General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - June 2022

Jun 2022

Jul 28, 2022

Piramal Enterprises Receives Approval from RBI to Start NBFC Business

Piramal Enterprises received the approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to start non-banking finance company (NBFC) operations. The licence is for initiating an NBFC not accepting public deposits.
The approval from the RBI came after the company received clearance of the shareholders to demerge its pharmaceuticals business and simplify its corporate structure.

Roshni Nadar Remains Richest Indian Woman

HCL Technologies' chairperson Roshni Nadar Malhotra retained her position as the richest woman in India, with a 54 per cent jump in her networth to Rs. 84,330 crore in 2021.
Falguni Nayar, who quit her investment banking career to start the beauty focused brand Nykaa around a decade ago, emerged as the richest self-made woman with a networth of Rs. 57,520 crore, as per the Kotak Private Banking-Hurun list.
Nayar saw a 963 per cent increase in her wealth during the year and is also the second richest woman overall, trailing Malhotra, the daughter of HCL Technologies' founder Shiv Nadar.
Biocon's Kiran Mazumdar Shaw witnessed a 21 per cent decline in her fortune and moved down one rank to be the third richest woman in the country with a wealth of Rs. 29,030 crore.

CCI Clears Axis Bank-Citi Deal, One of India's Largest Financial Agreements

Competition Commission approved Axis Bank's proposed acquisition of Citi's consumer business in India, one of the largest deals in the country's financial services space.
Under the deal worth Rs. 12,325 crore, announced on March 30, Axis Bank would take over Citi's credit cards, personal loans and wealth management businesses that are focused on the affluent segment.
Deals beyond a certain threshold require approval of the Competition Commission of India (CCI), which keeps a tab on unfair business practices across sectors.
The parties involved in the deal are Axis Bank Ltd, Citibank, N.A. (acting through its India branch) and Citicorp Finance (India) Ltd.

Jul 27, 2022

Nokia Awards Wipro a Five-year Contract for Digital Transformation

Wipro Ltd., a company with its headquarters in Bengaluru, signed a five-year contract for digital transformation with Nokia of Finland. The new contract expands on a connection that was first formed more than 20 years ago. Wipro would provide business services in support of Nokia's updated operating model, putting a special emphasis on process optimization, touchless processing, and improved user and customer experience across order management, supply chain, finance, and accounting operations.

First All Women-run Cooperative Bank Coming up in Rajasthan

The first all women-run financial institution in the cooperative sector is coming up in Rajasthan following a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with the Telangana government's Stree Nidhi Credit Cooperative Federation. The new body would promote women's empowerment by supporting their enterprises.
The Rajasthan Mahila Nidhi would be set up on the lines of the Stree Nidhi of Telangana. The MoU was signed between Rajasthan Grameen Ajeevika Vikas Parishad's (Rajeevika) Mission Director Manju Rajpal and Stree Nidhi Managing Director G. Vidya Sagar Reddy in the presence of Rural Development Minister Ramesh Chand Meena.
Mahila Nidhi would strengthen the women's self help groups in the State by extending timely loan facility for their enterprises. The institution would be operated entirely by women and would act as a complementary body with the formal banking system.

Ashish Chauhan Quits as BSE Chief, to Join NSE as MD & CEO

Ashishkumar Chauhan resigned as Managing Director and CEO of BSE and was relieved of his roles and responsibilities at the exchange.
Chauhan would be joining rival National Stock Exchange (NSE) as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
He was part of the founding team of NSE but left it in 2000 for various roles at Reliance Industries group, before returning to the stock exchange arena as deputy CEO of BSE in 2009 and then as CEO in 2012.

Jul 26, 2022

City Union Bank, Aditya Birla Health Signs Bancassurance Pact

Private sector lender City Union Bank and health insurer Aditya Birla Health Insurance Co Ltd (ABHICL), the health insurance subsidiary of Aditya Birla Capital Ltd, announced a bancassurance partnership for the distribution of health insurance products of the latter through the former's network of branches across the country.
This is the third health insurance tie-up for CUB as it has entered into such bancassurance pacts with Star Health and Alliance Insurance as also Care Health (formerly known as Religare Health Insurance Co).

HDFC Securities Partners Equitas SFB to Offer Demat, Trading Services

Stock broking company HDFC Securities partnered with Equitas Small Finance Bank to provide its clients with a demat account and broking investment services.
With the new partnership, Equitas Small Finance Bank would offer its customers a "3-in-1″ account for accessing the services of HDFC Securities.
Also, all Equitas Small Finance Bank customers would be able to open their demat and trading accounts for buying and selling shares and trading in futures, options and even currencies.
HDFC Securities offers investment and direct trading services through buying and selling of equities, along with
currency derivatives, mutual funds, NCDs, fixed deposits, bonds, and more.

YES Bank Appoints R.S. Gandhi as Additional Independent Director

Private sector lender YES Bank announced the appointment of Rama Subramaniam Gandhi as an additional independent director of the bank for a period of five years.
Gandhi is a financial sector policy expert and adviser. Currently, he advises banks, finance companies, fintech entities, payment system entities, investors and funds on subjects ranging from financial regulations and Indian economy. He is an independent director on the boards of several financial sector entities.
Gandhi was a Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India for three years from 2014 to 2017. He had been a seasoned and accomplished central banker for 37 years. He had a three-year secondment to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the capital market regulator. He also held the charge of Director of the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT), Hyderabad.

Zimbabwe Debuts Gold Coins as Legal Tender to Stem Inflation

Zimbabwe launched gold coins to be sold to the public in a bid to tame runaway inflation that has further eroded the country's unstable currency.
The unprecedented move was announced by the country's central bank, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, to boost confidence in the local currency.
Trust in Zimbabwe's currency is low after people saw their savings wiped out by hyperinflation in 2008 which reached 5 billion, according to the IMF.
The first batch of the coins was minted outside the country but eventually they will be produced locally, according to the governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, John Mangudya.
The coins can be used for purchases in shops, depending on whether the shop has enough change.

Nakul Jain Joins As CEO of Paytm Payments Services

Paytm's parent One97 Communications appointed Nakul Jain as the CEO of Paytm Payments Services Ltd (PPSL). Praveen Sharma, who is now serving as the acting CEO of PPSL, has been promoted to oversee the organisation's commerce vertical in addition to his other duties.
Jain earlier served as managing director of private banking, priority banking, deposits and branch banking at Standard Chartered Bank. He holds over 22 years of experience in retail banking and has worked in sub-sectors such as branch banking, wealth management, product and segments, distribution, retail assets and acquisition.

Ex-L&T Infotech CEO Sanjay Jalona Joins ChrysCapital

Private equity investor ChrysCapital Funds,announced the appointment of former L&T Infotech CEO Sanjay Jalona as an Operating Partner for investments in the business services sector.
He would be based out of the US and will work with the advisory team led by Akshat Babbar, in sourcing, identifying, evaluating, managing and exiting investments made in this sector.
Jalona, who has over three decades of experience in the IT services industry, is well known in the tech industry for L&T Infotech's transformation into a technology consulting and digital solutions company. He guided the firm through its IPO and helped it cross the $2 billion revenue milestone.

Jul 25, 2022

NITI Aayog Releases Report Titled 'Digital Banks'

Government think tank NITI Aayog released its report on digital banks, offering a template and roadmap for licensing and regulatory regime for India. The report focuses on avoiding any regulatory or policy arbitrage and offers a level playing field to incumbents as well as competitors.
Given the need for leveraging technology effectively to cater to the needs of banking in India, this report studied the prevailing gaps, the niches that remain underserved, and the global regulatory best practices in licensing digital banks," said NITI Aayog CEO Parameswaran Iyer while releasing the report titled 'A proposal for Digital Banks in India: Licensing and Regulatory Regime'.
A digital bank would be a bank defined in the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, and shall have its own balance sheet and legal existence. Such a bank would be different from the 75 Digital Banking Units (DBUs), which was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Union Budget 2022-23.

RBI Imposes Rs. 57.75-lakh Penalty on Suryoday Small Finance Bank

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed a penalty of Rs. 57.75 lakh on Suryoday Small Finance Bank for non-compliance with norms related to fraud classification.
This action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers.

Canara Bank Launches New Mobile Banking App

Canara Bank launched its mobile banking super app, 'Canara ai1', which is a one-stop solution having over 250 features fulfilling all the banking needs of customers. The latest app eliminates the need of having multiple mobile apps working in silos for availing different specific services.
As per Canara Bank MD & CEO L. V. Prabhakar, the lender's core vision is e-transactions for everyone, everywhere and every time and the bank is leveraging technology to enable the customers to use banking services at their fingertips.
Canara ai1 has advanced features such an intuitive UI & UX having multiple themes and customisable menus/ dashboards which can be personalised as per the user's choice.
The app, which is available in 11 languages, provides solution to all banking and lifestyle needs such as compare and shop, utility bill payments, flight/ hotel/ cab booking, payments, loan repayment, and investment services like mutual fund, insurance and demat services, among other services.

RBI Approves Open, Cashfree Payments, PayNearby and Fairexpay for Cross-Border Payments

The Reserve Bank of India gave the go-ahead to Open, Cashfree Payments, PayNearby & Fairexpay, providers of payments and API banking solutions, for its cross-border payments offering. Cross-border payments are the focus of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) announcement about the Second Cohort's release from the Regulatory Sandbox. The reserve bank chose four of the eight entities that were a part of the Test Phase. These companies include the unicorn of neobanking, Open, as well as Cashfree Payments, PayNearby, and Fairexpay. These entities have all successfully passed the second cohort's Test Phase.
Open is a neobank that provides B2B services like payment solutions, APIs, and payment gateways that enable cross-border payments. Open is one of India's 22 fintech unicorns.
The solution from Cashfree Payments aims to give Indian fintech companies the ability to let Indian investors purchase shares, exchange-traded fund (ETF) units, and other assets listed on foreign markets using UPI/Net Banking.
For outbound remittance, Fairexpay offers an aggregation platform of international payment service providers.
PayNearby enables the existing Rupee Drawing Arrangement (RDA) method to route the inward cross-border payment to the beneficiary's Aadhaar number as a virtual bank account.

Jul 24, 2022

Akshaya Moondra is CEO of Vodafone Idea

Vodafone Idea's chief financial officer Akshaya Moondra was appointed as the CEO of the company.
Moondra takes over from Ravinder Takkar, whose three-year tenure as CEO ends on August 18.
Takkar will continue as non-executive and non-independent director on the board after his term as MD & CEO ends.
The change of guard came as the joint venture company continues to scout for investors.

RBI Renews Statement of Commitment to Global Code on Best Market Practices

The Reserve Bank of India renewed its statement of commitment to the FX Global Code, which is a compilation of best market practices formulated by central banks worldwide.
RBI continues to support the principles of good practices within the Code. RBI had also facilitated the formation of India Foreign Exchange Committee (IFXC) to promote adoption and adherence of the Code among FX market participants in India.
The FX Global Code has been developed under the auspices of the Bank for International Settlements, Basel.
The FX Global Code was initially launched in May 2017.

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