RBI proposes stricter Basel Pillar 3 disclosure norms for banks on capital and risk exposure.

·    Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran says India is undergoing a “live balance of payments stress test.”

·    India and Italy likely to upgrade bilateral ties to a Special Strategic Partnership during PM Modi’s Rome visit.

·    ICRA projects India’s Q4 GDP growth to slow to a three-quarter low of 7%.

·    Insolvency creditors recover over Rs.4.11 lakh crore under IBC till December 2025.

·    Tata Steel UK secures exemption from certain US steel tariff provisions.

·    Private sector deals seen as key driver for stronger India-UAE economic partnership.


India’s FY27 GDP growth may slip to 6.2% as high oil prices, contracting exports hurt outlook: ICRA: India’s GDP is likely to grow at 6.2 percent in FY27, down from the earlier estimate of 6.5 percent amid elevated crude oil prices triggered by the West Asia crisis, according to rating agency ICRA. For FY26, ICRA estimates GDP growth at 7.5 percent, marginally lower than the National Statistical Office’s (NSO) Second Advance Estimate (SAE) of 7.6 percent for the fiscal. “ICRA now assumes crude oil prices to average at $95/bbl in FY27, against our prior estimate of $85/bbl, given the ongoing stickiness in prices amid the stalemate in West Asia. Consequently, we have pared our baseline forecast for the FY27 GDP growth (at constant 2022-23 prices) to 6.2 percent from the 6.5 percent expected earlier,” ICRA Chief Economist Aditi Nayar said.

(Financial Express)

India, Nordic nations agree to elevate ties to Green Tech and Innovation: India and the Nordic countries on Tuesday decided to elevate their relationship to a Green Technology and Innovation Strategic Partnership to bolster cooperation in areas such as clean and green transition, trade and investments and blue economy, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with his Nordic counterparts here. In a joint press statement after the 3rd India-Nordic Summit, Prime Minister Modi said that they will continue to work together to strengthen the rules-based global order. "Our shared commitment to democracy, rule of law, and multilateralism makes us natural partners," said Modi, who was joined by his counterparts from Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Sweden.

(Business Standard)


Standard Chartered to cut over 15% corporate function roles globally: Standard Chartered (StanChart) on Tuesday said it would cut around 15 per cent of its corporate function roles globally by 2030. In an internal email sent to employees titled “Our Next Phase of Growth,” the global bank said that the transformation is ongoing and the process of change will impact over 15 per cent of corporate functions by 2030. “Some roles will reduce, others will grow, and new ones will emerge.

(Business Line)

RBI cancels licence of Maharashtra-based The Yashwant Co-op Bank: The Reserve Bank on Tuesday said it has cancelled the licence of The Yashwant Co-operative Bank, Phaltan, Maharashtra, as the lender does not have adequate capital and earning prospects. The Commissioner for Cooperation and Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Maharashtra, has also been requested to issue an order for winding up the bank and appoint a liquidator for the bank, the RBI said in a statement. On liquidation, every depositor would be entitled to receiving deposit insurance claim amount of his/her deposits up to Rs 5 lakh from Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC).

(Economic Times)

Star Health and Allied Insurance rolls out 20% cheaper health cover for tier-2, tier-3 cities: Star Health and Allied Insurance is launching an affordable health insurance product for tier-2 and tier-3 cities, with premiums 20% lower than existing plans. This move aims to increase insurance penetration in smaller towns where affordability is a key barrier. The insurer is also developing a preferred hospital network called Pratham to enhance customer experience.

(Economic Times)

IRDAI may tighten CEO KPIs on claims, expenses and customer service: The IRDAI is developing a more detailed framework for performance-linked key performance indicators (KPIs) for insurance company executives. This initiative aims to enhance oversight on claims settlement, customer complaints, and expense management, pushing for sharper accountability standards and measurable parameters in senior management evaluations.

(Economic Times)

RBI proposes revised capital adequacy disclosure norms for banks: RBI released draft norms on commercial banks’ capital adequacy with the aim of reducing information asymmetry and promoting comparability of banks’ risk profiles. “Pillar 3 of the Basel Framework aims to promote market discipline through regulatory disclosure requirements,” RBI said while emphasising that these requirements enable market participants to access key information relating to a bank’s regulatory capital and risk exposures in order to increase transparency and confidence about a bank’s exposure to risk and the overall adequacy of its regulatory capital. The proposed norms said Pillar 3 should apply at the top consolidated level of the banking group to which the capital adequacy framework applies. If a bank is not the top consolidated entity in the banking group, Pillar 3 disclosures shall be required to be made by the bank on a standalone basis. This will apply to unlisted entities as well, even if they are not required to publish financial results. The norms said banks should have a formal disclosure policy for Pillar 3 data approved by the board of directors that sets out the internal controls and procedures for disclosure of such information.

(Business Standard)


FTAs must drive exports, not just imports: Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal: Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal urged Indian industry to ensure it leverages the new opportunities arising out of India’s free trade agreements to boost exports rather than allowing only imports to rise. “Unless Indian industries strengthen global engagements, invite investments, and promote exports, we can jolly well end up in a situation where more imports come in,” Goyal said on Tuesday. The comment comes ahead of the expected rollout of India’s free trade agreement with Oman on June 1. Trade deals with the United Kingdom, the European Union, and New Zealand are also likely to become operational later this year.

(Business Standard)

Overlaps in labour codes, state laws create compliance grey zone for firms: Overlaps between the Labour Codes and state-level Shops and Establishments Acts (S&E Acts) on key provisions such as working hours, overtime, leave and leave encashment are expected to create continued compliance uncertainty for companies, experts said. This arises from the parallel applicability of Central and state laws, with states continuing to frame rules on key aspects of employment. While the Labour Codes lay down a broad framework, variations across state laws have resulted in differing thresholds and conditions. This requires companies, especially those operating across multiple states, to navigate multiple standards simultaneously. The S&E Acts govern working conditions in commercial establishments such as offices, shops, and restaurants, covering areas like working hours, overtime, leave, and holidays. Since they are state-specific, there can be variations between jurisdictions.

(Business Standard)

India Inc's Q4FY26 profit margins scaled highest level in 5 years: The profit margin of companies in the fourth quarter of 2025-26 (Q4FY26) reached its highest level in at last 21 quarters on account of lower employee costs and a fall in interest payments. Savings from these more than offset the rise in the costs of raw materials owing to higher prices of commodities. As a result, the adjusted margin of profit after tax in the quarter reached 11.3 per cent, up 60 basis points year-on-year (Y-o-Y). The margin of net profit was also up 70 basis points on a quarter-on-quarter basis from 10.6 per cent in Q3FY26. With this, the net-profit margin was up nearly a third in the last five years from 8.6 per cent (of revenues) during the January-March quarter of 2021. In Q4FY26, the combined net profits (adjusted for exceptional gains and losses) of 837 companies in the Business Standard sample — the ones that have declared their results so far — were up 15.5 per cent as against 9.5 per cent Y-o-Y growth in their revenues (including other income). The data is as on May 15, and represents roughly over 70 per cent of listed companies’ financials.

(Business Standard)


India moves closer to higher Ethanol blends as BIS notifies E22-E30 fuel standards: The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has notified fuel specifications for higher ethanol blends, including E22, E25, E27 and E30 petrol, marking a significant step in India’s push towards deeper ethanol blending and alternative fuel adoption. According to a government notification dated May 15, 2026, BIS established standard IS 19850:2026 for “E22, E25, E27 and E30 Fuel, Admixture of Anhydrous Ethanol and Motor Gasoline for Usage in Positive Ignition Engine Powered Vehicles.” The move provides formal specifications for the use of higher ethanol-blended fuels in the country.

(Business Today)

IBBI sets out new appointment rules for insolvency professionals: To avoid delays in the appointment of insolvency professionals (IPs) during the bankruptcy process, the government has come out with a fresh set of guidelines that mandate Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) to define the eligibility criteria for the IPs besides preparing a panel of IPs that can be appointed as resolution professionals, liquidators or bankruptcy trustees. The norms said that IPs will have to submit expression of interest to include their names in the panel. Once the consent is submitted, the IPs will not be allowed to refuse an assignment unless otherwise permitted by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) or Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) or the IBBI.

(Financial Express)

FinMin, states in talks for simpler GST norms for qcom dark stores: The finance ministry is in discussions with state governments to ease the requirement for update of goods and services tax (GST) registrations to include each dark store and warehouse operated by ecommerce (ecom) and quick-commerce (qcom) companies, amid rapid expansion of such facilities across smaller cities. Under the GST law, any location where goods are stored or from where they are supplied, including warehouses and dark stores, qualifies as a “place of business”. These must be declared under appropriate state-wise GST identification number (GSTIN). A business needs only one GSTIN per state/Union territory (UT). Multiple dark stores or warehouses within the same state are added as “additional places of business” to the existing GSTIN via a simple amendment. However, the frequent addition or deletion of locations requires repeated amendments on the portal, which is cumbersome, especially for platform sellers who must update details individually.

(Business Standard)


ORDER-TO-TRADE RATIO (OTR)

§ The Order-to-Trade Ratio (OTR) measures the number of orders placed, including modifications and cancellations, relative to trades executed by a trading member.

§ A high OTR indicates excessive order placement with low execution or creating ‘noise’, often linked to algorithmic or high-frequency trading. Exchanges impose penalties on high OTR to curb market manipulation, reduce system congestion, and ensure fair trading.


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 : 96.3450

INR / 1 GBP : 129.2263

INR / 1 EUR : 112.1758

INR /100 JPY: 60.5800

EQUITY INDEX

Sensex: 75200.85 (-114.19)

NIFTY: 23618.00 (-31.95)

Bnk NIFTY: 53409.15 (-127.85)


Historical events: On May 20, 1498, Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama reached Kozhikode (Calicut) in Kerala, establishing the first direct sea route from Europe to India and initiating an era of European colonialism. In world history, this date also marks the 1873 patenting of blue jeans by Levi Strauss and the 1927 Treaty of Jeddah.

 

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