Bank credit gathers pace in Aug 2020, led by retail, industrial sectors, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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As India‘s economic activity revives, bank credit has expanded to various sectors, led by retail and industrial sectors, in August 2021.

According to the Reserve Bank of India data, retail segment showed an accelerated growth of 12.1% in August 2021, compared with 8.5 % a year ago, on higher volume in housing and vehicle credit.

However, credit growth in services sector fell to 3.5% in August 2021 compared with 10.9% a year ago, mainly due to contraction in credit growth to NBFCs and commercial real estate.

Credit to industry rose to 2.3% in August 2021, from 0.4% in August 2020. Loans to medium size units rose to 63.4% in August 2021 against 4.4% last year, RBI said.

Credit to micro and small industries stood at 10.1% in August 2021, from a contraction of 1.1% a year ago, and credit to large industries shrunk by 1.7% in August 2021 compared with a growth of 0.5% a year ago.

Credit to engineering, chemical and chemical products, gems and jewellery, infrastructure, mining and quarrying accelerated in August 2021 as against a year ago, and credit to basic metal, cement & cement products, construction, vehicles, vehicles parts and transport equipment’ either decelerated or contracted, RBI said.



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BC Patnaik takes charge as MD of LIC

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BC Patnaik has taken charge as Managing Director of Life Insurance Corporation of India on Friday. “He was appointed as Managing Director by Government of India notification dated July 5, 2021,” LIC said in a statement.

Also read: DIPAM shortlists Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas as legal advisor for LIC IPO

Prior to taking charge as Managing Director of LIC, Patnaik was Secretary General, Council for Insurance Ombudsmen, (CIO) Mumbai. He joined LIC of India in March 1986 as a Direct Recruit Officer.

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BC Patnaik takes charge as MD of LIC

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BC Patnaik has taken charge as Managing Director of Life Insurance Corporation of India on Friday. “He was appointed as Managing Director by Government of India notification dated July 5, 2021,” LIC said in a statement.

Also read: DIPAM shortlists Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas as legal advisor for LIC IPO

Prior to taking charge as Managing Director of LIC, Patnaik was Secretary General, Council for Insurance Ombudsmen, (CIO) Mumbai. He joined LIC of India in March 1986 as a Direct Recruit Officer.

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Piramal Capital merges with DHFL

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Piramal Capital and Housing Finance Ltd (PCHFL) has merged with Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL).

“PCHFL has merged into DHFL with effect from September 30, 2021, pursuant to the reverse merger as contemplated under scheme of arrangement provided under the resolution plan,” Piramal Enterprises Ltd said in a stock exchange filing on Friday.

Also read: Ajay Piramal on the challenges faced in acquiring DHFL and the road ahead

Following this reverse merger, DHFL will issue equity shares to the shareholders of PCHFL in accordance with the scheme of arrangement provided under the resolution plan, it further said, adding that once the equity shares are allotted, DHFL will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Piramal Enterprises Ltd (PEL).

The process is likely to take about four weeks to be completed. The development comes soon after PEL paid ₹34,250 crore for DHFL, completing its acquisition of the housing finance player.

The acquisition of DHFL is in line with a strategic roadmap to transform and expand PEL’s financial services business.

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Bank of Maharashtra raises issue of breach of confidentiality in Videocon insolvency process, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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Bank of Maharashtra, a dissatisfied creditor of Videocon Group, has on Thursday raised the issue of the breach of confidentiality in the corporate insolvency resolution process of the debt-ridden group before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). During the proceedings, counsel appearing for the Bank of Maharashtra wondered as to how the bid amount of the successful resolution applicant Twin Star Technologies was so close to the liquidation value.

“Here the kind of bid that has come is so close to the liquidation value clearly suggests that the confidentiality has not been maintained. More than 95 per cent proceed is being given to the secured creditors (as per the plan) because of the leak of this (liquidation) value to the bidders,” submitted senior advocate Vikas Singh appearing for Bank of Maharashtra.

Singh also said that the resolution plan provides for payment to the dissenting financial creditors by way of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) and equities which is contrary to the rules set out in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

Twin Star’s resolution plan of Rs 2,962.02 crore meant a haircut of over 95 per cent on admitted claims of Rs 64,838.63 core.

Even the Mumbai-bench of the NCLT, while approving Anil Agarwal’s Twin Star Technologies’ Rs 2,962.02 crore-bid had observed creditors of debt-ridden Videocon Industries Ltd will be taking nearly 96 per cent haircut on their loans and the bidder is “paying almost nothing”.

The NCLAT will continue hearing the matter on Friday also.

During the proceedings, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta representing the Committee of Creditors submitted that due to paucity of time, a rejoinder to the reply filed by the Twin Star could not be filed. It was assured to be filed by Friday in physical form.

“In the meanwhile, the parties, who have not filed ‘written submissions’ yet, are directed to file the same positively by tomorrow in physical form,” said a two-member bench comprising Justice Jarat Kumar Jain and Ashok Kumar Mishra.

Earlier on June 9, the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has approved a Rs 2,962 crore takeover bid by Twin Star Technologies for the 13 companies of the debt-ridden group.

However, the NCLT order was stayed by the appellate tribunal on July 19 over the petitions filed by two dissatisfied creditors of the Videocon Group – Bank of Maharashtra and IFCI Ltd and had directed to maintain “status quo ante”.

Later, lenders to Videocon Industries had also approached the insolvency appellate tribunal seeking fresh bids for the 13 companies of the debt-ridden group. PTI KRH MKJ



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Lenders approach RBI after Rs 30,000 crore Srei loans turn NPA, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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A consortium of lenders led by UCO Bank has sought central bank directions on pursuing recovery of dues from the Srei Group after loans worth about ₹30,000 crore to the Kolkata-based financier officially qualified to be moved to the list of non-performing assets (NPA) this quarter, two people aware of the development told ET.

The Srei Group, however, said it expects banks to chalk out a debt recast plan that will map repayment milestones to future cash flows.

Since the group entities involved are non-banking financial companies (NBFC), the lenders concerned compulsorily need the Reserve Bank of India‘s (RBI) approval to take the Srei Group to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for insolvency proceedings.

In response to a query from ET, a Srei Group spokesperson said the economic downturn and loan moratoriums provided by the regulator had affected operations. The group is now in discussions with banks to implement a restructuring scheme.

‘NPA Ratio to Take a Hit’
“We hope banks will decide on the debt realignment at the earliest so that the company can pay all its bondholders and other creditors,” a Srei spokesperson said in the mailed response to ET. “We are very hopeful that banks will propose a payment schedule in consonance with the company’s cash flow that will enable payments to all creditors and help run the company smoothly.”

To be sure, Srei Infrastructure Finance may become the next big bankruptcy candidate from the financial services space after Dewan Housing Finance (DHFL). Banks are free to classify loans to Srei Group as NPAs after the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) lifted a stay earlier this month on marking such exposure as bad, setting aside a lower bench order.

  • Srei Infra and its unit Srei Equipment Finance together owe lenders and debenture holders Rs 30,000 cr
  • UCO Bank, SBI have exposure of more than Rs 2,000 cr each
  • Srei Infra reported a loss of Rs 971 cr in the June quarter
  • Provisions on loans surged to Rs 439 cr from Rs 67 cr a year ago
  • In July, Srei disclosed that a RBI-directed audit had flagged Rs 8,576 cr of lending to ‘probable’ related parties of the group

“All banks will have to classify loans to Srei as NPAs this quarter and make the minimum provisions required,” said a person familiar with banking-sector exposure to the Srei Group. “Many banks have excess provisions; so, that should not be a cause for concern. But with such a big loan account slipping, the gross NPA ratio of some banks will increase at the end of the quarter.”Srei Infrastructure, and its subsidiary Srei Equipment Finance, together owe lenders and debenture holders a total of ₹30,000 crore. Kolkata-based UCO Bank is the lead lender, with more than ₹2,000 crore of exposure. State Bank of India (SBI)’s exposure to the group is also more than ₹2,000 crore.

Bankers say they have already set the ball rolling for recovery of loans by writing to the RBI and a regulatory nod to take the company through the bankruptcy courts could mean another DHFL-type insolvency process.

“Already two letters have been sent to apprise RBI of the conditions. If the central bank gives the permission, banks will go ahead with a court monitored process,” said a second person aware of the Srei-related banking-sector exposures. “It remains to be seen what the central bank’s response is.”



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SBI, Union Bank, PNB pick up stake in NARCL, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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Three state-owned lenders — SBI, Union Bank of India and PNB — picked up over 12 per cent stake each in the proposed bad bank NARCL on Thursday, and said their holdings will be brought down by December. While State Bank of India (SBI) and Union Bank of India picked up 13.27 per cent stake each, representing a cumulative 3.88 crore shares in the National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (NARCL), PNB subscribed to 12.06 per cent stake (1,80,00,000 shares).

In a regulatory filing on the subscription to 1,98,00,000 shares of NARCL (pending execution of the investment agreement), the country’s largest lender SBI said the “investment of equity stake of 13.27 per cent by State Bank of India to be reduced to 9.90 per cent by 31st December 2021”.

Union Bank of India, in its regulatory filing, said it has subscribed to 1,98,00,000 shares of NARCL (pending execution of investment agreement).

The lender said it will bring down its stake of 13.27 per cent to 9.90 per cent by December 2021 on subscription by other public sector banks (PSBs)/ financial institutions.

“Punjab National Bank has subscribed to 1,80,00,000 shares of National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (pending execution of investment agreement),” the bank said in a separate filing.

PNB said it will bring down its stake from 12.06 per cent to 9 per cent by December 31, 2021.

NARCL, which is yet to become operational, will take over the bad assets of banks in its own account for speedy resolution of sour loans.

All the three lenders have subscribed to the equity in NARCL at Rs 10 per share. The completion of the acquisition by them is expected by March 2022.

Earlier this month, the Cabinet cleared a proposal to provide government guarantee worth Rs 31,000 crore to security receipts issued by the NARCL.

Incorporated on July 7, 2021, NARCL will pay up to 15 per cent of the agreed value for the bad loans in cash and the remaining 85 per cent would be government-guaranteed security receipts.

It will be 51 per cent owned by PSBs and the remaining by private sector lenders. State-owned Canara Bank has expressed its intent to be the lead sponsor of NARCL with a 12 per cent stake. PTI KPM ABM ABM



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Dhanlaxmi Bank’s auditors under spotlight as shareholders reject their appointment, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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Statutory auditors of Dhanlaxmi Bank, PB Vijayaraghavan & Co, have come under the spotlight after the shareholders of the Kerala-based lender rejected their appointment at its 94th Annual General Meeting held on Wednesday (September 29), the scrutinizer report filed to the stock exchanges on Thursday showed.

Over 65 per cent of the votes were cast against the resolution to appoint PB Vijayaraghavan & Co as the bank’s statutory auditors. For an ordinary resolution to be passed, more than 50 per cent votes need to cast for the resolution.

PB Vijayaraghavan & Co were seeking reappointment for the third year (FY2021-22), and proposed to be paid a total fees of Rs 48 lakh by Dhanlaxmi bank. The Reserve Bank had already accorded approval for their appointment. The Chennai-based auditors, were the branch/ statutory central auditors of the bank during the period 2003-04 to 2008-09, FY 2019-20 and for FY 2020-21, Dhanlaxmi Bank’s annual report for 2020-21 showed.

P B Vijayaraghavan’s rejection as statutory auditors came at a time when Dhanlaxmi Bank’s financial health has been under question and the lender is also facing issues of corporate governance. The auditors, P B Vijayaraghavan, gave a clean chit to the bank in the last two years, issuing an “unqualified opinion”, the bank’s annual reports for FY20 and FY21 showed.

“It seems that the shareholders aren’t happy with the bank’s performance in the recent times and have shown their anger by rejecting the appointment of the statutory auditors,” Shriram Subramanian, MD at proxy advisory firm, InGovern told ETCFO.

Another expert echoed the same point. “It is possible that statutory auditors of the bank were not adequately questioning the management and therefore their independence was seen under doubt by the shareholders, which possibly led to their ouster,” said Mohit Saraf, founder & managing partner, Saraf & Partners.

Shares of Dhanlaxmi Bank closed 0.94 per cent higher on the BSE.



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HDFC Bank raises Rs 739 crore via masala bonds, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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HDFC Bank on Thursday said it has raised Rs 739 crore by issuing the rupee-denominated masala bonds in the overseas markets. HDFC Bank has issued and allotted rupee-denominated bonds overseas on September 30, 2021, the lender said in a regulatory filing.

The private sector lender will use the proceeds from the issue for banking activities.

The subordinated additional tier I bonds are compliant with Basel III norms.

The perpetual bonds, which are unrated and unsecured, carry a coupon rate of 7.55 per cent.

The notes (bonds) will be listed on the India International Exchange (IFSC) Ltd and NSE IFSC, it said.

Perpetual bonds carry no maturity date, so they may be treated as equity, not as debt.

The rupee-denominated bonds, popularly known as “masala” bonds are instruments that are issued outside India, not in the local currency but the Indian rupee.

In November 2016, the RBI had allowed banks to raise funds by floating the rupee-denominated bonds in overseas markets as part of an additional avenue to raise long term funds. Shares of HDFC Bank closed at Rs 1,595.50 apiece on BSE, up 0.14 per cent from the previous close.



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