Tax Query: Treatment of ‘bullock rent’ income

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I got retired from a PSU in May 2020. My earnings for FY2020-21 comprise regular salary for April 2020 and May 2020, retirement benefits (including leave encashment), regular pension from June 2020, interest income on fixed deposits, dividend income from shares and income from house property (two houses; availed housing loans and paying EMIs). Can you please advise which income tax form should I submit for AY 2021-22?

Bhaskaran S

Based on the details provided, your income includes salary, house property (2 houses with housing loan), and income from other sources. Hence, you need to file your return for FY 2020-21 using form ITR 2.

We rent our bullock for tilling the land. Although there is no service tax for the activity, could the income from be treated as business income / non agricultural income? What could be the form to be submitted before June?

Chandrasekaran

If the principal source of income is renting of bullock used for tilling the land, the same qualifies to be business income and accordingly, ‘ITR-3’ is the tax return form that needs to be used for filing the return of income.

The writer is Partner, Deloitte India

Send your queries to taxtalk@thehindu.co.in

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Why POMIS is a safe monthly income option

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If you are looking for low-risk investment options that offer regular monthly income, consider post office monthly income scheme (POMIS). This product offers higher interest rate compared to similar fixed deposit (FD) options from banks and is a government-backed savings scheme with a tenure of five years.

The minimum investment amount is ₹1,000. The maximum limit is ₹4.5 lakh in a single account and ₹9 lakh in a joint account (up to three adults). The account can be opened from any post office using identification and address proof, PAN card and two recent photographs for KYC requirements.

Decent returns

POMIS scores over other similar investment options such as fixed deposits of similar tenure offered by banks. The rate of interest in POMIS is reset periodically by the government. The scheme currently offers interest rate of 6.6 per cent per annum for the deposits made up to September 30, 2021. This is relatively higher than the interest rates offered by most banks for their five-year FDs with the monthly pay-out option, including SBI (up to 5.4 per cent) and HDFC Bank (up to 5.3 per cent). Even the small finance banks (SFBs), which usually offer higher interest rates, too fade in front of POMIS. Banks such as Jana, Equitas, and AU SFB offer interest rates up to 6.5, 6.25 and 5.97 per cent, respectively.

While bank deposits of up to only ₹5 lakh are secured by the deposit insurance, POMIS comes with implicit government backing. This comparison becomes relevant when POMIS joint account is opened with investment above ₹ 5 lakh.

On the taxation front, both POMIS and bank FDs do not enjoy any tax benefit– either on investment or income earned. However, there is no TDS on the interest pay-out from POMIS unlike on FDs.

Premature withdrawal is allowed in POMIS only after a year, but you have to pay a penalty for doing so, similar to bank FDs. If encashed between the first and third year, a deduction of 2 per cent is made on the deposit amount. Between the third and fifth year, the rate reduces to 1 per cent.

Options for seniors

If you are a senior citizen looking for monthly income (SCSS offers only quarterly payout), you may want to compare it with another safe investment option – Pradhan Mantri Matri Vandana Yojana (PMVVY). For financial year 2021-22, the PMVVY scheme shall provide an assured pension of 7.40 per cent per annum (same as SCSS) payable monthly for all the policies purchased till 31st March, 2022. The total investment amount under this is up to ₹15 lakh for a single account. If a couple chooses to invest, both together can invest up to ₹30 lakh.

Though PMVVY scores over POMIS in terms of interest rate, the latter can be your option if you are looking for shorter tenure, liberal lock-in norms and lower minimum investment amount. PMVVY has a policy tenure of ten years and pre-mature exit is allowed only under exceptional circumstances (with penalty) including treatment of any critical/terminal illness of self or spouse. Besides, PMVVY requires a minimum investment of about ₹1.5 lakh. Note that both POMIS and PMVVY have similar tax treatment on investment and interest and no TDS will be deducted on pay-outs.

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All you wanted to know about cyber insurance

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Two neighbours’ daily routine of watering plants leads to an interesting conversation

Sindu: I got an email for buying quality seeds online and I was giving all the details, because I thought it was a reputed source. But I ended up losing money. I didn’t even know it had happened until it was too late! But, I think my insurance will cover for this.

Bindu: What? There is insurance against online scams?

Sindu: Yes, cyber insurance. It protects businesses and individuals against online risks such as data breach, identity theft and unauthorised transactions. It covers financial losses depending on the cyber incident. For instance, if you are a victim of unauthorised online transaction and as a result you have lost money, then cyber insurance will cover you up to the sum insured. Provided the money lost is not recoverable, legally.

Bindu: Okay. Does it provide any other coverage?

Sindu: Yes. Now, if you take it to court to fight a legal battle, then the policy also covers cost incurred in prosecuting a criminal case and other legal expenses related to the cyber-attack.

Further, it also covers the cost of employing IT services to recover the lost data.

Bindu: This is good news! But you know, even if the losses are covered, these cyber attacks affect you mentally.

Sindu: Guess what? If policyholders require medical counselling, insurers do offer to cover the cost of the same, up to the sum insured.

Bindu: Wow! Looks like it is a must have.

Sindu: It may appear so. But cyber insurance policies have their own limitations. They come with sub-limits, deductibles and waiting periods that usually vary with cyber threats and with each insurer. Policyholders are expected to adhere to certain protocols such as constant updating of software.

Bindu: Update the system? So what happens at the time of claim, otherwise?

Sindu: Well, post the cyber attack you should inform the insurer. Now, if you fall behind on your due diligence such as software update, installing anti-virus or other such protection software , you may not be able receive your claim. One of the most important points to note is that, a policyholder can claim only for one event, even if the one event, say, malware attack, triggers multiple events such as hacking, phishing or unauthorised transactions.

Bindu: I knew it! It was too good to be true. But at least, we have many options.

Sindu: No, in India only a few insurers offer this product. These are new to the industry and yet to evolve and widen the scope of coverage.

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IndusInd Bank to raise ₹30,000 cr

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Private sector lender IndusInd Bank plans to raise up to ₹30,000 crore through debt and equity.

“Raising funds through debt securities or equity instruments or convertible debt securities in any permitted mode…for an aggregate amount not exceeding ₹30,000 crore…,” it said in a stock exchange filing on Saturday.

The permitted modes of fundraising include through Qualified Institutions Placement, American Depository Receipts, Global Depository Receipts programme, or combinations on a private placement basis thereof as may be decided by the board.

The bank will be raising ₹30,000 crore or its equivalent amount in such foreign currencies as may be necessary, subject to approval of the shareholders of the bank and receipt of other governmental / regulatory / statutory approvals, as per the filing.

The proposal was cleared by the bank’s board in its meeting on July 24. It will also seek approval from shareholders for this.

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How a techie couple with kids put their finances in order

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Aakash and Rohini (aged 40 and 37), both employed in the IT industry, wanted to get their finances in order. They have two children: son Raghav (aged 9 and in class 4) and daughter Shreya (aged 3, in kindergarten).

They had listed their goals:

1. To earmark an emergency fund of ₹6,00,000.

2. To ensure all family members have more than adequate health cover.

3. To buy a 3BHK flat in the locality they reside in now. The estimated cost of the apartment was given as around ₹1.2crore. They were curious to find out if they could afford it. Else, they were willing to continue to live in a rented house if that made sense financially.

4. To set up a fund for college education expenses for both kids at ₹20 lakh. (Expected inflation of 8 per cent per annum).

5. To accumulate funds for kids’ marriage expenses at ₹20 lakh each and 400 grams of gold gift to each .

6. To provide a platform for comfortable retirement when Aakash turns 60, assuming current lifestyle expenses of ₹75,000 per month. They wanted to keep aside ₹1-1.5 lakh towards travel expenses every year. Before committing to any long-term liabilities (home EMI, for instance), they wanted to ensure committed savings towards some high-priority goals, especially those related to education.

Review and recommendations

Aakash and Rohini have displayed a disciplined savings habit over the last 6-8 years. Hence, a portion of their existing investments was mapped to education-related goals.

1. A sum of ₹6 lakh was reserved from fixed deposits towards emergency fund.

2. The target cost for Raghav’s college expenses will be ₹40 lakh when he turns 18 at an inflation of 8 per cent per annum. Mutual fund portfolio was rebalanced for ₹17 lakh in large-cap fund to meet this goal at an expected return of 10 per cent CAGR.

3. The target cost for Shreya’s college expenses will be ₹63.4 lakh, using the same assumptions of age and inflation. Mutual fund portfolio was rebalanced for ₹13.25lakh in large and mid-cap fund to meet this goal at an expected return of 11 per cent CAGR over 15 years.

4. Marriage expenses for Raghav (at 25 years of age) will be ₹59 lakh and for Shreya (at 23 years) will be ₹77.4 lakh, considering 7 per cent inflation per annum. Advised to invest ₹11,500 and ₹9,000 per month in mid-cap funds to meet these targets, assuming a 12 per cent rate of return.

5. Gold needed to be accumulated in combination of physical gold and Sovereign Gold Bond for both children every year. They were advised to accumulate gold assets of 10-15 grams in the initial years and increase the purchase over the years depending on the increase in income.

6. With their retirement falling due in the next 20 years, we advised them to map EPF and PPF at current values and further contributions towards retirement along with ₹15 lakh from Equity MF Portfolio. The expected corpus for the family’s retirement for a current monthly expense of ₹75,000 would be ₹9.25 crore. We assumed inflation at 7 per cent per annum prior to retirement (adjusted for life style increase).

Post retirement, inflation was assumed to be 5 per cent as they did not foresee much changes in their life style once they retired. They needed to invest ₹53,000 per month to reach the desired corpus. As their jobs were stable and provided upward revision in incomes regularly, it was advised to invest ₹20,000 initially. The couple can slowly increase this investment once they have repaid at least 50 per cent of the housing loan.

7. Post our detailed discussion, the revised cost to buy a house was estimated to be ₹1.4 crore. They were in a position to allot ₹40 lakh towards this goal, out of their existing investments (remaining FDs and MF investments). Balance ₹1 crore had to be funded with housing loan. EMI for this loan could vary from ₹80,600 to ₹96,000 per month with the interest rate in the range of 7.5 per cent per annum to 10 per cent per annum. As the rates are at the bottom of the curve currently, they were asked to be mentally ready for a hike in rates. It was advised to be ready for ₹96,000 EMI as this would help them to look at partial foreclosures as and when surplus funds were available.

8. If they continue to pay the housing loan EMI for the next 20 years assuming the interest rate in the range of 7.5-10 per cent per annum, the total interest outflow would be ₹93,34,000 to ₹1,31,61,000. The couple also agreed to call-off the decision, if they couldn’t freeze on a property in one year’s time. They will, instead, invest ₹80,500 per month for the next 20 years at an expected return for 10 per cent per annum to arrive at a corpus of ₹6.11 crore, which should help cover the inflation adjusted cost of the house after 20 years.

9. Aakash and Rohini were also advised to opt for pure term insurances covering their expected housing loan liability. It was suggested that the family opt for base cover for health insurance and a super top-up plan for a total sum insured of ₹25 lakh.

Covid has taught everyone that challenges could come at out of hide outs any time with amplified magnitude. Medical uncertainties, employment insecurities after the age of 45 and inflation surprises may pose major challenges to the above plan, going forward.

The writer, Co-founder of Chamomile Investment Consultants in Chennai, is an investment advisor registered with SEBI

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ICICI Bank Q1 net profit zooms 78% to ₹4,616 crore

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Private sector lender ICICI Bank reported a 78 per cent jump in its standalone net profit at ₹4,616 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, 2021, led by robust net interest income and lower provisions.

Its net profit was ₹2,599 crore in the first quarter of last fiscal.

However, the bank reported higher gross non-performing asset (NPA) additions at ₹7,231 crore against ₹1,160 crore in the year ago quarter.

About 94 per cent (or ₹6,773 crore) of the gross NPA additions was on account of retail and business banking. This includes additions of ₹961 crore from Kisan Credit Card portfolio and ₹1,130 crore from jewel loan portfolio. The balance 6 per cent (or ₹458 crore) was on account of corporate and SME portfolio.

The total income fell 6.5 per cent to ₹24,379 crore in the first quarter of the fiscal as against ₹26,067 crore a year ago.

Net interest income increased by 18 per cent year-on-year to ₹10,936 crore in the April to June 2021 quarter from ₹9,280 crore in the first quarter last fiscal.

The net interest margin improved to 3.89 per cent in the first quarter this fiscal compared to 3.69 per cent a year ago.

Other income down 35%

Other income, however, fell by 35 per cent yoy to ₹3,996 crore in the first quarter of the fiscal.

Of this, treasury income was ₹290 crore in the first quarter this fiscal compared to ₹3,763 crore a year ago. “The treasury gain in the first quarter of 2020-21 included gains of ₹3,036 crore from sale of shares of subsidiaries,” ICICI Bank said in a statement on Saturday.

The bank’s provisions fell 62 per cent to ₹2,852 crore in the first quarter of the fiscal as against ₹ 7,594 crore a year ago.

“Based on its current assessment of the portfolio, the bank wrote back Covid-19 provisions amounting to ₹1,050 crore made in earlier periods,” ICICI Bank said.

This reflects the confidence the bank has on the book it has built over the years, said Sandeep Batra, Executive Director, ICICI Bank.

NPAs rise

In absolute terms, gross NPAs rose to ₹43,148 crore as at June-end 2021 against ₹40,386 crore as at June-end 2020.

In the reporting quarter, recoveries and upgrades were higher at ₹3,627 crore (₹757 crore in the year ago quarter).

The gross NPA position as a percentage of gross advances improved to 5.15 per cent as at June-end 2021 against 5.46 per cent as at June-end 2020.

The net NPA position as a percentage of net advances position also improved to 1.16 per cent as at June-end 2021 against 1.23 per cent as at June-end 2020.

As of June 30, 2021, the bank had restructured loans amounting to ₹3,891.15 crore under the RBI’s Resolution Framework of which ₹924.74 crore was retail loans and ₹2,956.05 crore was corporate loans.

Batra said the embargo on MasterCard from acquiring new customers will have zero impact on the bank as it is dominantly working with Visa. It will offer new customers credit cards with Visa.

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3 add-on health insurance covers to consider

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A health insurance policy plays a significant role in providing financial stability for an individual and his/her family at the time of medical emergencies. Typically, a health policy offers to cover hospitalisation expenses along with pre- and post-hospitalisation expenses, day care treatments (treatment procedures that require hospitalisation for less than 24-hours), and accidental injuries, among others. While it is important to have sufficient coverage amount at all times, sometimes a base policy may still not be enough to cover other expenses. You can then consider going for one or two riders/optional covers, depending on the need. Keep in mind that these add-ons involve payment of additional premium. Here are a few riders worth considering.

Hospital cash benefit

While a health policy takes care of hospitalisation expenses, you may still end up paying for certain charges while are still hospitalised. These expenses are usually inadmissible at the time of filing a claim, and include the cost of hospital gowns, gauzes, adhesive bandages and maintenance and housekeeping charges and conveyance charges. This is where the hospital cash or daily cash benefit comes in handy. It means, if the policyholder gets hospitalised, your health insurer will pay you a lump sum amount for every day of hospitalisation up to a certain number of days up to a maximum limit (varies with insurers). For instance, in ICICI Lombard’s Complete Health Insurance plan, the hospital daily cash made available is ₹3,000 per day for up to a maximum of 10 days of consecutive hospitalisation (minimum 3 days) for sum insured (SI) of ₹15 lakh and above. The daily cash limit is ₹2,000 per day if the SI is less than ₹7 lakh.

Most insurers including Tata AIG, ICICI Lombard, HDFC Ergo Health, Max Bupa, Bajaj Allianz, Star Health and Digit, offer hospital cash benefit as an optional cover for additional premium, while some insurers offer this as an in-built cover.

Tata AIG’s Medicare, for instance pays 0.25 per cent of SI up to a maximum of ₹2,000 per day of hospitalisation for shared room accommodation.

Critical illness

A critical illness (CI) cover is offered as a rider or as an optional cover by many health insurers. Under this, the insurer will make a lumpsum payment at the time of diagnosis, after which this cover terminates. Remember that, there is no restriction on the usage of the amount received. Primary breadwinners of their families, who don’t want to take chances on their health can consider this rider. Do note that the insurer will make payment only for certain diseases mentioned in the policy document and the payment varies across insurers and diseases. For instance, HDFC Ergo’s Optima Secure plan offers critical illness cover with SI of ₹10 lakh to ₹2 crore CI. Similarly, 100 per cent of the SI opted is paid out in case of Manipal Cigna’s ProHealth plan. Both policies also offer expert opinion if the insured requires it for the CI.

OPD benefit

Another rider cover to consider is OPD (outpatient department) where it covers expenses such as doctor’s consultation fees, pharmacy bills, dental treatment expenses and non-allopathic treatment. Most of the health policies offer OPD in-built in the policy but there are a few that offer this as an optional or add-on cover. Policies including ICICI Lombard’s Complete Health Insurance plan and Max Bupa’s Go Active offer in-built OPD cover while policies such as Activ Health from Aditya Birla Health and Care’s Care Freedom offer it as optional cover. Ideally those who go to the pharmacy or consult doctors often can go for an OPD cover.

But, if your plan already has OPD in-built there are other optional covers to consider. One is a maternity cover, offered by many insurers, which can be considered if a couple plans to have a baby.

Alternatively, reduction in waiting period cover can be opted. This comes in handy for those who are already suffering from pre-existing conditions such as asthma or diabetics. Generally, the pre-existing disease waiting period ranges from 2-4 years across insurers. With this rider cover, upon payment of additional premium, your waiting period of say, four years, will come down to say 1-2 years. You can also use the cover to reduce the maternity waiting period (usually 4 years), if the insurer offers it.

Hospital cash can pay for inadmissible medical expenses

Critical illness cover offers lumpsum payment

OPD benefit is useful to pay for doctor’s consultation fees, non-allopathic treatment

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Pick up in disbursements, fall in provisions & more, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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NEW DELHI: ICICI Bank‘s 78 per cent profit growth YoY largely met Street expectations. The 18 per cent growth in net interest income was higher than 14-16 per cent growth anticipated by an ETMarkets.com poll. Provisions fell 63 per cent against expectations of an up to 70 per cent drop. Net interest margin (NIM) rose to 3.89 per cent while asset quality, as suggested by gross non-performing assets (NPAs), deteriorated marginally. Here are the key takeaways from the quarterly results:

Profit in line, NII beats expectations
ICICI Bank’s 78 per cent rise in June quarter was largely in line with an ETMarkets.com poll estimate of 77 per cent growth.

The bottonline growth was lower than 260.47 per cent growth in profit the bank reported in March quarter, but higher than 36 per cent profit growth it reported in the year-ago quarter.

NII growth for the quarter at 15-16 per cent beat expectations. Analysts at an ET NOW poll had expected NII growth at 14 per cent.

Disbursements pick up
ICICI Bank said retail disbursements have picked up in June and July after moderating in April and May due to Covid containment measures in place across various parts of the country.

The disbursement levels, it said, recovered to March levels in June, driven by spending in categories like consumer durables, utilities, education, and insurance. Credits received in the overdraft accounts of business banking and SME customers also picked up in June and July after declining in April and May, it said.

Provisions fall, NPA rises marginally
ICICI Bank said it has changed its policy on non-performing loans during the June quarter to make it more conservative. Provisions for the quarter fell 63 per cent to Rs 2,852 crore from Rs 7,594 crore against expectations of up to 70 per cent fall. This could be due to the bank’s policy change, which the bank said resulted in higher provision on non-performing advances amounting to Rs 1,127 crore for aligning provisions on outstanding loans to the revised policy.

Gross non-performing assets, meanwhile, rose to 5.15 per cent against 4.96 per cent in the March quarter and 5.46 per cent in the year-ago quarter.

Recoveries and upgrades of NPAs, excluding write-offs and sale, stood at Rs 3,627 crore. The bank wrote off Rs 1,589 crore worth gross NPAs in June quarter. Excluding NPAs, the total fund-based outstanding to all borrowers under resolution as per the various extant regulations was Rs 4,864 crore or 0.7 per cent of the total loan portfolio.

Uncertainty still looms
In the absence of regulatory dispensations like moratorium on loan repayments and standstill on asset classification, the impact on the quality of the loan portfolio would likely be sharper and earlier during FY22, the bank said.

“The impact, including with respect to credit quality and provisions, of the Covid-19 pandemic on the bank and the group, is uncertain and will depend on the trajectory of the pandemic, progress and effectiveness of the vaccination programme, the effectiveness of current and future steps taken by the government and central bank to mitigate the economic impact,” it said.

Retail loan growth up 20%, SME 43%
Retail loan portfolio comprised 61.4 per cent of the total loan portfolio as of June 30. Including non-fund outstanding, retail accounted for 50.4 per cent of the total portfolio as on June 30.

For the quarter, the credit growth for the retail segment stood at 20 per cent. The business banking portfolio climbed 53 per cent YoY and was 5.4 per cent of total loans on June 30. The SME business, comprising borrowers with a turnover of less than Rs 250 crore, advanced 43 per cent year-on-year and accounted for 4 per cent of total loans as on June 30.

“Growth in the domestic corporate portfolio was about 11 per cent year-on-year, driven by disbursements to higher-rated corporates and public sector undertakings across various sectors. The growth in performing domestic corporate portfolio, excluding the builder portfolio, was 15 per cent year-on-year on June 30, 2021,” it said. Overall, the credit growth was up 20 per cent, while deposit growth rose 16 per cent.

Subsidiaries reported mixed growth
Subsidiaries reported mixed growth. ICICI Securities, on a consolidated basis, saw 61 per cent YoY jump in profit at Rs 311 crore from Rs 193 crore YoY. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company clocked 48 per cent year-on-year jump in profit at Rs 380 crore compared Rs 257 crore YoY. The profit after tax at ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company fell to Rs 152 crore from Rs 398 crore. Overall, ICICI Bank’s consolidated profit after tax came in at Rs 4,747 crore compared with Rs 4,886 in the March quarter and Rs 3,118 crore in the year-ago quarter.



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SBI opens branch in President’s Estate, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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New Delhi, Jul 24: The country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) on Saturday opened a branch at President’s Estate. The branch was inaugurated by President Ram Nath Kovind along with First Lady Savita Kovind, in the presence of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, SBI said in a statement.

The branch will provide all types of banking services including safe deposit lockers to the residents of President’s Estate, it said.

Secretary to the President K D Tripathi, SBI Chairman Dinesh Khara and other senior officials of the bank were also present at the inauguration ceremony, it said.

This branch at President’s Estate is a jewel in the crown for SBI and will offer a convenient and seamless banking experience to all the customers, said Khara.

SBI has the largest network of more than 22,000 branches and 60,000 ATMs serving around 45 crore customers through its 2.5 lakh employees. DP MR



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Coindesk, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s prime brokerage division is clearing and settling cryptocurrency exchange-traded products (ETPs) for some of its European hedge fund clients, Coindesk reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The services are currently being offered to a limited number of clients and the bank is considering rolling them out for a broader customer base, the report said.

Goldman Sachs declined to comment on the matter.

The U.S. lender in March restarted its cryptocurrency desk amid growing interest by institutions in bitcoin, and said it was looking at ways to cater to a surge in demand to own and invest in the most popular cryptocurrency.

Goldman Sachs is one of several mainstream financial firms that has dived into the crypto space, despite wild price swings and widening regulatory crackdown on the digital assets.

Rival banks Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co have also started giving clients access to crypto funds, according to media reports.



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