Month: May 2021

Global banks move some India operations overseas, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Banking & Finance

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Global banks are feeling the coronavirus heat in India.

With several employees or their kin down with Covid, Wall Street banks with centres in top metros including Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune and Gurgaon, are moving some work to overseas locations.

About 200 employees at HSBC’s tech centre in Bengaluru are affected due to Covid, and its centres in China and Krakow have picked up work from Bengaluru.

Deutsche Bank, with 4,000 employees in Bengaluru and Pune, said it does not expect the pandemic to disrupt its operations as it has all the contingency plans in place.

Standard Chartered said last week that about 800 of its 20,000 staffers in India were infected. As many as 25% of employees in some teams at UBS are absent.

Wells Fargo

At Wells Fargo & Co’s offices in Bangalore and Hyderabad, work on co-branded cards, balance transfers and reward programs is running behind schedule. Some work is getting transferred to the Philippines, where staff is working overnight shifts to pick up the slack. The San Francisco-based bank employs about 35,000 workers in India to help process car, home and personal loans, make collections, and assist customers who need to open, update or close their bank accounts.

Wall Street giant Morgan Stanley, which has 6,000 employees in Mumbai and Bengaluru, said a small percentage of its staff

have been impacted due to the pandemic, though it is operating in a business-as-usual mode.

Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs’s Bengaluru centre which has over 6,000 employees across all the businesses, had close to a 48-hour impact as some of its employees were affected by Covid.

But the work was picked up by Salt Lake City in Utah that makes up the second-largest presence in North America. Work from India moved to London too in those 48 hours.

At UBS, with many of the bank’s 8,000 staff in Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad absent, work is being shipped to centres such as Poland. The Swiss bank’s workers in India handle trade settlement, transaction reporting, investment banking support and wealth management. Many of the tasks require same-day or next-day turnarounds.

Barclays Plc is shifting some functions were shifted to the UK from India.

Citigroup Inc said there’s currently no significant disruption, while Deutsche Bank AG said employees were working seamlessly from home.

Dire predictions

Nasscom, the key lobby group for India’s $194 billion outsourcing industry and its almost 5 million employees, has downplayed the threat to operations.

Experts have warned the crisis has the potential to worsen in the coming weeks, with one model predicting as many as 1,018,879 deaths by the end of July, quadrupling from the current official count of 230,168. A model prepared by government advisers suggests the wave could peak in the coming days, but the group’s projections have been changing and were wrong last month.



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Reserve Bank of India – Press Releases

Press Releases

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(Amount in ₹ crore, Rate in Per cent)
  Volume
(One Leg)		 Weighted
Average Rate 		Range
A. Overnight Segment (I+II+III+IV) 0.00 – –
     I. Call Money 0.00 – –
     II. Triparty Repo 0.00 – –
     III. Market Repo 0.00 – –
     IV. Repo in Corporate Bond 0.00 – –
B. Term Segment      
     I. Notice Money** 0.00 – –
     II. Term Money@@ 0.00 – –
     III. Triparty Repo 0.00 – –
     IV. Market Repo 0.00 – –
     V. Repo in Corporate Bond 0.00 – –
  Auction Date Tenor (Days) Maturity Date Amount Current Rate /
Cut off Rate
C. Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) & Marginal Standing Facility (MSF)
I. Today’s Operations
1. Fixed Rate          
     (i) Repo          
     (ii) Reverse Repo Thu, 13/05/2021 1 Fri, 14/05/2021 70,320.00 3.35
2. Variable Rate&          
  (I) Main Operation          
     (a) Reverse Repo          
  (II) Fine Tuning Operations          
     (a) Repo          
     (b) Reverse Repo – – – – –
3. MSF Thu, 13/05/2021 1 Fri, 14/05/2021 9,544.00 4.25
4. Long-Term Repo Operations –   –   –
5. Targeted Long Term Repo Operations – – – – –
6. Targeted Long Term Repo Operations 2.0 – – – – –
7. Net liquidity injected from today’s operations
[injection (+)/absorption (-)]*		       -60,776.00  
II. Outstanding Operations
1. Fixed Rate          
     (i) Repo          
     (ii) Reverse Repo Wed, 12/05/2021 2 Fri, 14/05/2021 3,39,428.00 3.35
2. Variable Rate&          
  (I) Main Operation          
     (a) Reverse Repo Fri, 07/05/2021 14 Fri, 21/05/2021 2,00,020.00 3.46
  (II) Fine Tuning Operations          
     (a) Repo          
     (b) Reverse Repo          
3. MSF Wed, 12/05/2021 2 Fri, 14/05/2021 58.00 4.25
4. Long-Term Repo Operations# Mon, 17/02/2020 1095 Thu, 16/02/2023 499.00 5.15
  Mon, 02/03/2020 1094 Wed, 01/03/2023 253.00 5.15
  Mon, 09/03/2020 1093 Tue, 07/03/2023 484.00 5.15
  Wed, 18/03/2020 1094 Fri, 17/03/2023 294.00 5.15
5. Targeted Long Term Repo Operations^ Fri, 27/03/2020 1092 Fri, 24/03/2023 12,236.00 4.40
  Fri, 03/04/2020 1095 Mon, 03/04/2023 16,925.00 4.40
  Thu, 09/04/2020 1093 Fri, 07/04/2023 18,042.00 4.40
  Fri, 17/04/2020 1091 Thu, 13/04/2023 20,399.00 4.40
6. Targeted Long Term Repo Operations 2.0^ Thu, 23/04/2020 1093 Fri, 21/04/2023 7,950.00 4.40
7. On Tap Targeted Long Term Repo Operations€ Mon, 22/03/2021 1095 Thu, 21/03/2024 5,000.00 4.00
D. Standing Liquidity Facility (SLF) Availed from RBI$       5,573.71  
E. Net liquidity injected from outstanding operations [injection (+)/absorption (-)]*     -4,51,734.29  
F. Net liquidity injected (outstanding including today’s operations) [injection (+)/absorption (-)]*     -5,12,510.29  
G. Cash Reserves Position of Scheduled Commercial Banks
     (i) Cash balances with RBI as on 13/05/2021 5,14,012.95  
     (ii) Average daily cash reserve requirement for the fortnight ending 21/05/2021 5,34,650.00  
H. Government of India Surplus Cash Balance Reckoned for Auction as on¥ 12/05/2021 0.00  
I. Net durable liquidity [surplus (+)/deficit (-)] as on 23/04/2021 7,26,433.00  
@ Based on Reserve Bank of India (RBI) / Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL).
– Not Applicable / No Transaction.
** Relates to uncollateralized transactions of 2 to 14 days tenor.
@@ Relates to uncollateralized transactions of 15 days to one year tenor.
$ Includes refinance facilities extended by RBI.
& As per the Press Release No. 2019-2020/1900 dated February 06, 2020.
* Net liquidity is calculated as Repo+MSF+SLF-Reverse Repo.
# As per the Press Release No. 2020-2021/287 dated September 04, 2020.
^ As per the Press Release No. 2020-2021/605 dated November 06, 2020.
€ As per the Press Release No. 2020-2021/520 dated October 21, 2020, Press Release No. 2020-2021/763 dated December 11, 2020 and Press Release No. 2020-2021/1057 dated February 05, 2021.
¥ As per the Press Release No. 2014-2015/1971 dated March 19, 2015.
Ajit Prasad
Director   
Press Release: 2021-2022/207

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With Interest Of 8.5% Employees Should Consider This Scheme

Personal Finance

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Why employees should subscribe to the VPF?

To begin with because of the interest rates and the tax benefits. The VPF comes under the (EEE – exempt on contribution, exempt from the principal and exempt on interest category).

So, the contribution qualifies for tax exemption under Sec80C of the Income Tax Act. If you work and contribute for a period of 5-years, the interest earned is also tax free.

Now, for the best part. If you were to invest the surplus from your salary in bank deposits, you would get an interest rate of of at best 5.5%. The The Central Board of Trustees of Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation recently recommended 8.50% rate of interest to EPF subscribers for the financial year 2020-21.

Now, we are not saying that the rate of interest for the future would be the same, but, we do believe that it could hover around the same rates, with a good 2% to 3% higher than bank deposits. And, remember bank deposit interest rates are not tax free in the hands of investors.

How VPF compares with others

How VPF compares with others

1-2 years 2-3 years
EPF Interest for 2020-21 8.5% NA
State Bank of India 4.9% 5.2%
HDFC Bank 4.9% 5.15%
ICICI Bank 4.90 5.15%
Post Office Time Deposits 5.5% 5.5%

Funds can be used in an emergency

You can avail the Voluntary Provident Fund money as loans and partial withdrawals are also permitted by the EPF authority. However, it is advised not to withdraw the amounts before a period of 5-years as there would be income tax payable on the maturity amount.

If you retire or choose to opt out, the amount along with interest is paid. In case of untimely death of the account holder, the nominee can get the accumulated fund in the VPF account.

The amount can be withdrawn for many reasons which include:

The amount can be withdrawn for many reasons which include:

  • Payments of medical bills for the individual and his kin
  • Cost-intensive events like higher education and marriage
  • Payments for house construction or purchase of new land or a house.

No hassles when you change jobs

No hassles when you change jobs

These days there are no hassles when you change a job as it is all linked to the Universal Account Number which does not change and also to the Aadhaar Card. So, even if you switch jobs it does not impact your VPF. We strongly recommend this instrument for employees who are part of the EPF as interest rates in the economy have now dipped to alarmingly low levels and the Voluntary Provident Fund offers a pretty decent interest rate.



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Reserve Bank of India – Press Releases

Press Releases

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April 14, 2015





Dear All




Welcome to the refurbished site of the Reserve Bank of India.





The two most important features of the site are: One, in addition to the default site, the refurbished site also has all the information bifurcated functionwise; two, a much improved search – well, at least we think so but you be the judge.





With this makeover, we also take a small step into social media. We will now use Twitter (albeit one way) to send out alerts on the announcements we make and YouTube to place in public domain our press conferences, interviews of our top management, events, such as, town halls and of course, some films aimed at consumer literacy.




The site can be accessed through most browsers and devices; it also meets accessibility standards.



Please save the url of the refurbished site in your favourites as we will give up the existing site shortly and register or re-register yourselves for receiving RSS feeds for uninterrupted alerts from the Reserve Bank.



Do feel free to give us your feedback by clicking on the feedback button on the right hand corner of the refurbished site.



Thank you for your continued support.




Department of Communication

Reserve Bank of India


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Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme 2021-22 Series I-VI: Check All Series Dates and Other Complete Details

Personal Finance

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Planning

oi-Sneha Kulkarni

|

When there is economic volatility, geopolitical uncertainty, or depreciation in the value of fiat currencies, gold tends to outperform other asset classes. Sovereign gold bonds have provided an alternative for investors, particularly millennials, who want to invest in gold but don’t want to deal with the hassle of buying physical gold.

In consultation with the Reserve Bank of India, the Government of India has decided to issue Sovereign Gold Bonds. The Sovereign Gold Bonds will be issued in six tranches between May and September 2021.

The first tranche of the Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme 2021-22 will be available for subscription on May 17, according to a statement released by the Finance Ministry on Wednesday.

The bond will be sold directly or through agents through commercial banks, the Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited (SHCIL), designated post offices, the National Stock Exchange (NSE), and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme 2021-22 Series I-VI: Check All Series Dates

Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme 2021-22 Series I-VI Dates

Tranche Date of Subscription Date of Issuance
2021-22 Series I May 17-21, 2021 May 25, 2021
2021-22 Series II May 24-28, 2021 June 01, 2021
2021-22 Series III May 31-June 04, 2021 May 31-June 04, 2021
2021-22 Series IV July 12-16, 2021 July 20, 2021
2021-22 Series V August 09-13, 2021 August 17, 2021
2021-22 Series VI August 30-September 03, 2021 September 07, 2021

Sovereign Gold Bond 2021-22

Sovereign Gold Bond can be purchased by Residents, HUFs, Trusts, Universities, and Charitable Institutions.

Sovereign Gold Bond Tenure

The bond will have an eight-year tenor, with an option to exit after the fifth year on the next interest payment dates. If held in Demat form, the bond will be tradable on exchanges. It can also be transferred to another investor who meets the criteria.

Sovereign Gold Bond minimum and maximum limit

The minimum investment in the Bond is one gram, with a maximum subscription limit of four kilograms for individuals.

Sovereign Gold Bond interest rates

On the amount of the initial investment, the Bonds pay 2.50 percent (fixed rate) per year in interest. Interest will be credited semi-annually to the investor’s bank account, with the final interest due along with the principal at maturity.

Benefits of Sovereign Gold Bond

When you buy gold jewellery, you have to be concerned about its security. It’s possible that you’ll have to pay for storage in a bank locker. The risks and costs of storage are eliminated with this type of bond.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issues these bonds on behalf of the government. This also means that the scheme has the support of the federal government. As a result, these bonds are more secure than buying gold.

You pay charges that cannot be refunded upon re-sale when you purchase gold jewelleries. However, with SGB you don’t have to worry about charging or making gold.

If you invest in a sovereign gold bonus, the government in India has exempt capital gains tax on the acquisition of gold. However, the interest earned is taxable. You can use indexing to lower the capital gain tax burden by trying to transfer (leave) the bond before maturity.

Upon maturity, you will be paid out and given cash to the sovereign gold bonds. The redeemable price is based on the average gold closing price of 999 purity published by RBI, the Indian Bullion and Jewelers Association Limited, for the preceding three business days from the day of payment.

GoodReturns.in



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Reserve Bank of India – Press Releases

Press Releases

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(Amount in ₹ crore, Rate in Per cent)
  Volume
(One Leg)		 Weighted
Average Rate 		Range
A. Overnight Segment (I+II+III+IV) 3,85,459.73 3.27 0.01-5.30
     I. Call Money 6,847.59 3.31 1.90-3.50
     II. Triparty Repo 2,67,073.00 3.26 3.00-3.40
     III. Market Repo 1,10,520.14 3.30 0.01-3.45
     IV. Repo in Corporate Bond 1,019.00 3.61 3.42-5.30
B. Term Segment      
     I. Notice Money** 4,667.45 3.09 2.40-3.40
     II. Term Money@@ 281.00 – 3.15-3.40
     III. Triparty Repo 867.90 3.26 3.25-3.26
     IV. Market Repo 1,074.63 3.38 3.35-3.38
     V. Repo in Corporate Bond 3,599.00 3.54 3.52-3.58
  Auction Date Tenor (Days) Maturity Date Amount Current Rate /
Cut off Rate
C. Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) & Marginal Standing Facility (MSF)
I. Today’s Operations
1. Fixed Rate          
     (i) Repo          
     (ii) Reverse Repo Wed, 12/05/2021 2 Fri, 14/05/2021 3,39,428.00 3.35
2. Variable Rate&          
  (I) Main Operation          
     (a) Reverse Repo          
  (II) Fine Tuning Operations          
     (a) Repo          
     (b) Reverse Repo – – – – –
3. MSF Wed, 12/05/2021 2 Fri, 14/05/2021 58.00 4.25
4. Long-Term Repo Operations –   –   –
5. Targeted Long Term Repo Operations – – – – –
6. Targeted Long Term Repo Operations 2.0 – – – – –
7. Net liquidity injected from today’s operations
[injection (+)/absorption (-)]*		       -3,39,370.00  
II. Outstanding Operations
1. Fixed Rate          
     (i) Repo          
     (ii) Reverse Repo          
2. Variable Rate&          
  (I) Main Operation          
     (a) Reverse Repo Fri, 07/05/2021 14 Fri, 21/05/2021 2,00,020.00 3.46
  (II) Fine Tuning Operations          
     (a) Repo          
     (b) Reverse Repo          
3. MSF          
4. Long-Term Repo Operations# Mon, 17/02/2020 1095 Thu, 16/02/2023 499.00 5.15
  Mon, 02/03/2020 1094 Wed, 01/03/2023 253.00 5.15
  Mon, 09/03/2020 1093 Tue, 07/03/2023 484.00 5.15
  Wed, 18/03/2020 1094 Fri, 17/03/2023 294.00 5.15
5. Targeted Long Term Repo Operations^ Fri, 27/03/2020 1092 Fri, 24/03/2023 12,236.00 4.40
  Fri, 03/04/2020 1095 Mon, 03/04/2023 16,925.00 4.40
  Thu, 09/04/2020 1093 Fri, 07/04/2023 18,042.00 4.40
  Fri, 17/04/2020 1091 Thu, 13/04/2023 20,399.00 4.40
6. Targeted Long Term Repo Operations 2.0^ Thu, 23/04/2020 1093 Fri, 21/04/2023 7,950.00 4.40
7. On Tap Targeted Long Term Repo Operations€ Mon, 22/03/2021 1095 Thu, 21/03/2024 5,000.00 4.00
D. Standing Liquidity Facility (SLF) Availed from RBI$       5,573.71  
E. Net liquidity injected from outstanding operations [injection (+)/absorption (-)]*     -1,12,364.29  
F. Net liquidity injected (outstanding including today’s operations) [injection (+)/absorption (-)]*     -4,51,734.29  
G. Cash Reserves Position of Scheduled Commercial Banks
     (i) Cash balances with RBI as on 12/05/2021 5,70,571.48  
     (ii) Average daily cash reserve requirement for the fortnight ending 21/05/2021 5,34,650.00  
H. Government of India Surplus Cash Balance Reckoned for Auction as on¥ 12/05/2021 0.00  
I. Net durable liquidity [surplus (+)/deficit (-)] as on 23/04/2021 7,26,433.00  
@ Based on Reserve Bank of India (RBI) / Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL).
– Not Applicable / No Transaction.
** Relates to uncollateralized transactions of 2 to 14 days tenor.
@@ Relates to uncollateralized transactions of 15 days to one year tenor.
$ Includes refinance facilities extended by RBI.
& As per the Press Release No. 2019-2020/1900 dated February 06, 2020.
* Net liquidity is calculated as Repo+MSF+SLF-Reverse Repo.
# As per the Press Release No. 2020-2021/287 dated September 04, 2020.
^ As per the Press Release No. 2020-2021/605 dated November 06, 2020.
€ As per the Press Release No. 2020-2021/520 dated October 21, 2020, Press Release No. 2020-2021/763 dated December 11, 2020 and Press Release No. 2020-2021/1057 dated February 05, 2021.
¥ As per the Press Release No. 2014-2015/1971 dated March 19, 2015.
Ajit Prasad
Director   
Press Release: 2021-2022/205

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5 Best Large Cap Equity Dividend Paying Mutual Funds 2021 With High 1- Year Return

Personal Finance

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Who Should Consider Investing Dividend Mutual Funds?

Investing in dividend mutual funds can help diversify an investor’s portfolio. This fund serves as a general investment vehicle for investors. Investors in dividend-paying mutual funds receive annualised payouts. Because these payments are usually made on a regular basis, an investor can feel reliable and comfortable investing in these funds. The scheme’s revenues from the previous year will be used to pay these dividends. Dividend yield is calculated by multiplying the total dividends paid over the term by the stock’s current NAV (Net Asset Value). After that, the result is annualised. The profits from mutual fund schemes are used to pay dividends. As a result, whenever a scheme declares a dividend, its NAV decreases proportionately. Investors who are retired are looking for a steady stream of income from their investments. They should invest in a monthly dividend mutual fund.

Best Large Cap Equity Dividend Paying Mutual Funds 2021

Best Large Cap Equity Dividend Paying Mutual Funds 2021

Best Large Cap Equity Dividend Paying Mutual Funds 2021

NAV One-Year Return
Nippon India Large Cap Fund Rs 17.45 64.2%
SBI Bluechip Fund Rs 29.34 61.3%
Aditya Birla Sun Life Frontline Equity Fund Rs 29.34 60.3%
ICICI Prudential Bluechip Fund Rs 22.7 57.5%
Essel Large Cap Equity Fund Rs 18.09 54.9%

Nippon India Large Cap Fund

Nippon India Large Cap Fund

The NAV under the dividend plan is Rs 14.45. Nippon India Large Cap Fund has generated a return of almost 10.82 per cent since its launch. The minimum initial investment required is Rs 100. The expense ratio for the fund is 1.80%. The fund size is Rs 10,069. The one-year return of the fund is higher in the category. The fund has given a return of 64.2% in one year. This means, if you have invested Rs 5000 per month, now the returns would have been Rs 76,074. If invested a lump sum of Rs 5000, the amount would have been Rs 8,209. The five-year returns of the fund are 12.4%

Returns are calculated on an absolute basis for periods up to one year and on a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for periods longer than one year. The calculation is as of May 12th, 21.

SBI Bluechip Fund

SBI Bluechip Fund

With a small investment of Rs 500, you can start investing in the SBI Bluechip Fund. The initial investment is Rs 5,000. The fund has a low expense ratio of 0.99%. The size of the fund is Rs 26,838 crore and fund one year return is higher than the category average returns. The top holdings of the fund are HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Infosys, and HCL Technologies. The NAV of the fund is Rs 29.34 as of May 12, 2021. If a lump sum of Rs 5000 had been invested before one year, the amount would have grown to Rs 8,125.

Aditya Birla Sun Life Frontline Equity Fund

Aditya Birla Sun Life Frontline Equity Fund

The one-year return on the fund 60.3%. The fund is invested in Indian stocks to the tune of 96.95 percent, with 76.73 percent in large-cap stocks, 8.8 percent in mid-cap stocks, and 1.65 percent in small-cap stocks. The top holdings of the fund are ICICI Bank, Infosys, HDFC Bank, and Reliance industries. The expense ratio of the fund is 1.72% and size of the fund is Rs 19,499. The scheme’s goal is long-term capital growth through a portfolio that aims to be as diversified across various industries and/or sectors as its chosen benchmark index, the Nifty 50, with a target allocation of 100 percent equity. The secondary goal is to generate income and distribute dividends.

ICICI Prudential Bluechip Fund

ICICI Prudential Bluechip Fund

To provide long-term capital appreciation and income distribution to investors through a portfolio that is primarily comprised of large-cap equity and equity-related securities. If the fund is sold before the 365-day period, IDCW charges 1.0 percent of the sell value. There are no additional fees. The funds one year return is 57.54%. The funds annualised 3 year return is 8.86%. If a person has started a SIP of Rs 1000 last year, the returns would have been Rs 14,590 with absolute returns of 21.58%.

Essel Large Cap Equity Fund

Essel Large Cap Equity Fund

The NAV under the dividend plan is Rs 18.09. Essel Large Cap Equity Fund has generated a return of almost 54.4 in one year. The expense ratio for the fund is 2.55%. The fund size is Rs 95.55 Crore. The top portfolio of the fund consists of Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Infosys, and HDFC Bank. The Crisil has ranked number “Three” for the fund.

Disclaimer This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to buy, sell in securities or other financial instruments. Greynium Information Technologies Pvt Ltd, its subsidiaries, associates and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/or damages arising based on information in this article.



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Roaring crypto cacophony drowns out rest of Wall Street, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Personal Finance

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By Brandon Kochkodin

Wild stock swings, spikes in Treasury yields, startling economic readings? Interesting, sure. But if you really want to get people’s attention right now, you need to tell them a story about crypto.

And there have been a lot of those. Even for a market that’s famous for its wild volatility and gimmicks, the past week’s cryptocurrency news set new records for jaw-droppers.

It began with Elon Musk’s highly anticipated appearance as host on “Saturday Night Live.” Dogecoin owners watched hoping that the “Dogefather” would further propel the digital currency that had soared this year from less than a penny to 74 cents before he took the stage.

What they got instead was a skit in which he laughed after calling the coin a “hustle.” Since then, the Shiba Inu-branded coin created as a joke has lost almost half of its value.

Dogecoin wasn’t the only canine-themed coin to take a tumble.

Shiba Inu coin — yes, a meta joke about the joke that is Dogecoin — soared earlier in the week as it was added to exchanges like OKEx and Binance. It and other Dogecoin imitators’ popularity reached such heights that transaction fees on the Ethereum network hit an all-time high, according to CoinDesk.

The rally faded quickly. The cryptocurrency plunged Wednesday after the Wall Street Journal reported that Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin donated more than $1 billion of the coin to a charity that is fighting the spread of Covid-19 in India.Then that night, Musk struck again. He announced that Tesla Inc. would no longer accept Bitcoin as a form of payment for its cars. In a tweet, Musk said that the carmaker was “concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel.”

While his tweet left Bitcoin holders wondering what spurred the change — the facts of the coin’s energy profile hadn’t changed since Tesla announced in March that it would accept it as payment — the market reacted swiftly. Bitcoin plunged from nearly $57,000 before his flip-flop to $46,000 within two hours.

Thursday brought some good news for crypto die-hards. Point72, the hedge fund run by billionaire New York Mets owner Steve Cohen, was set to make a sizable move into the market. Bitcoin gained 2.5% following the news.

The rally didn’t last long.

Tether, the crypto stablecoin that says it’s backed one-for-one by fiat currencies, released a reserves breakdown for the first time that showed a large portion in unspecified commercial paper. The company has faced questions over both its reserves and whether it was used to manipulate cryptocurrency prices. In February, Tether settled a legal dispute with the New York Attorney General’s Office and paid a fine of $18.5 million.

After that, reports surfaced that Colonial Pipeline Co. paid nearly $5 million in untraceable cryptocurrency to the hackers that infiltrated the company’s network and forced the shutdown of its infrastructure, setting off widespread gasoline shortages up the U.S. eastern seaboard.

At about the same time, Bloomberg reported that Binance Holdings Ltd., the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, was under investigation by the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service in relation to possible money-laundering and tax offenses.

News of the investigation sent Bitcoin and Ethereum, the two largest cryptocurrencies, down by more than 7% each as fears were stoked about the Biden administration taking a tougher approach toward an industry that has largely operated outside of the gaze of regulators.

Then at 4:00 p.m. New York time, Coinbase Global, Inc., the biggest U.S. crypto exchange, reported first-quarter earnings. Its revenues fell just short of consensus estimates and the company projected flat user growth. Coinbase also plans to offer Dogecoin trading on its platform. The exchange’s shares fell as much as 6.5% in after-hours trading before recovering.

Friday in Asia is already bringing further drama, beginning with more comments from Musk. The billionaire in a tweet said he “strongly” believes in crypto but that “it can’t drive a massive increase in fossil fuel use, especially coal.”

Not long after, he followed up with another post saying that he’s working with Dogecoin “devs to improve system transaction efficiency,” describing the effort as “potentially promising.”



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States, UTs not giving priority to bankers to get vaccinated, says AIBOC

Banking & Finance

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The All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC) has requested the Union Ministry of Health Services & Family Welfare (MoHFW) to suitably intervene so that bank employees and other service providers can avail of Covid-19 vaccination easily and on priority basis.

The Association said despite the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs recognising bankers as frontline Covid-19 warriors, till date no perceptible initiative has been taken by any State Government/Union Territory (UT), save and except Arunachal Pradesh, for arranging vaccination to the bank employees/workers and their families on priority basis.

Vaccinate banking and insurance sector staff on ‘priority basis’: FinMin to States

‘Undue procrastination’

Emphasising that bankers are rendering yeoman service to the nation during the pandemic to keep the wheels of the economy moving, Soumya Datta, General Secretary, AIBOC, said: “As per information available, nearly 1,500 bankers have succumbed to the virus. The toll has been heavy in the resurgent second wave which has wreaked havoc. It is extremely unfortunate that several young employees and officers below the age of 45 have succumbed to this pandemic.”

Banks roll out special schemes to protect, treat employees amidst Covid surge

Datta observed that had these bankers been vaccinated in time along with other frontline workers, number of precious lives could have been saved.

“This undue procrastination has caused deep angst and resentment across the nation amongst bankers. While all State Governments and UTs arranged for vaccination for the frontline workers particularly for healthcare workers and police department, the bank employees and officials continue to be ignored,” he said.

In a letter to Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, MoHFW, Datta requested him take up the issues with appropriate authorities in States and UTs for procuring sufficient quantity of vaccine for Bankers, their family members and all service providers, including casual/ contractual workers, business correspondents, workers in cash logistic companies and cash-in-transit companies connected with banks, ATM maintenance personnel, banking correspondents, and security guards on priority basis.

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Bitcoin falls below $50,000 as Musk calls energy use ‘insane’, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Personal Finance

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By Yakob Peterseil and Dana Hull

Tesla Inc.’s Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk doubled down on his attack on Bitcoin’s energy demands, calling recent consumption trends “insane.”

Musk posted a chart on Twitter from the University of Cambridge showing Bitcoin’s electricity consumption has skyrocketed this year. It’s the second day he’s criticized crypto mining for using fossil fuels and comes after an announcement that Tesla would suspend car purchases using Bitcoin.

The turnaround by one of crypto’s loudest believers took investors by surprise and sent prices tumbling across the board. Bitcoin plunged 10% in early U.S. trading to below $50,000. Exchange operator Coinbase Global Inc. sank 2% in the premarket and other tokens including Ether and Dogecoin slumped.

“Bitcoin is also a manifestation of the value of the internet, and hence it stands to reason that social media and the cult of celebrity has, and will continue to have, an effect on driving demand,” said Stephen Kelso, head of markets at ITI Capital.

Mining the token consumes 66 times more electricity than it did back in late 2015, according to a recent Citigroup Inc. report.

Musk signaled on Wednesday that Tesla might accept other cryptocurrencies if they are less energy intensive, and said the company won’t sell any of its Bitcoin.

It’s unclear what prompted the decision and Musk and Zachary Kirkhorn, Tesla’s chief financial officer, didn’t immediately respond to an email inquiry for comment. Kirkhorn in March added the tongue-in-cheek title “Master of Coin,” according to a regulatory filing.Still, Musk’s tweets raise questions about Bitcoin’s attractiveness as an investment at a time when institutional firms are increasingly vocal about climate change and environmental issues.

“Surely he would have done his diligence prior to accepting Bitcoin?” said Nic Carter, founding partner at Castle Island Ventures, and a leading voice among defenders of Bitcoin’s energy use. “Very odd and confusing to see this quick reversal.”

Musk’s decision in February to buy $1.5 billion in Bitcoin and plan to accept it as a form of payment has been a major catalyst in the crypto bull market. In the eyes of analysts, it helped add legitimacy to the token and usher in new investors.

Musk’s crypto tweets have often been in jest, and his attention toward Dogecoin brought the joke token into the mainstream. He’s quipped about being the “Dogefather” in the past, and tweeted on Tuesday, “Do you want Tesla to accept Doge?”



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