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The Hindu Aug 28, 2019 China plans to issue its own crytocurrency as early as November 11, the country’s busiest shopping day for online sales, US financial magazine Forbes said, citing two sources familiar with the matter. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has been exploring the possibility of launching its own digital currency since 2014 to cut the costs of circulating traditional paper money and boost policymakers’ control of money supply. Some analysts say China appears to have accelerated the push to digital money after US social media giant Facebook announced plans in June to launch digital coin Libra within a year, a move that has shocked global policymakers and raised regulatory concerns. The PBOC plans to distribute its cryptocurrency through at least seven institutions in the initial stage, including Chinese tech giants Alibaba and Tencent, China’s largest payments card issuer China UnionPay, and four Chinese state-owned banks, the report said, citing a source i...

The Hindu Aug 29, 2019 Will facilitate better understanding of intra/inter-group deals, exposures The   Reserve Bank of India , on Thursday, said it will make concerted efforts in 2019-20 to further strengthen each of the four supervisory pillars – onsite supervision, offsite surveillance, market intelligence, and submission of annual reports by statutory auditors – of non-banking finance companies (NBFCs). This move comes in the backdrop of debt defaults by large   NBFCs   such as IL&FS and DHFL, and its ripple impact on banks. In its latest annual report, the RBI said inspection of all regulated entities (banks/NBFCs) will be conducted together to facilitate better understanding of intra/inter-group transactions and exposures, and to obtain a holistic view of an NBFC which has other NBFCs/banks in the same group. The concept of Senior Supervisory Manager, as the central point of contact for a single large NBFC/group of NBFCs, will be implemented f...

The Hindu Radhika Marwin Published on  August 29, 2019 The Bimal Jalan Committee recommended surplus transfer of a whopping  ₹ 1.76-lakh crore by the RBI to the government. Of this,  ₹ 1.23-lakh crore was the net income that the central bank earned in fiscal 2018-19, which was more than double the amount it earned in the previous fiscal. What puzzled most economists was how the central bank managed to earn such a large income? The RBI’s annual report reveals that a sharp boost in other income, on account of change in computation of exchange gain/loss, has been a key reason for the bump-up in income. The one-time impact has added  ₹ 21,464 crore to the other income in fiscal 2018-19. Excluding this, too, the RBI’s core income has gone up by 44 per cent, thanks to the interest earned on repo operations and increase in coupon income due to increase in portfolio of rupee securities. The write-back of about  ₹ 52,600-crore excess provisions from th...

By:  Rishi Ranjan Kala  |  Updated: August 30, 2019 7:24:02 AM Sources said WhatsApp has agreed to the data localisation norms set by the RBI for payments-related data, and at present, an audit is being conducted for that. When contacted, a WhatsApp spokesperson did not offer any comments. WhatsApp  is in the final stages of regulatory clearances for the commercial launch of its much-awaited payments service with the instant messaging platform having approached the Reserve Bank of India ( RBI ) for approval, sources in the know of development said. The company had initiated the process for the launch of its BHIM UPI-compliant payment service over three years ago. Sources said WhatsApp has agreed to the data localisation norms set by the RBI for payments-related data, and at present, an audit is being conducted for that. When contacted, a WhatsApp spokesperson did not offer any comments. The Facebook-owned company is already running a pilot for the ser...

Rather than blaming auditors for lapses, it may be worth shifting focus to improving regulation and conduct in the field An auditor is a watchdog, not a bloodhound. This time-tested statement, which was perceived as the gospel truth for several decades, is now being put to its toughest test by regulators, the media and the society at large. Recent alleged audit lapses have led to a hue and cry, and seem to have launched a virtual surgical strike on one of the most trusted professions in this country. This raises a million-dollar question — Is this an overreaction of sorts or has discontent been brewing over time, now resulting in an explosion? Lawyers, teachers, doctors and auditors have been the backbone of our society from time immemorial. The fabric of the family system and its businesses was stitched effectively by some outstanding lawyers, exemplary teachers, workaholic doctors and meticulous auditors. All problems of a family were solved by the sagacious advice of these...

Mumbai: Fears of a bad loan spike in the banking sector have returned with a likely surge in defaults in NBFCsand lower-rated companies, amid tight credit conditions. Debt of Rs 2.4 lakh crore is currently being put through the central bank’s June 7 framework to resolve stressed assets but what is worrying analysts is that at least 70 per cent of this is chronically stressed and could lead to another wave of bad loans. Bank NPAs declined from 11.7 per cent in March 2018 to 9.6 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal year. But a Credit Suisse analysis sees stressed loans again exceeding 12 per cent as 2.8 per cent of bank loans are likely to see fresh wave of intercreditor agreements (ICA) being signed. “ICAs reflect (a) second wave of stress. It is the only restructuring framework available to banks. Debt of Rs 2.4 lakh crore across 16 stressed corporates is being put through this, partly as IBC (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code) outcomes have also slowed,” said Ashish Gu...

 The RBI earning a robust net income and write back of excess provisions in the contingency fund have led to the massive pay out. This may not recur BL Research Bureau The Bimal Jalan Committee-recommended surplus transfer by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has offered a much-needed respite to the Centre, in the current fiscal. Excluding the Rs 28,000 crore interim dividend already paid by the RBI to the Centre last fiscal, the Rs 1,48,051 crore of transfer in the current financial year, could make up for the shortfall in tax collections to a great extent. True, the market had already pencilled in some windfall gains by way of RBI’s higher than the usual dividend, but what has come as a surprise is the one-time bonanza, rather than a staggered pay out as was broadly expected. While the Centre dipping into the RBI’s coffers, to meet its fiscal deficit, has not gone down well with many economists and market players, what offers some comfort is the fact that the commit...

ANJU GUPTA Updated: 28 August, 2019  As conflict enters its ninth year in Syria, let us take look at how a failed Arab Spring, geopolitics and competing jihad have made Syria a base for global violence. And even though the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham –ISIS – control over the country has shrunk, Syria hasn’t seen the end of terrorism yet. The Syrian Spring, which started in March 2011, led to the balkanisation of Syria – making it a jihadi cauldron. It is now a theatre for radicalisation and actual training of fighters – under anyone from al-Qaeda (AQ) to ISIS networks – who can carry out attacks anywhere in the world, without it being traced back to Syria. Apart from the Bashar al-Assad regime, other states, extremists and violent jihadis exercise control over different parts of Syria and are fighting for greater influence. While the current military campaign of the Assad regime in the northern province of Idlib and the threat of imminent military campaign of ...

By Team PGurus - August 28, 2019  Another day, another scam involving the UPA government - The Tatra Truck scam Another day, another scam involving the UPA government - The Tatra Truck scam PGurus have accessed a lot of materials from our well-wishers based in London about the big frauds in the Defence deals in India linked to Tatra Trucks scamsters and the late Ravi Rishi who passed away in mid-2016. It is shocking to know that his companies, now controlled by his family members are still engaged in many deals with India’s Defence Ministry, with the help of politicians cutting across political lines and uncouth bureaucrats. Today onwards we are running a series titled as – Shoddy Defence Deals – to expose the London based operators looting India’s public exchequer. Shoddy Defence Deals – Part 1 Tatra Trucks scam hit the headlines in 2012 after the then Army Chief General V K Singh revealed that one Lt. Gen Tejinder Singh offered a bribe to him for approving the pur...

ABHEEK BARMAN Between 1997 and 2003, Bimal Jalan’s signature appeared on every currency note issued by India — because Jalan was the boss of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), housed in Bombay’s Mint Street. Born in Rajasthan, but a native of Calcutta, where he graduated in economics from Presidency College, Jalan was – and continues to be – among India’s consummate economic policy insiders. Policy czar in Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi’s governments from 1981 to 1988, the Central Bank governor during the post-Rao interregnum and Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s regime, and nearing 80 today, Jalan is the go-to man for any government in search of instant economic wisdom. It was inevitable that the Narendra Modi administration, hollowed out by economic follies, would have to run to Jalan for a ‘Band-Aid’ to patch a gunshot wound in its relations with the RBI. The shot was fired by the recently-deceased Arun Jaitley, in the second half of 2018, when he was finance minister. Jaitley, scrou...